Manage To Change

Publishing, Nautilus, and Networks

Image by mindseyeimagery via Flickr

The other day I got a LinkedIn group alert from Andrew Spong linking to an article in The Journal of Electronic Publishing entitled Open Access 2.0: Access to Scholarly Publications Moves to a New Phase, by Joseph J. Esposito.

His "Nautilus Model of Scholarly Communications" was a brilliant way to provide a foundation for discussion.  The model is illustrated in the article cited above, but he introduced it in Open Access 2.0 published in The Scientist.

At the "innermost spiral of the shell of a nautilus, where a particular researcher wishes to communicate with a handful of intimates and researchers working in precisely the same area" is where he proposes Open Access is most viable.   He goes on to posit that at "each step away from the center, the role of the publisher grows and the merits of open access diminish."

At the core of the model is the degree to which the participants in the particular ring of the spiral are known to each other.  At the center, they know each other quite well.  As we move out, they do not and "...the publisher's brand is a form of insurance" to the consumer, insurance against wasting time (and, potentially, money).  

Thinking about the widening rings of the nautilus shell as decreasing degrees of familiarity, it seems as though this model is useful to consider more broadly.

• What kinds of products are valuable to [small] networks whose members are very familiar with one another?
• What kinds of products are valuable to networks whose members are NOT familiar with one another?
• What kinds of supporting services are needed in each type of network?

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• Framing the Open Access Debate (scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org)

Twitter: Unintended Consequences

Image via CrunchBase

A couple of months ago, someone to whom I'm connected on Facebook mentioned that I over ran their home page with Twitter updates the last time I was at a conference.

I tend to take conference notes on Twitter.   When I had Twitter feed Facebook updates, my status was being updated every couple of minutes.  It had never occurred to me that I was monopolizing my friends' Facebook home pages!

When I started to look for a way to selectively update Facebook, but still use Twitter the way I wanted to use it, I consulted several of my Twitter connections.

Most of them weren't aware of a solution. 

What really surprised me was that they also said not to worry about it.

I learned two things from this:

1. Experimentation with new things often has unintended consequences.  They may be good or bad, but we should be looking for them.
2. If we're not careful our advocacy of a product, feature, platform (fill in the blank) will actually turn people off, rather than stimulate their interest.  Ignoring feedback is never a good idea.
   

If you're having the same issue I was with updates, there is an application that enables selective Twitter updates to Facebook.  I started using it during Web 2.0 Expo and it works perfectly for me.

PS Someone else (not the source of the original feedback) recently thanked me for updating Facebook more judiciously.

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• When to NOT Use Social Media (readwriteweb.com)

Look out Rosetta, I’m Hooked on LiveMocha!

I’ve wanted to learn Spanish most of my life, but I’ve never gotten passed a couple of classes in high school and college.

I tried again a few years ago.  Even after spending a few hundred dollars on Rosetta Stone, I stopped using it after a couple of weeks.

That’s about to change thanks to LiveMocha, a social networking site focused on language learning. 

LiveMocha offers me something I was missing, community.  

 

Taking Lessons
Every lesson has four required sections (Learn, Review, Write, Speak) and optional exercises.

The software grades the Learn and Review sections and the optional exercises. The community evaluates the Write and Speak sections.

 

Feedback
One of the most satisfying features of Live Mocha is helping others in the community learn English.  Reviewing submissions is addictive!

In offering feedback, members of the community can type comments and record responses.  The recorded responses are terrific.  They allow the learner to hear the nuances of native pronunciation and sentence formation, much like what we’d hear in a public setting.

As you review exercises and others review your submissions, you start build your personal network. 

I’ve found myself committed to certain connections.  As soon as I see an email (delivered both to my LiveMocha and external email inboxes), I attempt to offer feedback as soon as possible. 

Why It Might Work

• A human connection.
• A large and growing community.  Even without connections, submissions are reviewed relatively quickly.
• Mutual benefit.  Many of my connections are native Spanish speakers learning English. 
• Notifications to external email. Having emails delivered to my inbox has helped me stay engaged.  This is especially true because the emails are from people that need their work reviewed, not marketing copy from a faceless company.
• Free and paid options. There are tutors, exportable content, and other options available to premium subscribers.

It's been almost four weeks now. 

I may not be as far as I’d like, but I’m still engaged.

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• Livemocha and Pearson Announce Partnership for Online Language Learning (personanondata.blogspot.com)

Communication is Key

We hear it all the time.

Without effective communication every interpersonal relationship, every goal, every strategy, every organization, is at risk.

Misunderstandings, poor morale, and ineffective relationships rooted in poor communication are commonplace.

Effective communication is hard.  It can be uncomfortable.  It can make people angry with you.

But, it's the only way to solve problems.

When times are difficult and emotions are running high, how can we be sure we're communicating effectively (and respectfully)?

It's time to get back to basics. 

Listen to what others are saying.  Adjust your style to try and connect with them effectively where they are. 

Don't think it's the other person's job to communicate with you no matter where you are on the organizational chart.

Remove yourself emotionally from difficult conversations, at first.  Listen. Ask questions. Stick to the cold, hard facts when assessing a situation. 

However, when it comes time to implement a decision it's time to let emotions back into the picture.  

If you find that a conversation or a topic is annoying you in some way, get another person's perspective.

Effective communication is like exercise.  We all know how to do it.  We all know that we should do it. Yet it's often neglected.

Innovation, Change, and Talent

Florence Foster Jenkins

Florence Foster Jenkins was a singer in the early 1900's who "became famous for her complete lack of rhythm, pitch, tone, and overall singing ability."

What's interesting about Florence, is that she seemed to have no clue that she had no talent.

Florence makes me wonder.

It's easy to listen to her and know she can't sing.  But why didn't she hear that herself?  Was she physically unable (tone deaf, perhaps)?  Was she psychologically unable?

Or, did she know she was "different" and consider herself innovative or ground breaking?

Another case in point, The Shaggs.

"There's an innocence to these songs and their performances that's both charming and unsettling. Hacked-at drumbeats, whacked-around chords, songs that seem to have little or no meter to them ... being played on out-of-tune, pawn-shop-quality guitars all converge, creating dissonance and beauty, chaos and tranquility, causing any listener coming to this music to rearrange any pre-existing notions about the relationships between talent, originality, and ability. There is no album you might own that sounds remotely like this one." (Review of Philosophy of Life written by Cub Koda on allmusic.com)

Who ultimately decides what's innovative and what's just plain bad?

(Full disclosure, I kind of like The Shaggs.)

The Future of Education?

Except for the Super Bowl, I never show much interest in TV commercials.  But last week two new spots from Kaplan University got my attention.

I don't know enough about Kaplan to know if they can deliver on these messages. What I do know is that these messages are on the right track.

Education must change to provide our children with the skills they'll need to collaborate, compete, and flourish in the new world.

Jeff Jarvis did a post called "Hacking Education" where he also included a third video posted on YouTube by Mike Welsh, an Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Kansas State University.

They're worth watching.

YouTube and Poetry

My son told me he hated poetry.

I showed him this.

He wanted to show his teacher but YouTube is blocked at school.

That’s too bad.

It was a poem he liked!

Back in London

It’s always colder than I think it will be - even when I look at the forecast.

My first stop is Ryman (don’t ask me why – I’m just addicted to office supplies).

My second stop is Boots to stock up on all the pain relievers that I can’t get over the counter in the US (you can get codeine OTC here!).

My first trip to Starbucks reminds me that they don’t have Equal and no one uses “half and half” - so I have to switch to lattes and get my own Equal.

It takes me at least a day to remember to walk on the left side of the sidewalk and another day before I start looking in the proper direction when crossing the street.

Everyone writes dates backwards.  Although, since the US is the only country that writes dates MM-DD-YY, I suppose we’re the ones that are backwards.

Common words and phrases are used differently and almost everyone has a better vocabulary than I do. 

What does this have to do with change?

Being here makes me think more carefully.  It makes me listen more closely.

It reminds me both that sometimes when things look the same they aren’t, and other times when things sound different they’re actually very similar.

It makes transparent some of the basic assumptions under which I continually operate.

Understanding our assumptions, biases, and expectations are absolutely required before we can change (ourselves or our environment).

This is really good practice!

Photo from About.com

New Skills

A friend and I were talking today about the skills we’ve had to developed to work effectively in virtual teams.

Remember when a conference call was a free for all and no one knew when to talk and when to be quiet?

Remember when the only way you knew if someone on a call had an issue was if they told you so?

We’ve all had to become better listeners and more adept at reading subtle signs.

Those of us that haven’t pay the price in difficult relationships, poor communication, and misguided effort.

I wonder what we’ll have to learn next?

Bad Words

Are these bad words?

• Conflict
• Power
• Discriminate
• Manipulate

Are words ever bad?

Have any more candidates for the list?