Jeff Scott

As March implies, there are no magical leadership or organizational practices that will quickly propel your organization to the top of the heap. Even the greatest organizations struggle to stay at the top and are led by fallible people who make many mistakes. - Jeff Scott

Resilience is optimistic opportunism. Its power can be seen in the prescient observation that “Things turn out the best for those who make the best of the way things turn out.” Think about that: “Things turn out the best for those who make the best of the way things turn out.” - Jeff Scott

For me, this speaks not only to architectural innovations but it also justifies the digital initiatives ‘labs’ trend that is appearing in some public libraries, like NYPL or DCPL. It also speaks to the fact that evaluating success by collecting materials circulation statistics is insufficient in this changing landscape. A more accurate means of evaluating success would be a combination of circulations stats, door count, wireless usage stats, web traffic stats, and presence in the social graph. - Jeff Scott

What makes an idea thought-provoking, to my mind, is the extent to which we are forced to make an effort to assimilate apparently contradictory or at least antagonistic notions. Roger Martin, the dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, has a wonderful book out on this very idea ("The Opposable Mind"). He argues that what distinguishes successful business leaders is their ability to reconcile apparently irreconcilable options. - Jeff Scott

The call centre manager felt he had to watch everyone like a hawke and things like Facebook would be just a terrible time waster. Kirsty suggested that for a mundane and stressful job like working in a call centre access to something like Facebook to keep in contact with family and friends would be a tremendous benefit. The most important step, Kirsty said, was to engage the call centre workers in deciding the rules of how Facebook could be used. That way the staff police themselves and pull into line anyone who abuses the benefit. No one would want to loose a perk like Facebook. - Jeff Scott

There is a mountain of literature and reports that document how people prefer to be led rather than pushed, that they respond better to coaching and facilitating their work instead of micro-management and fault-finding, and that leaders who state the vision and set direction for the institution and then let the staff do the work are more successful in any number of measures. - Jeff Scott

We’ve just finished a strategic conversation with our own users. We asked: 'In the next five to ten years, what should we be doing, and what should we be doing if resources are reduced?' In that study, people over and over again said, ‘We’re concerned about our teens, what they’re doing after school, and we wished you worked more with the schools.’ Well, when this came along, I thought [that] there seems to be real potential for strengthening that. - Jeff Scott

A Day in the Life. You work in a small municipal library, where you have to do a little of everything. You start your day by leafing through catalogs from online database publishers and book reviews in Library Journal to decide which titles to add to your collection. Next, it's out to the reference desk, where visitors regularly ask how to find something. Sometimes, it's esoteric; often, it's the bathroom. Later, you teach a class: an advanced lesson in Googling. Next, it's back to the reference desk, but you're soon interrupted by a group of boisterous kids, so you have to turn into schoolmarm: "You'll have to be quiet, or I'll have to ask you to leave." You end your day reading about "automated librarianship": data storage systems that let the public get needed resources without the help of a live librarian. Tomorrow, you decide, you'll start writing a grant proposal to develop a computer kiosk that will help patrons find health information. - Jeff Scott

Those who benefit most from the status quo are naturally the least interested in change, and they find allies in the fearful and the authoritarian. Rollo May suggested conformity is due to lack of courage. He certainly had a point. Many people suppress their ideas, hopes and dreams because they’re afraid to stand out and draw attention to themselves. Authoritarian leaders are always quick to include a threat of punishment if you fail to fit in, whether it comes from ridicule, being shunned by others or direct attack. Those who seek conformity have never been afraid to back up their wishes with force. - Jeff Scott

I have thought about these issues for years, and shared some of my thinking with him: first, that although many people, particularly when they're afraid, think the job of the library is to protect children, that isn't so, at least not through the suppression of access to knowledge. Our job is access. We don't direct our culture; we reflect it. That includes a lot of stuff that makes non-fans squirm. Second, removing such materials from libraries doesn't suddenly make them unavailable to youth; we buy them because youth have already heard them, because they are in demand. Third, emotional expression, even of very dark moods and feelings, is the meaning of music. It's how youth work through the complex feelings of adolescence. Fourth, young people often have no idea what the singers are going on about. The man admitted that he loved hard rock as a youth, and often, didn't know the lyrics at all, or attach much significance to them when he did. - Jeff Scott

Recliners and more ottomans More outlets More headphones for check out Power strips Extension cords Book stands / paper stands More small cubical-like spaces Wireless keyboards Wireless mice Laptop docking stations Comfortable chairs with tables and power outlets attached Live chat with IT Help Desk A bunch of common chargers available for checkout Power outlets in all of the furniture Laptop friendly tables and chairs (everything adjustable) Swirling desk chairs External drives Flash jump drives More laptops for check out MacBooks for checkout, not just Dells - Jeff Scott

It is really stupid to believe Internet filters will keep kids out of trouble on the Internet. For so many reasons. Even the slow kids who can't get around the school's filter, can still exploit that 10% of porn sites the filter won't catch if they choose to do so. They can still send cyberbullying e-mail - maybe even using your email address. Or they can just plain waste time. - Jeff Scott

Usually, upper management is the culprit. They don't trust the first-line supervisors and suspect they may be exaggerating and/or exacerbating the problem. They are wary of any decision that may require prolonged contact with lawyers. They want to solve the problem, but do not want to take responsibility for solving the problem. Since these managers, unlike the immediate supervisor, don't have to work with the difficult employee or endure the frustration of the person's co-workers, they are under little pressure to make things right. Inaction to them equals no stress. Inaction to the immediate supervisor and the co-workers equals increased stress. - Jeff Scott

Understand that each person in the organization is not just doing a job, but is also being stretched and grown. Find ways to develop leaders within their jobs Encourage their leaders to be active in their communities. Understand the critical roles of teachers and of feedback. Identify promising performers early. Understand that people development works best through inspiration not authority. Invest significant time, money, and energy in developing people. Make leadership development part of the culture. - Jeff Scott

Sometimes, in our quest for the new, we overpay. Most of the time, moving down the curve will decrease your costs dramatically, without hurting your ability to make smart decisions. Alternatively, when you choose to spend the time (or money), leverage it like crazy. - Jeff Scott

The program grows out of a grant from the federal Institute for Museum and Library Services to develop competences and standards for support staff and to test a model certification program. The timetable change is “[d]ue to the speed of progress in developing the standards and the many expressions of interest from support staff,” said ALA president Jim Rettig in a message to the ALA Council electronic mailing list. - Jeff Scott

Twitter, a social networking site that allows users to exchange short messages -- called 'tweets" -- on their activities, has been joined by a state and local government listing called GovTwit. - Jeff Scott

Increasing Investment through Participation 5 Redoing Workspace Layouts without Tears and Angst Wyoma vanDuinkerken and Pixey Anne Mosley Statistical Analysis Models 12 Applications for Libraries Tim Spindler Intergroup Dynamics 17 Librarians and Paraprofessionals in the Workplace Marian G. Fragola Using the READ Scale for Staffing Strategies 26 The Georgia College and State University Experience Bella Karr Gerlich and Edward Whatley Growing Librarians 31 Mentorship in an Academic Library Marta Lee - Jeff Scott

1. Procrastinating 2. Not being direct about problem areas. 3. Not being specific enough. 4. Not paying attention to the overall picture. 5. Focusing only on recent history rather than the entire evaluation period. 6. Not getting feedback from others. - Jeff Scott

That book is awesome! There is a scene later in the book when they are fighting it out. It's 200 taliban against five Navy Seals. It's heartbreaking, but amazing what Seals can do. Also what they go through just for training. - Jeff Scott

Unfortunately or fortunately, library software and services are not always sold as a suite of options from which you can pick and choose. It's often all or nothing. But having bought a product we can often influence its further development. So before you ask for the latest shiny bauble you may want to take a few moments and picture -- really picture -- yourself or your users using it. If you have trouble doing that, then perhaps it is a feature that although it seems like a good idea at the time, will remain unused, unappreciated, and unjustified. - Jeff Scott

You and I are doing business in Twitter. You and I are doing things on XYZ platform. There are gazillions of other conversations that I’m not touching, that Seth isn’t touching, that Scoble or Kawasaki or whoever the heck you want to put in the *.person.who.should.join.the.conversation should be touching. But is that really the goal? Or is the goal to fish where your fish are, to do what you plan to do, and to do it well? - Jeff Scott

Those of you who are managers should heed this lesson. Choosing subordinates who are carbon copies of you does not a strong department make. If you really want your group to be successful, sit down and think hard about your own style, and the areas where you’re not quite as strong or need improvement. For example, if you tend to focus on the big picture and neglect some of the steps along the way, look for a candidate who is obsessively detail-oriented. While it’s natural to gravitate to people who are similar to you, you’ll be a better leader in the long-run if you resist the temptation. - Jeff Scott

Metro Nashville plans to start consolidating management of its school libraries with its public library system by July 1, Mayor Karl Dean said Thursday in a letter to the school district’s acting director. The consolidation, which will focus first on having the Nashville Public Library buy high schools’ books and other materials, will bring the strengths of a “world-class library system” to the schools, Dean wrote to Chris Henson. - Jeff Scott

What Matters Most to Moms When asked to what are the most important issues on moms’ minds in 2008, collectively the respondents provided these responses, in rank order: Relationship/communication with their children Quality of education for their children Safety in the world for their children Drug use among their children’s peer group Cyber/online safety for their children - Jeff Scott

When it comes to library services, everything we offer should be addressing a need from “up the chain.” Offering services just because we can, or because it’s something being pushed on us from “below,” doesn’t justify that service. If a service doesn’t address a patron need, then should we really be offering it? - Jeff Scott

Con Wiebrands and I gave a paper about library unconferences last week at the LIANZA conference. You can find the whole 5000 or so words here: The unconference: a new model for better professional communication . - Jeff Scott

Check out people with a hand held device. Take payments through the library's catalog. DVD vault with 5,000 discs. - Jeff Scott

But my observation is that the reason F2F is so powerful is simply that passion is easier to convey. A really good concurrent session does not need a smooth delivery, great PowerPoint slides or even radically new information. But it MUST have excitement and enthusiasm. The presenter has to convince me that she/he truly has something important to say. If that happens, I am engaged and learning. And inspiring such passion is awfully hard to do in impersonal media. - Jeff Scott