New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow has a thoughtful piece in this morning's paper about the fall from grace of former Congressman Eric Massa and the larger context of male-to-male workplace harassment. Here's an excerpt: According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the percentage of its sexual harassment filings that are made by men has doubled over the last two decades. And, although the agency does not compile data on the gender of those being accused, anecdotal evidence suggests that most of those filings are for male-to-male harassment.
While it is heartening to realize that more men seem to be comfortable speaking up, the Massa case illustrates to what degree their attempts at disclosure can be squeezed between two seemingly oppositional pillars of American masculinity: homoerotic ritualizing and homophobic trivializing. Blow's conclusion: If brotherly bonds must be forged in mostly male work environments (and it is not at all clear to me that they must), then everyone involved must recognize and respect limits far short of where they currently stand. And when someone claims that the lines have been crossed, we as a society, must take ...
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Over the last few weeks I've noticed several articles that focused on the concept of design thinking (which I'll call DT for short). Usually they were categorized under "innovation," which is another term in heavy rotation these days. Like many people I appreciate well designed products and services so I looked into it. I have to say that DT has great potential, both for Human Resource professionals and the organizations they serve. But before I go into the "why" I will first attempt to explain the "what." WHAT IS DESIGN THINKING? Like many concepts, different people have different interpretations of what design thinking is. Some of the common themes surrounding DT are: - Constraints-much like project management, DT works from the assumption that there are limited resources available. It's through accurate identification of the problem or challenge being faced that will allow DT practitioners to meet their objectives. This is expressed in a way (usually through a short, concise statement) that, when done right, helps to focus, frame, and guide the work that needs to be done.
- Empathy-put simply, empathy means putting oneself in the end user's place as ...
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Given that President Obama turned his attention to immigration reform this week, see NYT story, it is somewhat ironic that the issue also surfaced in a more unlikely place, the Texas Supreme Court. The issue before the Court -- whether or not a jury should be informed (repeatedly) that the driver involved in a fatal collision was an illegal immigrant. The underlying suit was against his employer for negligent entrustment. In TXI Transportation Company v. Hughes, (Tx 3.12.10) [pdf] the Court held that such information was not only inadmissible, but was in fact prejudicial so that its admission was not harmless error and required a retrial. The Court's holding was no doubt influenced by the fact that plaintiff had made the illegal status, and in fact the issue of illegal immigration, a central part of its trial theme. Justice Medina wrote for the Court: Hughes [the plaintiff] faced a difficult conceptual burden. He had to convince a jury that a collision involving on-coming traffic, that unquestionably occurred in the eastbound lane of Highway 114, was the fault of Rodriguez, the eastbound driver. The task was all the more difficult because Rodriguez possessed a ...
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 I traveled to Buffalo, New York (yes, on purpose) last Friday to speak at the ASTD Niagara Chapter meeting about learning in the workplace through the social web.
There was a lot of energy and knowledge in the group. Instead of getting hung up on “what is Twitter?” type of conversations (which I often get), we had conversations about bigger issues like control, privacy, standards, the role of L&D, knowing, and “why” (addressing what problem?). I came away with this: - A business can not control the social web because employees are already using the very tools their employer wants to control. And, they’re using them to get work done, not to play Farmville.
- The social web is not private. Once you create any type of content – a rating on Amazon, a blog, a comment – you’re privacy ceases to exist. However, the amount of privacy you want is somewhat within your control.
- Fear (of loss of control and privacy) is best addressed by establishing standards for engagement and working with internal groups.
- Understanding new roles is critical. Where can you be the most effective? Is it helping people find the right person or the right content? Is it ...
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Are you engaging the right elements to create results-based employee engagement? 
If you would like to see how the elements fit together and learn more about what each element means, you can click on the image or click here. If you would like your organization to achieve the complete alchemy of employee engagement contact David Zinger for more information. —– David Zinger, M.Ed., is an employee engagement writer, educator, speaker, coach, and consultant. He offers exceptional contributions on employee engagement for leaders, managers, and employees. David founded and moderates the 2170 member Employee Engagement Network. His website offers 1000 posts/articles relating to employee engagement and strength based leadership. David is involved in the application of Enterprise 2.0 approaches to engagement and the precursor, creating engaging approaches to communication, collaboration, and community within Enterprise 2.0. Book David for education, speaking, and coaching on engagement today for 2010. Email: dzinger@shaw.ca Phone 204 254 2130 Website: www.davidzinger.com Link to original post ...
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Some of the things I learned on Twitter this past week. @oscarberg “Most enterprise social software platforms actually separate internal communication from external communication while email & phone doesn’t.” via @timkastelle Good #km post – Informal Information Management and Knowledge Management Are Not the Same Thing by @johnt My thinking is that just the sharing aspect of informal stuff is “know-what”, this is what KM has been about, but we need to go further to the “know-how” ie. to learn and to be able to have the skills to come up with your own “know-what”. We can do this via conversations. We can now converse with people who shared their informal information, and not only know “what” but also “how”…the ultimate example is apprenticeship and mentoring. via @VenessaMiemis A fairly good source on Social Capital In general, there is no one model for social capital formation or the creation or strengthening of local groups. Albee & Boyd (1997) argue that there is no single answer or model to promoting participation … there are only frameworks and guiding principles. Pantoja (1999) argues that instead of one particular model of . ...
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 A summer evening in 1995: My boss’s boss, a Merrill Lynch executive who has never called me at home, calls me at home. His opening line still ranks in my mind as one of the most interesting possible ways to start a business conversation: “Kirk, do you have a passport?” It turns out I do. “OK, pack a bag, you’re getting on the Concorde to London in the morning. We’re buying a British firm, and you’re going to write the script for the press conference.” A September morning in 2009: The manager of the local supermarket flips through my application, which discloses work experience and a salary history he’s not used to seeing. Plus there’s the whole Princeton thing. He says, “all I have to offer is a job in the deli. Are you sure about this?” It’s an excellent question, and the answer isn’t obvious, even to me. But I manage to convince both of us.  The Concorde was surprisingly cramped inside. The main thing that distinguished the experience from a puddle-jumping commuter plane was the digital display at the front of the cabin, which indicated we topped out at Mach 2 (over 1,300 mph) and 60,000 feet.
I had been told to pack for ...
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Although my usual standard for jury verdict reports is a million dollars (MDV's), this headline caught my attention, Court awards bullied student $800,000. It has long been my view that the most likely path for a bullying cause of action recognized in the workplace (other than the continuous efforts of Professor David Yamada) is the widespread acceptance of anti-bullying legislation applicable to the schools. Anti-bullying Legislation for Schools, An Inevitable Tie. Based on local reporting in the Austin area, I know that a similar suit has been filed against a local area school district and when juries start returning these kinds of awards, no matter whether they ultimately stick, the fact is, more suits will follow. It may be yet awhile before the first state enacts anti-bullying legislation in the workplace, but having been following it for more than seven years, (see Newest Workplace Problem? Bullying?, January, 2003), I am beginning to think of it in terms of likely, if not inevitable. On the other hand, what seems to me to be the path to workplace legislation, anti-bullying laws in the schools, and the resulting litigation and cost to ...
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I live in a small town in Massachusetts (Winthrop), a town like many others across the country, one that is struggling through a rough economy like all others. Yet, in this small town, the teachers have gone without a contract for two years while the Superintendent receives a huge pay raise, the football team has their uniforms dry-cleaned while the girls basketball team does not have enough shorts. Okay, you get the point, right? Things are clearly a bit upside down. Leaders, instead of focusing on a culture of Me first, let's all step back and remember the importance of our teams (the teachers above) and our customers (the kids on the basketball team). - Without a solid team no leader can ever be successful. Before taking that large pay raise and claiming there is no money to go around, think of the people who are making you successful.
- Too many times, especially with regards to teachers, I hear administration, our leaders, blaming the workers for the failures. In any organization you may have one or two people who do not understand, one or two people who fail. When an entire company, agency, school system, fails, the fault ...
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I always enjoy debates about the chain of command concept. I’ve found most people are completely fine with chain of command as long as things are good (for them). The minute situations turn sour, then employees question why chain of command exists. Obviously, there are two directions in the chain of command. Up and down. Most of the time, people think first of the upward direction. You know, “when you have an issue…take it to your boss.” There are some exceptions to this, usually surrounding issues of discrimination, retaliation, or harassment, where it’s been documented that you can bypass your immediate supervisor for another representative of management. I’m sure some people think it’s a pain in the ass when they’re asked told to  follow the chain of command and address the issue with their boss. But if you think about it…there’s a reason for that. You’d like to think your boss knows the most about you, your job, your work situation, etc. Asking someone else to make a decision might not be fair – to you or them. Not to mention your boss who looks bad because you didn’t give them a chance. Now you might ...
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