As many of you know, tomorrow I’m helping to make the Stop Doing Dumb Things unconference happen. Recent weeks, and particularly recent days have blurred as we (Peter Massey, Jonathan Wilson and I) have encouraged people to come along and made our preparations for the event. Last night we sent a note to all our guests saying thank you, we appreciate your booking. It is humbling and exciting that we’ve managed to gather such a diverse, interesting crowd.
Hundreds of people we know have helped encourage our guests to come along. To everyone who has read and retweeted stuff about the event, thank you. Every little nudge, reminder, and retweet helps, we appreciate it.
To the fine group of #connectinghr people I met with last week to share and develop unconference ideas, thank you. I’m conscious that was a stressful day for me, and my behaviour fell well short of what I expect of myself. In the heat of a passionate conversation I lost my temper and shouted at a friend. Sorry Mervyn. I re-learned a very valuable lesson, be mindful of others. Thank you folks for putting up with me.
Carole and Keira have supported and encouraged me throughout the planning for tomorrow. Steadfastly. We’ve had a lot of laughs and a few tears along the way. Such inspiration, thank you.
I’m off to load up the Stop Doing Dumb Things wagon and begin carting supplies to the venue, I’ll see you later. Tomorrow is going to rock. Thank you.
Two things fascinate me about the growing unconference movement. The first is the energy, the excitement and value they create for the participants, the guests, and the second is the uncertainty with which many people continue to approach them.
I’ve been to loads of conferences, a few very good ones, and a growing number of unconferences. There are two unconferences coming up which I’m taking part in, ConnectingHR on October 20th and Stop Doing Dumb Things on November 23rd, and I want to tell you about what I get from these events in the hope it may encourage a few folks sitting on the fence to join in.
Method
In an unconference I’m able to experience and practice many different methods of sharing information. These include World Café, pecha kucha and the fishbowl method. All of these are great methods for learning and sharing and are perfectly, simply and cheaply transferrable to the workplace. At the last ConnectingHR I was privileged to run a world café session and the feedback was great. Folks found it enjoyable as a way of meeting many other people, and useful as a way of accelerating and increasing learning. Most conferences are just not laid out and set up to give you this great interaction and great learning.
Meet
At most conferences you arrive, take pot luck and sit next to someone you hope will be interesting, or stick with a colleague for safety. Many people who attend conferences say the best bits are the conversations they have with people in the gaps. Guests flow around and through an unconference in a way that guarantees you will meet many people. This increases your chance of finding interesting folks and in the event that your pot luck shot is a bit off target, it also gives you the opportunity to take aim and have another go, without awkwardness.
Move
At most conferences you are presented at. There is often just one thing happening and you feel obliged to sit and listen, well you’ve paid a lot of money haven’t you. Unconferences give you choices and the rule of two feet applies. If you find a session is not meeting your needs or you’ve learned what you want from it – go and join another. This is not just OK, it’s encouraged.
Co-create
Most conferences show you case studies, and some of these can be useful. At an unconference you get the chance to bring your own organisational challenges and opportunities and discuss them with peers and other experienced folks and find ideas and methods that are really focussed around your needs.
Collaborate
People I meet at unconferences fascinate me. Many have gone on to become friends and trusted advisors. Some have given me valuable work. Valuable in that it is interesting, useful and fun. Unconferences create lasting value.
I’m excited about meeting familiar and new faces at both ConnectingHR and Stop Doing Dumb Things, having great conversations, learning stuff, making work better and building even better relationships. I encourage you to join in, I’m confident you’ll be pleased you did.
Why is engagement going down in the UK and up in the USA?
There is an interesting report in HR Magazine this week that engagement in the UK is going down. What I find even more interesting is that in the USA it is going up and globally, it is staying the same. A rise in the USA seems at odds with the growing “99 percent” and “Occupy Wall Street” movements.
And what is happening in the UK? What specific things are people doing or not doing here that are leading to the problems?
I don’t know, but I think it is worth trying to find out. That’s why I’m helping with the Stop Doing Dumb Things Unconference. The Unconference is part of a journey to explore opportunities for collaboration and engagement, with better service as a goal.
Genuinely engaging business involves employees, customers, suppliers, communities and other groups too. That’s important and it goes far beyond good business too. It touches deep needs for sense of connectedness and purpose: intrinsic motivations.
If you would like to be part of a growing group of interesting people coming together in London on November 23rd to learn, share and challenge for better ways of working, simply grab a ticket. We’ll then send you details of some useful ways to engage and we look forward to meeting you and to sharing a useful and enjoyable day together.