The 4 Disciplines of Execution
Back to fundamentals!
Need help accomplishing all of your wildly important goals because they are being choked out by your daily tasks?
Do you sometimes feel like you’re getting things done, but not making any progress on the important stuff?
I recommend this podcast for insights on executing your goals.
Filed under Future Ready
This week we learned that the membership voted to keep the Special Libraries Association name, rather than switch to the proposed “Association for Strategic Knowledge Professionals.” I was fairly clear that my preference was to change to the new name, so on some level, I’ll admit I’m disappointed.
Still, I accept the results of the vote and I’m ready to move on. While a name is important, it is only one layer of how we describe ourselves and how we represent ourselves to potential members, employers, and clients.
There were some positive aspects in the debate leading up to the decision. One of them was how robust the discussion was—and that it took place using such a wide variety of media. Our members weighed the pros and cons in person, on the mailing lists, through the association blogs, using Facebook, Twitter, Second Life, and more.
Furthermore, the membership voted. In most of our elections, about 25% of our membership votes. For this ballot, the turnout was an incredible 50%. There was amazing engagement on this issue–it really got to people.
My intuition is that members are ready for a change, but not the particular name change they were presented with. Fair enough. We will continue to develop our membership services in terms of value, impact, and benefits. I just hope some of the passion of the past election can find its way into members continuing to help steer us into an uncertain future.
I believe the Alignment Project will be the roadmap to our next steps. My copy of the Alignment Project, with all its scribbled comments, post-it notes, and dog-eared corners is really getting a work out. If you’re looking for an opportunity to make a difference within the Association, I urge you to print out your own copy and see if there is a place where you can plug yourself in.
Regardless of your personal take on the outcome—stay engaged! Participate and work with us to make SLA thrive. Our chapters, divisions, and association members need you!
Filed under Future Ready
I was recently interviewed by the Portland Tribune for my role as incoming SLA President-Elect.
By Christina Lent
Cindy Romaine is an expert when it comes to providing information consulting services and providing in-depth research strategies to corporations.
The Beaverton resident plans to put those skills to work as the president-elect of the Special Libraries Association by positioning the organization to be what she calls “future ready” to meet the “sea of changes ahead” for corporate, academic and government information specialists.
“There are shifting sands in the world of information technology and information delivery, which is very exciting,” said Romaine, who started her own consulting firm, Romainiacs Intelligence Research, two years ago. “As an organization, the Special Libraries Association needs to be future ready and position itself for tomorrow.
Filed under Future Ready
On a recent SLA adventure, I visited the Pacific Northwest Chapter in Seattle and had a lovely tour of the new(ish) library at Microsoft, in Redmond, Washington. The MS Library has an inviting presence with lots of seating. They focus on training materials in the physical library and, of course, have a killer website built using MS Sharepoint.
After meeting with the PNW chapter, visiting SLA dignitary Gloria Zamora and I travelled to Portland to speak to the Oregon Chapter of SLA, which gave us a great excuse to visit Ziba Design’s new digs in Portland, Oregon and see their library. Ziba’s library also has a very inviting presence. The information specialists are embedded in the business and only in the library ad hoc.
And for other business interests, I visited the Uliko Studio a materials research resource in Beaverton, Oregon which just opened in September. What can I say? It’s another warm, inviting open space. Quite lovely.
It’s not a library, but a materials sourcing service. They have an interesting business model as the materials and space are supported by the vendors as a service to the clientele of designers and developers. Isn’t this interesting? The owners were very knowledgeable about materials, processes, and sourcing. If you are in the area, and interested in materials, I recommend making an appointment to visit!
Filed under Future Ready, libraries, models
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