We Have Always Done It That Way

How many times have you read or heard that people remember 10% of what they read, 20% of what they see, 30% of what they hear, 50% of what they see and hear, etc. The theory is rampant in the training field. I’ve read it in the literature and seen it on many Powerpoint presentations, including several of ASAE & the Center’s. Well, get this: the information is bogus. This is according to Dr. Will Thalheimer, President of Work-Learning Research Inc., whose goal is to provide research-based information to the training and learning community. On his blog, he outlines his search for the source of the data (which appears to be non-existent, by the way).

Dr. Thalheimer is not suggesting that learners don’t benefit from multi-faceted or collaborative learning. He is simply pointing out that the percentages of retention by learning type that we have all assumed to be truth are, in fact, fiction. Just goes to show that you can’t believe everything you’ve seen, or heard, or seen and heard”¦

Makes me wonder what other false “truths” are being perpetuated in our community. How often do we just trust the information we hear? Should we?

This makes me think of the conversations I’ve heard lately about the 7 Measures project. There has been criticism that the research did not include small associations, and the question posed about whether, then, the results can be applied to them. One of the research leads publicly commented that
“our findings are very consistent with the literature on systems and learning organizations. Most of the organizations with which I work in my consulting practice have budgets of $3,000,000 or less. My experience with such associations and my understanding of systems research tells me that the principles that make large organizations remarkable holds true for smaller organizations. ” In the presentations I’ve heard on the 7 Measures, they are being advocated for associations of all sizes. Is there harm in that? Not likely, since the measures are sound business principles. But, it is important for us to distinguish between what the data actually supported and what it didn’t.

Tags: Professional Development, The Way We Execute, We've Always Done It That Way by Mickie
No Comments »

Fred Simmons put up a very interesting post on the Gulo Solutions blog that takes Jeff’s “thought experiment” about no dues a few more steps down the road. Check it out.

Tags: The Way We Manage, We've Always Done It That Way by Jamie
No Comments »

HBR has a good article this month about “Disruptive Innovation for Social Change.” It looks at why, if we spend so much money on things like education and healthcare, do they fundamentally not get better? A part of their answer is that most of the money that is spent on these social issues goes to the largest institutions, who happen to be invested in the status quo! Consider the following quote, and think about associations:

“Organizations are set up to support their existing business models. Because implementing a simpler, less expensive, more accessible product or service could sabotage their current offerings, it’s almost impossible for them to disrupt themselves. Therefore, the catalytic innovations that will bring new benefits to the most people are likely to come from outside the ranks of the established players.”

This is why there are so many posts about issues ofdiversity, generations, and who’s in charge in our book.

Tags: The Way We Involve Others, The Way We Work Together, We've Always Done It That Way by Jamie
No Comments »

One thing that I know we will be doing with this book is expanding on it. Each of the posts that became the book is like the tip of the iceberg. I know I have already done some expanding. For example, in the book I wrote a piece about doing staff meetings differently. Since then, I took that post and expanded it into an article that was posted onto the Association Forum’s CEOnly section of their web site. The article is a bit longer and includes some quotes from the Executive Director of a membership organization who had made changes to the way she ran staff meetings. That Executive Director and I are now collaborating on a presentation for the upcoming Great Ideas Conference, where we will build on the concept more.

Tags: We've Always Done It That Way by Jamie
No Comments »

I ran across a funny blog post about the “we’ve always done it that way” concept that ties Space Shuttle Design to Roman Chariots. Perhaps the ultimate in we have always done it that way.

Tags: We've Always Done It That Way by Jamie
1 Comment »