Creating Our Future: Building the
New Normal for Florida’s Libraries
Florida Library Association
May 6, 2011
The New Normal
is about a shift from
growth to creating
real value.
Relationship with Colleagues:
The Virtuous Cycle
Hospitality as Relationship-Based
Service Excellence
Hospitality is present when something
happens for you. It is absent when
something happens to you. These two
simple concepts—for and to—express it
all.
Relationship-Based Service Excellence
• Practice the Virtuous
Cycle of Relationshipbased Service
• Share Ownership
• Turn Over The Rocks
• Always be Collecting,
and Connecting, Dots
• Embrace the “51
Percenters” Philosophy
• Know Your Center
• Apply Constant, Gentle
Pressure
• Relationships include
Teaching Moments:
Address Mistakes
• Be an Agent, Not a
Gatekeeper
Relationship-Based Service Applied
1. Challenge the status quo. Ask, “Whoever wrote the
rule…?” What are some so-called rules you might
challenge at your library?
2. How do you solicit feedback from users in your library? Do
you have similar mechanisms in place to solicit feedback
from your staff?
3. How are mistakes addressed at your library? Does the
staff know your what is non-negotiable about how you do
business? Does your staff know how to identify when
something is off-center and set it right?
4. What 10 things are your staff most passionate about?
Our Brain
Left Hemisphere
Right Hemisphere
• Sequential
• Text
• Analyzes the details
• Simultaneous
• Context
• Synthesizes the big
picture
8
The Conceptual Age
L-Directed Thinking
R-Directed Thinking
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•
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•
•
•
•
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•
Sequential
Literal
Functional
Textual
Analytic
Simultaneous
Metaphorical
Aesthetic
Contextual
Synthetic
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Relationship with Customers
What does it mean to
run a library in a world of
information superabundance?
The bad news:
People would rather
pay for a good
experience than
endure a bad one for
free
“If you have trouble with
the concept of humility in
design, remember that it
took us 5,000 years to put
wheels on our luggage.”
William McDonough
The good news:
People would rather
have for a good
experience for free
than pay for one
Listening to Your Users
1. Spend a day watching your patrons
2. Get on Twitter & Facebook
3. Decide how to measure your success
4. List the things that make your library unique
5. Blog about those things
6. Use your own stuff
7. Submit a bug report or feature request to a software
vendor
8. Steal an idea
9. Play, especially with the line between online and physical
10. Don’t forget the basics
A brand is a promise
of performance
Focus on the Long-View
The Importance of Vision
Current
Reality
Distress
Eustress
(Emotional Tension)
(Creative Tension)
Original model Robert Fritz
Photo by UPI.com
I want to get
over there.
I just don’t want
to leave here.
-Gonzo
Leading Organizational Change
Environmental Forces
Marketplace Requirements
Business Imperatives
Organizational Imperatives
Cultural Imperatives
Leadership/Employee Behavior
Leadership/Employee Mindset
22
Core Values
• A set of beliefs that influence the way people
and groups behave
• They are the “soul” of the organization
• Effective values are deep rooted
• Core values help form a social psychology that
can support or overcome individual
psychology
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A Model for High Performance
Strategy
A
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N
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T
Structure
Culture
Source:
Senn Delaney Leadership
Strategic Direction
•Mission
•Assessment
•Short and Long-Term Goals
•Measures
•Implementation
Implementation Support
•Senior Leadership
•Management Team
•Human Resources
•Systems/Processes
•Policies/Procedures
•Communications
Personality of the Organization
•Shared Values
•Cultural Philosophy
•Leadership Style
•Attitudes/Beliefs
•Behaviors
Florida’s Libraries
Create Value through
Relationships
and
Focus on the Long-View
McNamee’s Success Trifecta
• "Play the things you know..."
• "Focus on 'Leaps of Imagination'..."
• "Follow your Passion ..."