BFTP: 80% of success

80% of success is showing up. - Woody Allen

According to the association principle. if we surround ourselves with success that we are connected with in even a superficial way ... , our public prestige will rise. - Robert B. CialdiniInfluence*

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I attended a meeting earlier this week of local legislators, the Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota, and some state education bigwigs. Other than a few pleasantries exchanged with the community members I knew, I didn't say a damn thing. It may have been a first for me. But it's a good thing I went anyway and this is why...

In the best of all possible worlds, people are judged solely on the competence they show in their work. Does the work get finished? Is it of high quality? Is work done in a timely manner? Is all work done reliably? Are creative insights and processes used when appropriate? Is one's work accomplished in such a way that a productive work environment is maintained? 

While such a track record certainly helps create job security (and for some it may be enough), those of us who screw up on a regular basis, who may want to change the status quo, and who often need to make decisions that are not universally popular (librarians and technology people?) need a do a little more.

Following Cialdini good advice above, consider ways to "associate yourself with success" or at least get to be known outside the library or tech office. Some ways to do this:

• Attend any special functions - award ceremonies, openings, open houses, special events.
• Go to athletic events, plays, science fairs, and other public extra-curricular happenings.
• Participate in your PTO/PTA even at meetings where you are not asking for something.
• Volunteer to serve on building and district committees - staff development, legislative, building leadership, curriculum planning, technology, whatever.
• Take your turn at bus duty, hall duty, ticket taking, cake serving, lounge clean up, etc.

I am not sure if this works in big cities, but those of us who live is smaller communities (Mankato has about 50,000 souls in the "metro region") can use our community presence to build influence and possibly job security as well. 

• Take an active role in your church, synagogue, mosque or coven if you attend.
• Take an active role in civic groups such as Kiwanis, Rotary, Lions, etc.
• Be a member of the YMCA and United Way and volunteer for helping with fund raisers, etc.
• Be an active member of a local political party organization. 
• Join and participate in community clubs of bicyclists, hikers, gardeners, car collectors, etc.

It is more difficult to fire a person who is viewed not just as employee, but as a community member. Our physcial, local networks, not just our virtual ones, can and do support us.

Oh, and doing some of the things listed above, you are actually doing good in the world as well as building a presence. It's a two-fer.

Be seen, be associated with good things, be valued.

*Probably the most important book for any librarian, technology director or other school change agent to read. Thanks to Gary Hartzell whose book Building Influence for the School Librarian brought this book to my attention. His book is a must read for all librarians

Original post August 24, 2011

We need informed passion

 ...Libraries have always been about fostering understanding of the democratic process, but there is an intensified requirement raised this round to confront mis­information.

Our kids are watching and learning. So far, they have witnessed, largely due to Donald Trump’s candidacy, a low bar of rhetoric that, heightened by the gaze of a camera lens, has glamorized racism, sexism, and xenophobia at the expense of accuracy, insight into how policies affect daily life, and clear discussion of the issues at hand. The noise and show of self-aggrandizement and hostility as a leadership stance drowns out thoughtful approaches to complex problems. If we let this deplorable level of discourse stand as a new normal for the viability of hype, we fail our students, ourselves, and the foundation upon which our democracy is built.

As I sort through the vast flow of content and media coverage geared to sway instead of inform, I am more committed than ever to the mission of libraries to help foster an educated citizenry and develop all sorts of literacies—including information and digital literacy. This work has always mattered, and now it is more important than ever. Rebecca Miller, Choosing Leaders: What Are You Voting For?  School Library Journal, October 18, 2016.

Thank you, Ms Miller, for this fine editorial. It serves as a reminder to me - and I am sure many others - why librarianship is an avocation, a calling, not just a job.

In an age of truthiness* dominating the political process, it is becoming increasingly difficult to trust that people make truly informed decisions -that we are even rational human beings. Even those who use evidence to support their beliefs often are guilty of confirmation bias. And that includes me.

As librarians, we have a dual role. We help people find and understand reliable information. We teach about how others may represent facts in ways that may support a particular bias. We acquire information from multiple perspectives and allow others to decide for themselves their own interpretation of a situation.

Yet a second role is to inspire passions in our patrons as well. We encourage that what library users find then spurs curiosity, creativity, action, and empathy response. We want others to do something with the knowledge they acquire.

Our country cannot function with only those who are emotional or those who only engage in neutral fact-finding. Our country should be led be those who have informed passions. The kind that libraries engender.

*Truthiness is a quality characterizing a "truth" that a person making an argument or assertion claims to know intuitively "from the gut" or because it "feels right" without regard to evidence, logic, intellectual examination, or facts. Wikipedia

Is the thrill of getting a package in the mail gone?

O-ho the Wells Fargo Wagon is a-comin' down the street,
Oh please let it be for me!
O-ho the Wells Fargo Wagon is a-comin' down the street,
I wish, I wish I knew what it could be! Music Man - "The Wells Fargo Wagon" lyrics

I send my grandchildren a package of goodies on Halloween and Valentines Day. A little candy (trying to cut back), t-shirts, some spooky toys, and this year a box of pumpkin flavored oatmeal sends just a little reminder that Grandpa is thinking about them. And selfishly gives me a chance to try out all the Halloween decorations in the store.

Despite the fact that I could bring this stuff to the kids and hand them to them in person, I again boxed this year's goodies up and mailed it.

From my own childhood, I remember the thrill of getting a package in the mail. Whether a birthday gift, something stupid ordered from the back pages of Boy's Life, or book I could not get locally, finding a package in the mailbox at the end of the driveway was really, really exciting.

But is that the case for today's kids? I wondered about this as I picked up a package of the doorstep that I knew was a set of pants hangersI had ordered online to simply save me the effort of a run to Target. Big whoop.

Had Willson's Wells-Fargo wagon come around everyday, would anyone, even in River City, Iowa, have been excited enough to sing about it?

What else has become so common place that it gets a yawn instead of a song? And more importantly, what will today's kids remember as exciting?