Your success metrics aren't unique (or, why are we making analytics so hard?)

Last week I had the pleasure of attending TechKnowledge 2013, including giving a workshop on game design with Karl Kapp and presenting a concurrent session on immersive design. Two action-packed days in San Jose, for sure, and for once I got to see some of my esteemed colleagues' presentations as well.

I was most excited to see Ellen Wagner present on learning analytics and get a sneak peek into some of the work that she's been doing with the Gates Foundation. I was not disappointed; I loved hearing Ellen's practical advice to the packed room on how to approach analytics and not be intimidated by big data and the necessity of quantifying learning...or improvement, really...for our non-learning business colleagues. I appreciated her encouraging us to be able to frame the value that we bring to the organization in business terms without abandoning our expertise that qualifies us to take on an important organizational leadership role.

Watching Ellen's presentation left me thinking (which is normally a very good or very dangerous thing).

Every presentation that I've seen on analytics and big data end with the same call to action: "now, go back to your organization and figure out what you should be measuring."

Photo by WH "Snowflake" Bentley

Here's my challenge to you, my esteemed learning colleagues: shouldn't we all be measuring (basically) the same thing? We all suffer from the snowflake syndrome (I'm just like everyone else! I'm unique!), but to be fair, both statements are true. The real question is how much are we alike and how much are we different?

About ten years ago, I was working with a gentleman who had done an in-depth analysis across 15+ pharmaceutical companies, looking at what made their sales representatives successful. He found that 80% of the success indicators were exactly the same across all companies. The unique 20% related to the type of product, the therapeutic market the drug was being sold into, and the corporate culture differences among the companies.

Now, if you're a pharmaceutical company, where do you spend your analysis energy, knowing this? Right. Don't worry about identifying success markers for the 80%: use the identified metrics, provide training and support for those areas, and spend your analysis time identifying what the other 20% are that are unique to your company. EVERYONE should be measuring that 80%...that's baseline. Figuring out the 20% is what differentiates you from your competitors and supports your brand.

Could the same analysis be achieved for call center support? Project managers? Database engineers? Are there consistent success metrics that are common across industries?

If we could identify the success metrics across within or across industries, we wouldn't have to start from scratch to determine our analytics. We SHOULDN'T have to start from scratch. Don't we know what these things are? Can't we say, "Hey, you want to measure your organizations' success and performance improvement? Here is 80% of what you should be looking at, and what it means. Now, figuring out the 20% that's unique to your organization is up to you." (I'm not saying that it's literally 80% for every job function or every industry...but you get the idea.)

As learning professionals, we should know these benchmarks for our industries. If we don't, that is our very first starting point: find the "80%." What makes us the same? What makes us unique? Identify it, benchmark it, measure it. Then? Spend your time analyzing what makes you better than that 80%.

Timshel

One of my two favorite books is East of Eden by John Steinbeck. (The other is The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky...ironic maybe that both books are about brothers? weird.)

It's a book about free will, about choices...about how what you choose is who you become, or defines who you are. One of my favorite passages in East of Eden (actually in any book, ever) describes the differing translations of a single Bible passage, and the implications of what the different translations of that passage mean. The word around which the translations vary is "timshel," which literally means "thou mayest." 

This is the core of what it means to be human, the central guiding factor of anything we do. "Thou mayest." You choose what you do. You choose who you are. Each decision that we face, we have the opportunity to choose our course of action. 

There are implications of your choices, for yourself and for others, but ultimately you need to decide who you are deciding for. Is what is good for you and bad for others a good choice or a bad choice? Is what's good for others but hurts you the right decision? Who defines what is a good or bad choice? Who decides whose happiness is more important? Who decides whose pain is more valid? Who decides who is right or wrong?

The truth is, we all do. We, each one of us, decides every day. Luckily, most decisions aren't that complicated...most decisions don't have serious implications for our or other peoples' happiness or wellbeing. But some do. Do you stay at work late to work towards a promotion to make more money to support your family, or do you leave early to spend more time with your kids? Do you end a relationship that isn't working and deal with the consequences, or do you fight to make it work even if it never turns out to be something that makes you truly happy? Do you forgive a violation of your trust, or are some trespasses unforgivable? Do you keep the $20 you find on the street, or do you turn it in? Do you make decisions for the sake of your kids, or do you make decisions that set an example for your children? If you do things for yourself, are you selfish? If you do things for other people, at the expense of doing things for yourself, is that better or worse? Do you judge and treat others harshly for decisions they make that are different than your own, or do you accept our differences as we're all trying to figure this out, day by day?

Timshel. 

Thou mayest. 

You have a choice. You decide who you are. It's empowering. It's terrifying. It exposes weakness. It shows true character. It provides opportunity for redemption. It is the core of humanity. 

Timshel. 

Deliberate adaptation

It may be 2013, but we're not starting tabula rasa. We have work to do this year.

Like many people, I sat and cried for hours the day of the Sandy Hook elementary shooting. I cried for days afterward. I cried for the lives lost in Newtown, CT. I cried for my children, who are growing up in this world and have to learn about these tragedies. I cried for our culture, when news reporters think it's ok to interview young children immediately after they've gone through a horrific, traumatic event. I cried for our country, which has been resistant to address the problems that are contributing to the continuous parade of massacres enabled by the widespread availability of guns and stigmatized access to mental healthcare, if healthcare is accessible at all.

I had to stop reading Facebook and Twitter. I couldn't process all of the emotions. When I came back to them, perhaps unsurprisingly, I was appalled by what people were saying.

People were saying if teachers had guns, this tragedy could have been prevented. OMG, are you kidding me? That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. As a former teacher, it was not part of my degree program to learn how to use a firearm to defend myself and my students against homicidal maniacs. NOR SHOULD IT BE. Teachers are professionals, educators who believe strongly in their mission to help children learn and reach their potential. They are underpaid and undervalued in our society. Are you really saying that in addition to all of the critically important things that they need to do each day that help our society stay educated and strong, that they should be tasked with knowing how to shoot a vigilante? Get a grip.

School security...I heard people saying that schools need to be safer, more security guards and more lock down. Again, really? Is that an appropriate atmosphere for learning? Is that how you want your kids to grow up? In a police state? No. I don't want armed guards greeting my kids at school each day. I don't even like seeing them at the airport.

Those opinions are purporting that our society isn't the problem, it's schools that aren't prepared and are letting us down. Let schools deal with the REAL problems they have...underpaid teachers, under-funding in general, lack of parent support and involvement, archaic models of instruction that haven't caught up to modern technology and society...schools have enough on their plates without having to fend off armed crazies.

I heard people saying there's nothing to be done. That people have the right to have guns and taking them away won't prevent mass murders. That's such a defeatist and "woe is me" attitude. We don't have to accept the status quo. It's fine if you want to sit on your ass and not do anything about it, but please don't get in the way of people who DO want to prevent future tragedies.

The toughest was seeing people arguing about what causes such a horrendous event to occur. Some people blamed a lack of gun control. Yes, that's a problem. Some people blamed a lack of care in our society for people with mental illness. Yes, that's also a problem. It's not one or the other; it's both.

People have access to guns with which they can kill people easily. Lots of people. I come from a hunting family; I'm not talking about sporting rifles. I'm talking about guns that you're not allowed to use to kill a deer. You can buy them online. You can buy them all over the place. Sure, there are some screening procedures. But hey, if I can't pass the screen, maybe my mom can. Or my brother. Or my friend. The U.S. has a tragic number of gun deaths each year. Why are we allowing this to continue? Oh right...the Second Amendment. Funny, we've evolved as a society in so many ways...we abolished slavery. Women can vote. We're finally acknowledging equality regardless of your sexual orientation. Why is it so difficult for us to let go of guns?

Let me ask you this...how many stories do you hear of someone who was able to prevent a tragedy because they had a gun? How many rapists stopped? How many murders prevented? How many kidnappers thwarted? It's weird...because I hear of so many accidental shootings, but very rarely of guns being appropriately used as defensive weapons. Why is that? Oh right...fear. We've been sold this bill of goods, that we need to have guns to protect ourselves. For every story of someone effectively using a gun to stop a bad guy, there are countless of bad guys who aren't stopped who never should have had a gun, and even more accidental deaths caused by guns. What exactly do we need guns to protect us from? The boogeyman? Zombies? Home intruders?

I would be willing to give up everyone having guns if it meant EVERYONE had less guns. I would be willing to explain that to my children. I would be willing to risk the zombie apocalypse without automatic weapons, if it meant that in the meantime, less tragedies would occur.

There are a few truths. Change requires action.

If you believe something needs to change to prevent future tragedies, you have a few options for action you could take:

• You might decide that tighter gun control laws would prevent future tragedies. I would agree. The NRA is a powerful lobby in our government and they have somehow convinced people that guns aren't the problem. The data doesn't prove that out. If you want to see more gun control in the United States, put your money and your time where your mouth is. Certainly those who don't want restrictions on guns are doing that in numbers. 

• You might decide that we need to have better access to mental healthcare, that we need to make it affordable, and that we need to remove the stigma from helping those who need it receive care. If you had a bad heart, you'd have no problem seeking the best medical care. Why is it different if someone's brain needs medical care? We have far to go in this country in ensuring people with mental illness get the care that they need.

• You might decide that the media is to blame in glorifying the perpetrators of these horrific deeds. Guess what? The media is selling what people are buying. You want the media to stop creating these villains? Stop watching. Stop reading. Do you know the name of the shooter in Newtown, CT? Do you know the names of any of the victims? How about any of the victims in Aurora, CO? Who should we be remembering, the victims or sickos who killed them?

• You might decide to pray. Fair enough. The vicitims and their families need all of our support right now. They need our strength and they need our love. But don't rely on God to fix the problems...if anything, if you believe in God's power, then it's pretty clear that God keeps sending us the same message OVER and OVER. Maybe God is telling us it's not enough to pray...it's time to take action.

Nothing changes until we decide to change it. If we don't fight to change, even when it's difficult, we're accepting this status quo, accepting that we're ok with ongoing mass murders, people not being treated for mental illness and our children living in fear. It's easier to learn how to live with a problem than to change it; they are both a form of adaptation. The question is, to what do you want to adapt?

So long, 2012: You were a very good year

Wow, 2012. Way to bring it.

New job, new house, new coast, new climate, new amazing family and a wedding in the works. Heck, I even got a new tattoo.

For the past few years, I've really looked forward to saying goodbye to the old year and kicking off a fresh, new one. Ahh, but 2012, you are a tough act to follow.

I'll look back at this year with affection, for the changes it brought and the happiness that came with those changes. I am so very grateful.

Still, time marches on and as much as I'm reflecting on the past, I'm excited about what 2013 has to bring. As always, I've written a few to-do's for the new year:

• Play more games. 

This one is pretty simple. Video games, board games, social games...whatever. Play more, not for work, just because I love it. (For what it's worth, I've already started on this one!)

• Run another 5k.

I "ran" my first one this year. I'd like to do better, and I'd like to train a lot more. Looks like another round of P90X is in order...

• Get to know my local UUs.

I'll admit it. One of the things I miss most about Pennsylvania is my church. I visited the local congregation here in Santa Barbara and it was lovely, but maybe because I'm stubborn or maybe because I was particularly missing my congregation in West Chester, I haven't gone since last summer. There was a lot of "new" that was good in 2012...this is a "new" that I want to embrace in 2013.


So here's to you, 2012, you tenacious and adventurous year! Thank you for the joy you brought, the excellent memories you leave with me, and the set up for an even better 2013. Cheers, everyone!

Sunsetting #weliveherenow

If you follow me on Twitter or are friends with me on Facebook, you may have noticed (not sure how you couldn't) the string of various pics since June of my new coast and the accompanying hashtag #weliveherenow. The genesis was pretty simple. As John and I finished our cross-country trip from Philadelphia to Santa Barbara, as we drove the final stretch around the coastline between Ventura and Carpinteria, John looked out at the ocean, then back at me, and said it. "We live here now." 

Just another day in Carpinteria

Four little words that meant such a dramatic change in my life. It meant I was taking a real job where I wouldn't be the boss for the first time in 5 years. It meant that the ocean was on our west and not our east (you would not believe how disorienting it STILL is sometimes.) It meant that WE had made this trek, this decision to blend our families, and we were embarking on an even bigger adventure...living together. It meant that every day, I would see the ocean, the mountains, the palm trees...that I would be living in one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. 

For the last six months, I think I've lived in constant amazement that I am HERE. Not just here geographically, but also at this place in my life. And so we started using the hashtag to remind ourselves that this was real. 

We live here now. WE live here now. We LIVE here now. We live HERE now. We live here NOW. 

Sunset on our beach

It was never meant to gloat...it signified my thankfulness. My gratitude. My newfound contentment. My happiness. 

I'm retiring the hashtag now because this is the new normal. Yes, we DO live here now. I'm sure I'll still post pics (I haven't stopped being thankful), but I'm going to stop being amazed because this is my life now. Every beautiful, amazing second of it. 

Our family

If you want to see where I live, "our beach" in Carpinteria where John proposed to me...click on this link and scroll down. See that beach, just past the tree on the far side of the field? That's the spot.

Ok, maybe I'm gloating just a little :)

Your "assessment" is probably bullshit

Every year, the first morning of DevLearn, I usually wake up with some crazy epiphany about learning and training that sticks in my brain throughout the conference. This year the revelation was "assessment is meaningless." I decided to try to spend the conference (when I wasn't presenting or hosting the Emerging Tech stage) trying to find examples of meaningful assessment.

My mission was by and large futile.

Let me start by clarifying: for adult education and training, knowledge might be important for dinner party conversation, and it might even help you in a job interview, but more than likely what you know isn't a fair representation of what you can do. Learning objectives are very different than performance objectives.

Why are we still writing learning objectives and assessing for knowledge acquisition when the only thing the business cares about is what employees can do?

If you're an instructional designer and you're writing learning objectives, please stop. STOP. What you learned in your graduate program or by reading Dick & Carey is meaningless to business objectives and business leaders don't know what the hell ADDIE is. Executives don't care if employees passed all of their knowledge checks with 100%. The bottom line is not improved by multiple choice questions. WHAT YOU ARE MEASURING AS A BENCHMARK OF LEARNING IS MAKING INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN OBSOLETE. Stop stroking your own ego. Stop trying to justify your decision to make a click-through elearning module or to drag the salesforce out of the field for two days for training by showing they all passed a multiple choice test. NO ONE BELIEVES YOU and NO ONE CARES (yes, I'm yelling).

Businesses care about performance. What are employees doing, and what do they need to do better, to improve business function. Is what you're teaching employees helping the business make more money or saving the business money? SHOW THAT. Use those words. Measure performance. Make what you do meaningful to your organization by setting performance objectives and measuring against those.  Provide performance support. Stop making the easy decisions. Make meaningful and relevant design choices.

If you can't assess something meaningful, it might be better to not assess anything at all.

/drops mic. walks off stage./

A year of living (mostly) bloglessly

I started this blog to write about starting a company, everything I learned along the way. It's evolved over the years...at first I wrote a lot about starting Tandem Learning, then I wrote a lot about virtual worlds. Learning. Games. Gender issues. Taking risks. Occasionally, my kids. My goals. Music. I've written about so many things.

There's been a lot I haven't written about. I learned (the hard way) about what happens when you reveal too much about yourself out there to the world. It's still shocking to me that sometimes people read what I write. I had to learn to balance out the personal benefit I gain from writing my thoughts down in this blog, and the potential fallout for me when people read what I write. I have opinions, no doubt. I learned that sometimes I need to keep them to myself.

This year was a particularly tough juggling act, professionally and personally, in relationship to this blog and what I wanted to share publicly. Most of the time, I erred on the side of silence. My rationale was that this was a blog started to document my professional development and the stories of my personal growth and learning this year didn't really "fit."

So now it's December, and I look back at everything I didn't write about this year...I look at whole months where I stayed silent and didn't post the things I was learning. I look back on a year when I evolved more, learned more, and took more risks than I ever have. I didn't share most of it. I didn't document that evolution. And now, I kinda wish I would have.

Blogging is what you make of it, right? Maybe this is a professional blog, but it's a personal blog, too. Sometimes the personal is going to supersede the professional and sometimes it's gonna be all work, work, work. I made a resolution at the beginning of 2012 to apologize less. That hasn't gone so well...old habits die hard. For 2013, I'm just going to be me but I'm going to write about it here, because that's how I learn. So no apologies in advance for the posts about my upcoming wedding, my continued amazement at the beauty that surrounds me every day here in Santa Barbara county, my hilarious kids that push me to be better, and my partner, my love, who has made me reconsider my stance on fairy tales. 

I'm also about to write a post on why most assessment in learning is bullshit. Because, well, that's who I am, and what this blog is, too.