Category Archives: Conferences

Talk about personality!

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ASTD 2011

ASTD 2011
by Bradford Glaser, HRDQ President & CEO

Personality—let me just say, ASTD was full of it! This year certainly did not disappoint. Besides being held in sunny Orlando (one of my favorite conference venues), the convention center was buzzing with the energy of close to 8000 training and development professionals.

And boy, did they keep the HRDQ Team on their toes.

In just over two days, we administered What’s My Communication Style?—our bestselling assessment—more than 600 times! Not only did attendees get to quickly discover their personality style, they also got HRDQ Blinky Pins as a free takeaway. It was exciting to spot attendees walking around the conference hall wearing their personality style “on their sleeve”, so to speak. In fact, many returned to our booth with colleagues who also wanted to walk the talk.

We were anxious to see if this year’s conference population had the same personality style make up as last year’s. Curious to know which personality style dominated?  Direct, Spirited, Considerate, or Systematic?

Drum roll, please…

Considerate! A whopping 38% of those who took the assessment were the Considerate style. Spirited was the second most dominant, rolling in at almost 31%. Systematic and Direct followed at 21% and 10%, respectively.

Wondering how these results compare to the general population?

What’s My Communication Style? has been administered to tens of thousands of people over the last 15 years, and the statistics consistently show an almost equal distribution across the four personality styles. Not so at ASTD. Within this population, it’s clear that the Considerate style is most dominant. We’re not surprised, though—we achieved similar results at ASTD ’10.

It was great to see so many familiar faces in the crowd! Thanks to all of you who stopped by to say hello and check out What’s My Communication Style?. We hope you’re still enjoying your “blinky bling” and wearing your personality style with pride. We look forward to seeing you again next year when we’ll be in the mile-high city of Denver, Colorado. Look for us in booth #124.

Tell us—did you attend ASTD?  If so, let’s hear your thoughts about the show.

Chilly City, Hot Topics

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Linkage's Organizational Development Summit

The Linkage Organizational Development Summit
–Martin Delahoussaye 

HRDQ CEO Brad Glaser and I traveled to chilly Chicago a little over a week ago to attend the 13th annual Linkage Organizational Development Summit. It was an action-packed three days, with four keynote speakers, several lifetime achievement awards, and more than 30 concurrent sessions. 

The theme of this year’s conference was “Better People, Better Teams, and Better Organizations.” Keynote presenters David Ulrich, Michele Norris, Walter Bond, and Cathy Greenberg drove home this message with discussions about creating sustainable, successful organizations for the future.  

Edgar Schein, the author of Career Anchors, received a lifetime achievement award from Linkage, along with Chris Argyris and Warren Bennis. Dr. Schein opened his acceptance speech by reinforcing his belief that learning must be experiential to be of any real value. HRDQ subscribes to this philosophy, so it pleased me to hear Dr. Schein recognize its value and importance. 

Of particular interest to me was Geoff Bellman’s Creating Extraordinary Teams—and based on attendance, his session was of interest to many others too. It attracted more than a third of the conference attendees! 

Geoff engaged the audience with the eight performance indicators of extraordinary teams and his Group Needs Model. Observing the activity and discussion around the room, I was struck by how easily people gravitated to the concept of extraordinary teams. The model works because it’s practical, positive, and intuitive. It supports what people already know about themselves, what they believe, and what inspires them. To put it simply, people get it. 

Geoff also offered a sneak peek into the soon-to-be-released Extraordinary Teams Inventory, the assessment he’s co-authoring with Kathleen Ryan and Kevin Coray. HRDQ will publish it in late 2011. A few lucky attendees even had the opportunity to try the beta version of the Inventory prior to the conference, and were treated to personal feedback from Geoff after his session. 

In case you missed it, click here to see Geoff Bellman’s presentation. Let us know what you think—is  your organization prepared to create extraordinary teams?

See you at the 2011 Cowtown Quality Roundup!

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If you’re a training professional in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, the 2011 Cowtown Quality Roundup is the place to be on April 1st! Sponsored by ASQ Greater Fort Worth, this year’s conference will feature learning tracks on auditing, quality assurance, process improvement, and more.

Plus, leadership expert Gary Turner will present two sessions you shouldn’t miss:

Project Leadership—Nerds Need Not Apply

Project leadership isn’t just about logistics. It’s also about people skills. In this session, Gary will present the Project Leadership Assessment, an innovative learning instrument that helps project leaders develop the skills critical to successful performance. You’ll start by measuring your abilities in five key areas, and then you’ll learn how to motivate your teams, build better relationships, and sustain maximum performance.

Leadership Unlimited—Removing Barriers to Your Potential

Derailment. Sometimes, seemingly successful managers and executives suddenly and unexpectedly self- destruct. It can happen to anyone. The good news is that derailment can be predicted—and even prevented—with the help of the right resources. Join Gary for presentation that will provide you with knowledge you can put into immediate action. He’ll introduce the Leadership Unlimited Profile, a new assessment that detects early warning signs and then gets you back on the track to success.

The Details

What:     ASQ Greater Fort Worth 2011 Cowtown Quality Roundup
When:    Friday, April 1, 2011, 8:00am – 5:00pm
Where:   Radisson Hotel Fort Worth

Register here to reserve your front-row seat!

About Gary Turner

An award-winning trainer and consultant, Gary Turner has over 30 years of professional experience with major corporations such as M&M Mars, Aramark, and AT&T. He has been a requested speaker at conferences including ASTD, ASQ, College and University Personnel Association, the International Collaborative Organizations Conference, and at annual meetings for companies around the world. Gary holds two Master’s degrees, one in Communication from the University of Nebraska, and another in History from Abilene Christian University. He earned his BA from Harding University. Among his awards and distinctions, he has served as a final judge for the International Team Excellence Award since 1997, and was the leader of the 1992-94 Veterans Administration project team that won the first Reinventing Government Hammer Award.

What separates extraordinary from just plain ordinary?

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Extraordinary GroupsWhile some groups accomplish amazing results, most others are unable to achieve extraordinary performance.

Why are some more successful than others? And exactly what is it that separates the best from the rest?

After four years of collaborative field research, authors Geoff Bellman and Kathleen Ryan may have the answer. In their book Extraordinary Groups: How Ordinary Teams Achieve Extraordinary Results (Jossey-Bass), they reveal how to achieve outstanding results while transforming group members both individually and collectively.

So what makes a group or team extraordinary?  Bellman and Ryan interviewed more than 60 groups. Their research shows that people bring needs with them when they join a group, and those needs must be satisfied before any group can achieve extraordinary status. The more each group member’s individual needs are met, the more fulfilling the experience, and therefore the more extraordinary the group’s performance.

The authors boil it down in their Group Needs Model, a framework that identifies six human needs that are key to team effectiveness and eight performance indicators that differentiate extraordinary groups from the rest.

If you’re thinking to yourself that the potential for extraordinary group performance may actually be measurable, you’re right. And the good news is that you’ll be able to assess these dimensions very soon.

It is with great pleasure that I announce HRDQ has reached an agreement with the authors to publish an assessment and training package based on the eight performance indicators described in this book. Together with a related training and development program, the assessment is currently in production and will be released in the third quarter of 2011.

Want to learn more in the meantime? Register for the Linkage Organizational Development Summit in Chicago this coming May 3-5 and attend Geoff Bellman’s session, Creating Extraordinary Teams. He’ll explore:

  • What allows some teams to perform in ways that exceed their own expectations.
  • How extraordinary teams differ from most other teams.
  • What specific steps you can take to achieve extraordinary success, time and time again.

Be among the first 100 people to register and you can take a test drive of the beta version assessment free of charge.

Reporting Live From NASAGA – The Fun Factor

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Bernie DeKoven leads the activity Identity Exchange

Bernie DeKoven was this morning’s keynote speaker, and we were particularly excited to hear his presentation. An award-winning game designer, Bernie is also the co-author of one of our most popular training products, Junkyard Games: The Outrageously Fun Innovation Simulation.

In true DeKoven style, he kicked off his presentation with a fun activity called Identity Exchange. The idea is that you tell someone about yourself, and then that person uses your identity to introduce themselves to others. What was so fun about it? Finding out just how long it takes before you meet up with someone who turns out to be… you!

With the audience warmed up and engaged, Bernie’s presentation got down to business with provoking thoughts: What does fun contribute to a simulation game? To the players’ experience?  To the learning? To the effectiveness of the simulation? Indeed, these are interesting questions – and ones we’ve touched upon in more than one Inside HRDQ post.

Bernie’s point?  Fun = flow = happiness = better performance.

Having fun at work, and even worse, having fun while learning, is taboo in many organizations. We are taught that fun is frivolous—that people who look like they are having fun are not to be taken seriously.

But Bernie’s on to something. Think about it. Fun. The “F” word isn’t one that trainers use during consultations with decision-making executives. It’s not a selling point. Yet we as trainers know (and it’s been proven) that fun makes learning deeper, more efficient, and unforgettable. And at the end of the day, isn’t that what gets us asked back to do more training?

He referenced Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the psychologist best known as the architect of “flow,” a state of being “in the zone” or “in the groove.” Flow is an optimal state of intrinsic motivation. In other words, when a person is fully immersed in what he or she is doing – maybe even having fun – that person is most happy.

Getting back to Bernie’s original questions: in his opinion, the answers are all yes. Fun contributes a lot to learning. And simulations and games should be fun, whenever possible. Because when learners learn that they can have fun learning, not only do they learn more, but it’s only a hop, skip, and a jump for them to figure out that if they are happy and having fun at work, it may be a sign that they are working better, and possibly even working their best.

Greetings from the 2010 NASAGA Conference

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It seems like just yesterday we were at the NASAGA Conference in Washington, DC. But here we are at the 2010 Conference, this year in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia. And wow, what an impressive line-up of speakers and sessions there is for us to experience. Here are just a few highlights from day one:

Fred Goodman and Thiagi

Our morning began with Fred Goodman’s keynote address. A highly regarded designer of simulations and academic games for close to five decades, Fred spoke about using games as an effective way to get people to “change their minds” rather than just “preserving their beliefs.” In his presentation, Chance, Choice, and Change: The Joy of Learning, Fred focused on the need to transform the minds of those who view learning as a necessary evil, instead helping them to see learning as a process to anticipate with excitement and joy.

His passion on the subject is quite contagious, and it was of no surprise to the audience that Fred is this year’s recipient of the NASAGA Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by none other than the guru of game design, Dr. Sivasailam “Thiagi” Thiagarajan.

PGS wins game design competition with "A Matter of Time"

This morning’s welcome ceremonies included the 2010 NASAGA / HRDQ Game Design Competition Award. As a co-sponsor of the contest, we were thrilled to present this year’s award to PGS for their time and priority management simulation, A Matter of Time. If the name PGS sounds familiar to you, you may recall that the same Poland-based firm won the 2009 award with Strike Fighter, a collaborative negotiating game that was just recently published by HRDQ. Click here to check it out.

Speaking of Thiagi, we had the pleasure of attending his session, The Magic of Learning and the Learning of Magic. Together with Ken Bellemare, Tracy Tagliati, and Raja Thiagarajan, we learned how to incorporate easy-to-do and ready-to-use magic effects in learning, otherwise known as the “art of astonishment.”

And the fun didn’t stop there. If you think the NASAGA Conference is just another series of talking-head presentations, you’re wrong. One of the best things about the NASAGA Conference is that its members practice what they preach – every day is filled with engaging exercises, great energy, and active learning.

Pirates and Parrots

Brian Remer, Creative Learning Director of The Firefly Group, treated us to Pirates and Parrots. Arggh! It was all hands on deck for a lesson in communication and the importance of relationships, trust, listening, and patience as we searched for a buried treasure.

Did you know that gaming is also an effective way to build community? Scott Nicholson, an associate professor at Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies, and Pauline Shostack, an associate professor at Onondaga Community College presented Community Building Through Games in Libraries. Using a version of the board game Wits and Wagers, we learned how games can be used to break down social barriers and strengthen the bonds between public libraries and the communities they serve.

All of this and we’re only halfway through the first day! Are you in town for the NASAGA conference? If so, we’d love to hear about your experiences. Stay tuned…

Is Your Blinky Still Blinking?

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I got back from the ASTD conference yesterday, and all I keep thinking is: wow, what a show! There was a great vibe in the air – lots of energy, a sense of optimism, and a renewed commitment to why we do what we do. It was refreshing.

The expo far exceeded our expectations as a company. The last time HRDQ exhibited at ASTD was back in 2001, just months before the 9/11 tragedy. We weren’t certain what to expect. Well, it was quite a pleasant surprise. We chose a focused strategy this year. We took just a small 10’x10’ booth, and we limited our exhibit to just one product, What’s My Communication Style? In case you haven’t heard of it, it’s our best selling assessment. Our clients love it, and the reaction to it at the show was no different.

Even though our booth space was located in east nowhere, we were swamped the minute the expo opened and the attendees poured into the expo hall. And by the time the show ended just two and a half days later, we had administered 665 assessments. That’s one every 90 seconds! I particularly enjoyed watching visitors as their personality styles were revealed (or confirmed) and got to catch a glimpse of that familiar “a-ha” moment.

Our guests didn’t leave empty handed, either. In addition to the free assessment, there was “Blinky bling” – fun blinking personality style buttons – and a free copy of The Big Book of Personality Style, our brand new pocket reference guide. Even though we knew we had lots of fun things to giveaway, we were really blown away by the positive response, both to the assessment and HRDQ.

The show wouldn’t have been a success without the more than 600 workplace learning professionals who visited our booth. So thanks to those of you who stopped by – and we look forward to seeing you next year at ASTD 2011 in Orlando. We’ll be in Booth #1231 with lots of great things in store for you. In the meantime, feel free to share your conference stories with us!

ASTD

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Stop by Booth #238

HRDQ is attending ASTD 2010 at the International Conference & Expo being held in Chicago,  May 16-19. Please stop by and visit us in booth #238. This year our booth is dedicated to our best-selling assessment What’s My Communication Style? You can take the assessment for free and identify your communication style on the spot. And, you can walk away with your very own “blinking” Communication Style button.

At the end of each day we’ll post an Expo “Style Profile” using the assessment results from everyone who visits the booth. It will be particularly interesting to see the spread of communication styles among what we expect will be a fairly accurate representation of the training profession.

Will we see you at ASTD? If so, what are you hoping to get out of the event?