CuriousKind https://peterbromberg.com Peter Bromberg: Just a Simple Librarian Trying to Make It in This Crazy World Sat, 20 Apr 2024 20:40:13 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://peterbromberg.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/BrombergConsulting_Logo_Feedburner.jpg Peter Bromberg https://peterbromberg.com 32 32 Surviving and Thriving in a Deeply Weird World https://peterbromberg.com/keynotes/surviving-and-thriving-in-a-deeply-weird-world/ Tue, 03 Oct 2017 02:18:55 +0000 https://peterbromberg.com/?p=6756 Here are the slides to my recent keynote, “Surviving and Thriving in Deeply Weird World”, presented at the ULA Fall Workshop on September 29, 2017 at the Park City Library.

]]> Experiential Learning Preconference @ #ala2016 https://peterbromberg.com/presentations/experiential-learning-preconference-ala2016/ Thu, 14 Apr 2016 17:22:14 +0000 https://peterbromberg.com/?p=6605 I have the honor of co-facilitating a pre-conference on Experiential Learning at ALA this summer. My co-facilitator is the supremely talented Dr. Sharon Morris, Director of Library Development and Innovation at the Colorado State Library. May it be of any interest, we’d love to see you there! Here are the deets:

Designing and Facilitating Learning Experiences that Make a Difference: The Power of Active Experiential Learning

When: ALA Preconference, Friday, June 24, 8:30am – 12:00pm
Where: Orlando, Florida (Convention Center, room TBD)
Speakers: Peter Bromberg & Sharon Morris

Description

Are you tired of “Sage on the Stage” presentations and trainings? Have you been to presentation after presentation that didn’t result in anyone –including you –actually doing something different?

That’s because the kind of deep learning that leads to real change happens when we make meaning from our own experience and then design a plan to apply our new understanding to real life situations. Come to this highly engaging program and experience for yourself the power — and fun — of active, experiential learning.

Ticket Prices:

  • LearnRT Member: $120
  • ALA Member: $150
  • Non Member: $200

Not currently a LearnRT member? Join now to save on this event.

Key Links

 

Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr user clarkmaxwell https://www.flickr.com/photos/clarkmaxwell/4958612436/ (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

]]> Leadership Webinar – April 27 https://peterbromberg.com/effectiveness/leadership-webinar-april-27/ Sat, 19 Mar 2016 01:54:37 +0000 https://peterbromberg.com/?p=6582 I’m honored to be participating in a “Lessons in Leadership” webinar on April 27th, 2:00 pm ET, along with fellow Crucible Moments co-authors Steven Bell, Trevor Dawes, and Erin Smith.  Everyone who registers for the webinar by April 20th will also receive a complimentary copy of the book that also includes chapters by Maureen Sullivan, Char Booth, Brian Matthews, Kenley Neufield, and more!

For complete details and registration information see: http://www.missionbellmedia.com/lessons-in-leadership

]]> Book Chapter Published: Influence is a Choice: Aligning Actions Toward Your Preferred Future https://peterbromberg.com/effectiveness/book-chapter-published-influence-is-a-choice-aligning-actions-toward-your-preferred-future/ Sat, 30 Jan 2016 17:23:42 +0000 https://peterbromberg.com/?p=6577 Crucible MomentsI’m pleased to share that I have a chapter, “Influence is a Choice: Aligning Actions Toward Your Preferred Future”, in Mission Bell Media’s new book, Crucible Moments: Inspiring Library Leadership.

You can see a preview of the book here.

I’d like to thank Steven Bell, Editor, for inviting me to offer a chapter along with the other authors, many of whom, including Trevor Dawes, Brian Matthews, Char Booth, Jon Cawthorne, Kenley Neufeld, Maureen Sullivan, and Steven himself,  have been inspiring me through their writing, speaking, and general thought leadership for years.  It’s an honor to have my writing alongside theirs in this wonderful volume.

I encourage you to check out this book because it is not your typical tome on library leadership.  Through a variety of personal stories and perspectives, leadership is presented as an “as lived” experience.  It is only by confronting, navigating, and reflecting upon our personal challenges –our crucible moments — that we clarify our values and develop a deep understanding of our own leadership strengths and deficits.

Highly recommend!

 

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]]> Self-Care, Happiness, Emotional/Social Intelligence: A bibliography https://peterbromberg.com/keynotes/accessbib/ Sun, 22 Nov 2015 03:56:38 +0000 https://peterbromberg.com/?p=6534 I recently had the privilege of keynoting the Access Services conference on November 12, 2015 (slides available on slideshare.)   I offered to put together a bibliography of the articles and research that informed some of my points around emotional and social intelligence, mindfulness, happiness, health, stress, and effectiveness.  Here it is!

This bibliography skews more towards “popular” books, articles, and resources as opposed to clinical studies and academic research.  This was a conscious choice I made because so many of the “popular” articles contain links and references to the harder science, and I thought this approach would be of more value to the layperson or casual reader, while still providing a pathway into the research for those so inclined to dive deeper.

If there are books, articles, videos, workshops, or other resources that have been helpful to you, please share your recommendations in the comments section.

Thank you and enjoy!

Articles and Blog Posts

Books

  • Becoming a Resonant Leader: Develop Your Emotional Intelligence, Renew Your Relationships, Sustain Your Effectiveness.  by Annie McKee, Richard E. Boyatzis, and Fran Johnston. Harvard Business Review Press, 2008.
  • Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence.  By Daniel Goleman. Harper Paperbacks, 2015.
  • Positivity: Top-Notch Research Reveals the Upward Spiral That Will Change Your Life.  By Barbara Frederickson. Harmony, 2009.
  • Resonant Leadership: Renewing Yourself and Connecting with Others through Mindfulness, Hope and Compassion. Harvard Business School Press,  2005.
  • The Scientific Power of Naps. Asap Science Video.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJ_f9onTTQE.
  • Search Inside Yourself: The Unexpected Path to Achieving Success, Happiness (and World Peace).  By Chade-Meng Tan.  HarperOne, 2014.  (see also: https://www.youtube.com/user/Siyli)
  • The Upward Spiral: Using Neuroscience to Reverse the Course of Depression, One Small Change at a Time.  By Alex Korb.   New Harbinger Publications, 2015.
  • Working with Mindfulness – Research and Practice of Mindful Techniques in Organizations. (Kindle Only)  by Mirabai Bush, Jeremy Hunter, Daniel Goleman,  Richard Davidson, George Kohlrieser . More Than Sound, 2015.  http://www.amazon.com/Working-Mindfulness-Research-Techniques-Organizations-ebook/dp/B00E67LDQS .
  • Your Brain at Work: Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus, and Working Smarter All Day Long.   By David Rock. HarperBusiness, 2009.

Other Resources

]]> Meditation on Makerspaces, Missions, and other Matters https://peterbromberg.com/programming/meditation-on-makerspaces-missions-and-other-matters/ Sat, 09 May 2015 22:28:25 +0000 https://peterbromberg.com/?p=6422 Note: This post grew out of an email exchange with colleagues who voiced legitimate questions and concerns about whether makerspaces were an appropriate choice for their library system.   The following is my slightly edited (for grammar and clarity) response.

Colleagues,

Cover: Wired Magazine

The DIY Revolution Starts Now

I agree with you that having a “makerspace” (i.e. designating a specific space to be used only for maker programming) may not be a good choice for a library system, or for any individual branch, due to the great demands on available  space.  I also agree that it is likely that many current library users are not actively requesting a makerspace.

Putting the idea of makerspaces aside for a moment, I believe that the world is changing at a rapid pace, that the pace of change itself is accelerating, and that it is increasingly true that “what got us here, won’t get us there.”   Our core principles and values and mission don’t change, but the techniques and forms we use to bring life to our mission and principles can and must change if we are to be sustained as a funded and relevant organization in the future.

The world is changing, not only rapidly, but at an increasingly accelerated pace.   The only way for libraries — or any organizations — are going to remain relevant and sustainable is by developing a habit of continually asking and answering these questions:

  1. What world are we living in?
  2. What impact do we want to be having for our customers and community?
  3. What is most important — what should we be focusing our time, energy and resources on — today?

Another way of putting it is, how do we maximize our limited resources to engage our customers in ways that:

  1. Are aligned with our mission?
  2. Are meaningful and valuable to our customers?
  3. Build on and reinforce the value of libraries to customers and stakeholders?


Get The Mission Right

You’ll notice that the key here is being clear about what our mission is.  If we don’t know that, it’s difficult to align our energies and make decisions about resource allocations.   While it continues to be generally true that the brand of libraries, as perceived by our customers, is books, and to a lesser extent information , I’d like to suggest that books is not our mission. Information is not our mission   And neither books nor information are hooks upon which we want to hang the hat of our future sustainability.  All over the country, libraries are finding themselves in battles — not just for funding, but for their very existence — precisely because organized opposition says, “What do we need libraries for anymore – we have kindles, we have Amazon Prime, we have Netflix, we have Wikipedia.”  Those messages resonate, and libraries are finding themselves caught by surprise, having their budgets slashed.  “What happened?” They’re asking themselves.  “People were coming in the doors.  They loved us.  They loved reading.  What happened?”

What happened is these libraries mistook their loyal book-loving customers as loyal supporters.  (Side note – The 2008 OCLC “From Awareness to Funding” report strongly suggested that library use does not correlate with library support.)   What happened was these libraries thought – and even proclaimed — that their mission was books and information.  And the public believed them — and then defunded them because the community didn’t see a need for publicly funded books and information.

So it is important to me that we get the mission right, because the choices we make, and our ability to continue in the long term to make a positive impact in the lives of our customers is riding on it.  We’re in the process of having these conversations, and we’ll continue that process in upcoming staff and management discussions.

I’d offer that the mission of libraries is not books (which is a format, a form) or even information, but learning, self-directed exploration and growth, early literacy, stimulation of imagination and curiosity, strengthening of community and civic connections, job readiness and economic development.  Any given library might focus on any one of these elements more than others, and perhaps there are additional aspects of the library’s mission beyond the ones listed.

Now.  If our mission is about learning, literacy, and community connections, we can ask ourselves: In the world we live in today, 2015 (almost), how do we direct resources and align energies to best help people learn?  What does the best research say about how people learn?   What about literacy?  Literacy has traditionally focused on the printed word.  Should we be looking at technological literacy?  Literacy after all is a competency, and one that libraries support because traditionally it is the most important competency for people to be active participants in our democracy, and to be functional and productive members in our economy. Are there other competencies that are becoming more important in the 21st century?  Many suggest that collaboration, critical thinking, experimental mindset, and self-direction are the important competencies for the 21st century economy. If that’s true, how do we best support children and adults so they have the knowledge and skills they’ll need to succeed in the world and in the economy of 2015 and 2020 and beyond?

Having asked those questions, I invite you to read Buffy Hamilton’s blog post  “Makerspaces, Participatory Learning, and Libraries”.   Take some time to follow the links.  Read “How the Maker Movement is Transforming Education.”   Read In the Slate article, “Learning by Making”, in which  Dale Dougherty writes,

The maker movement has the opportunity to transform education by inviting students to be something other than consumers of education. They can become makers and creators of their own educational lives, moving from being directed to do something to becoming self-directed and independent learners. Increasingly, they can take advantage of new tools for creative expression and for exploring the real world around them. They can be active participants in constructing a new kind of education for the 21st-century, which will promote the creativity and critical thinking we say we value in people like Steve Jobs.

It’s Not Necessarily About “Makerspaces” It’s About Learning and Connection

I suggest that we not talk about “makerspaces” per se  — since space is at a premium, and it can be difficult to carve out too much space to be permanently used for maker activities.  But that’s a bit of a red herring.  Let’s talk about whether there is value in supporting the maker concept.  Is there value in the maker philosophy of learning through doing; of moving from a teaching philosophy that says, “we have buckets of information, we shall pour them into your passively waiting brain” to a learning philosophy that says, “Here is a platform to support your curiosity, your wonder, and your exploration. Here is a member of the community to mentor you.  Together we will explore, learn, and share, through trying, doing, failing, and creating.”  Is there value in the maker philosophy of bringing in community members, cross-demographic and cross-generational, to mentor and support each other?  Do these things align with our mission and values?  And if so, can we find ways of using our existing spaces more flexibly and adapt them to different needs at different times?  Should we find ways to fund maker activities, whether through reallocation of funds or identification of new funds through grants or partnerships?  I think we should.

We Need To Do More Than Respond to Customer Needs

One last point. Meeting our customer’s needs and being responsive to what they ask for is clearly important.  However, being responsive to requests is only part of the equation.  In my experience, whether or not a customer is asking for a specific service or product is not always a good indication of whether they will value it once it is offered.  Who was asking for an OPAC before we had one?  Who asked for networked computers?  Who asked for the Internet?   If we go back far enough we could probably ask, “Who asked for storytimes?”  In my nine years of programming continuing education classes for a multitype library cooperative, the most popular classes — the ones where registration filled within the first hour — were CONSISTENTLY the ones that no one asked for; classes on topics such as Twitter, social bookmarking, blogging, effective presentations, etc.   People asked for advanced excel classes, book repair, Reader’s Advisory, and these classes would get low to middling turnout.

I learned that what people ask for is constrained by the limits of their own imagination and expectations, and that while it was important for me to be responsive, it was often more valuable to my customers to pay attention to trends and anticipate the class/offering that they didn’t even think to ask for.

We Need To Shift Customer Expectations

I believe the same principle applies generally to library services.  Our customers have an expectation or a perception of what a library is and what we could or should be offering.  It is our responsibility to add value to their lives by anticipating things we could be doing, aligned with our mission, that will surprise and delight them.  Our job is to help shift their perceptions and expectations about what a library is or could be in their lives, and in the lives of their family and community.   And in shifting those perceptions we simultaneously deliver on the promise of our mission while also positioning the library as an indispensable presence in the community, and strengthening our position with our funders, and improving the long-term sustainability of the organization.

]]> Lead the Change: Create Your Career Roadmap: Slides, Script, and Handouts https://peterbromberg.com/keynotes/ltc/ Sat, 25 Apr 2015 21:20:31 +0000 https://peterbromberg.com/?p=6398 11/7/15 UPDATE — Archived presentation now available online:

This week I was honored to be the opening speaker for Library Journal’s new Lead the Change Leadership Academy.

My presentation focused on how to develop emotional and social intelligence competencies, how to use a basic coaching model to increase one’s effectiveness, and how to use the Intentional Change model to bring to life a vision of our ideal self.

  • The complete text of my talk are embedded in the notes field of my slides which are available on slideshare.
  • Full text of the talk is also available here.
  • I also created an interactive workbook as a supplement to the talk which will help you put the principles into practice.

Leadthechange

 

]]> Now available: “Influence When You Have No Power or Authority” Webinar Recording and Slides https://peterbromberg.com/leadership/now-available-influence-when-you-have-no-power-or-authority-webinar-recording-and-slides/ Wed, 25 Feb 2015 19:41:23 +0000 https://peterbromberg.com/?p=6353 The recording for my webinar, “Influence When You Have No Power or Authority” is now available on the Utah State Library’s Training site.

Webinar Description: Regardless of whether you have a great deal of positional power or authority or none at all, you can exert meaningful influence and help bring about the future you prefer. Using proven techniques grounded in a simple model of coaching, and practicing emotionally and socially intelligent behaviors, you can learn to bring yourself into a state of greater resourcefulness, focus your attention and energy, get into action, and exert purposeful influence in any situation.

The powerpoint and fulltext are available for download on my Slideshare site as well as embedded below..

 

]]> Want to be healthier, smarter, more creative? Get some sleep! https://peterbromberg.com/self-care/want-to-be-healthier-smarter-more-creative-get-some-sleep/ Wed, 18 Dec 2013 23:01:07 +0000 http://www.pbromberg.com/?p=6177

Courtesy Flickr User thejbird (CC BY 2.0)

I’ve written about the importance of sleep before.  The research suggesting that sleep is vital to our health — physical, psychological, cognitive, and emotional health — could reach from here to the moon and back if you started piling it up.

Here is the latest in a long series of articles that I routinely bookmark: Why You Should Sleep Your Way to the Top.  In the article, Dr. Matthew Walker, neuroscientist and psychologist at the University of California, Berkeley (where he runs a sleep research lab) talks about the relationship between sleep and memory, learning, and emotions.

The whole article, which is in easily-readable interview format, is worth a read. Here are some key excerpts:

I would argue that, if you look at the other main biological drives—things like eating and drinking—it’s fairly clear that the lack of one night of sleep causes detriments to your brain and body that far exceed anything you would see from a lack of food over the same duration of time.  In fact, studies on animals in the 1980’s demonstrated that rats will die as quickly of sleep deprivation as they will from food deprivation. Sleep is that essential.

When you are sleep deprived, the frontal lobe and the amygdala become disconnected, and so you become all emotional gas pedal, without sufficient brake.

Socially appropriate responses and controlled emotional reactions are quintessential for cooperation and interactions with others, so sleep loss has the potential to impact such processes.

[R]esearch has clearly demonstrated that if you restore and normalize sleep in different severe mental health conditions, you can see very significant clinical improvements.

Many of the emotional benefits that sleep provides involve taking the painful sting out of difficult emotional experiences from the day before, or balancing our reactivity to next-day emotional challenges. Sleep even improves our capacity to recognize different and specific types of emotions in people’s faces more accurately.

Sleep before learning is critical; but you also need to sleep after learning, and to take that new information and essentially cement it into the neural architecture of the brain.  More recently, we’ve realized there’s an additional benefit for learning. Sleep is much more intelligent than we have previously considered. It not only takes individual pieces of information and saves them and protects them, but sleep can intelligently cross-link new pieces of information together. As a result, you can start to extract commonalities and develop novel insights into problems that you were having the day before.

We’ve found that sleep will  more than triple  the probability that you’ll figure out [a] hidden rule. Sleep seems to inspire a creative insight into previous problems and challenges we’ve faced.

Sleep seems to support such a remarkable and broad constellation of different functions. Not just the brain; your body also benefits dramatically, your immune health, your metabolic system, your cardiovascular health. Indeed, there is not one major tissue or organ in the brain or body that is not benefited by sleep. 

Simply put, the single most important thing you can do each and every day to reset your brain and body health is to sleep. Once you start to get anything less than about 7 hours of sleep, we can start to measure biological and behavioral changes quite clearly.  People will say, “I can get by on 4 or 5 hours of sleep.” But your subjective opinion of how you’re doing with insufficient sleep is a miserable predictor of objectively how you’re doing with insufficient sleep. Essentially it’s like the drunk driver at the bar picking up his keys after a couple of drinks and saying, “No, no. I think I’m fine; I’m perfectly fine to drive.”

 

]]> Purposeful Influence: Keynote at Connecticut Library Association Leadership Institute, August 9, 2013 https://peterbromberg.com/keynotes/purposeful-influence-keynote-at-connecticut-library-association-leadership-institute-august-9-2013/ Fri, 09 Aug 2013 19:04:00 +0000 http://www.pbromberg.com/uncategorized/purposeful-influence-keynote-at-connecticut-library-association-leadership-institute-august-9-2013/
Here is the slidedeck from Purposeful Influence, my Keynote at Connecticut Library Association Leadership Institute University of Hartford, West Hartford, CT August 9. 2013.  You can download the slidedeck (with full text of talk in notes field) at Slideshare.
]]>