Hip & Sage

Using Web 2.0 for Learning

Check out this post from the ASTD blog about a new research project called, Do You Know How to Leverage Web 2.0 Technologies to Improve Learning and Performance? This is something all managers, trainers, OD pros and HR pros ought to know about.

Online Engagement - the types and extent to which you can build real relationships.

Check out this post from Raj Setty called, The 6 Levels of Engagement in Online Conversations. I love the way Raj askes us to consider a wide potential range of types of relationship building. In many ways it comes down to that we get out what we put in. Our contribution to others catalyzes our progress.

Hip and Sage Philanthropy - How to make a bigger impact by being hip. Katherine Fulton

Check out this amazing TED talk by Katherine Fulton called, "You are the future of Philanthropy." Can you help make the world a better place by being open, flexible, and hip. Yep! And the average person can make a huge difference.

What to blog, why blog, who is your blog and what do apes and Socrates have to do with it?

Are you considering starting a blog? Do you blog but question its purpose and most useful point of view? I love this post from Charlie Jacobs, from the Management Rewired blog, called Socrates versus the Apes. Check it out. Here is a snippet:

Socrates is the role model for these writers. While revered (and feared by some) as the wisest of all men during his time, he was careful to assert his ignorance, and to question more than declare. In Plato's Symposium, we see his belief in a competition of ideas, not to determine whose is better, but to arrive at bigger ideas that incorporate opposing points of view.

Charlie's post is an intriguing essay about the tenor of our writing and styles that we find while clicking through blogs. Like Charlie, I love it when the post starts a provocative and lively debate and when all parties are open to disagreement and willing to be influenced.

This notion of bendable strength is at the heart of what it means to be hip and sage, too. Blog on, Charlie, blog on.

Sage of the Page? I'm blushing.

Hip and Sage got a nice write up on theASTD blog here. what really tickled me was the comment left by fellow author and hip and sage educator, Michael Kroth. Here is his comment:

I don't know anyone hippier or sagier than Lisa Haneberg. This is another in a long line of must-reads by our sage of the page, our hipster tipster, our ASTD rocks-ter (or is it Rock Star?).

Don't wait to be cool - order it today!

Thanks, Michael, you made my day!

My Interview on Spark Radio - Breakthroughs, Management, Hip and Sage

I had the pleasure of being Melanie's guest on her radio talk show called Spark Radio last night. We talk about a lot of things including management, staying competitive in the workplace, and generating breakthroughs. You can check it out here.

Create a Connection Culture - Michael Stallard

Becoming and staying hip and sage professional is about creating connection and engaging in continuous learning. Check out this You Tube video from hip and sage Michael Lee Stallard. His book is a great choice, particularly for those of you who love history.

Books That Help You Understand Social Media

If you are a hip and sage wanna-be and feel the need to learn more about social media, check this out. If you are hip and sage and think you understand social media, you should check this post out too, because there is a lot of good context here.

The folks at 800CEOREAD offer this great post called, Books for Understanding Social Media. Check it out - whoever you are!

I like that the books they recommend don't just focus on technologies that we should know about - they focus on how communication and collaboration are changing, fundamentally. This is really what it means to be hip - not that we are using the latest Web 2.0 tool. We are hip when we are communicating and collaborating really well with all generations and cultures.

I was interviewed for a newsletter for CLOs (Chief Learning Officers) today. I was asked the question about succession plans and whether I thought that HiPos should be told they are HiPos. After reading even just one of the books recommended in the 800CEOREAD post, you would likely come to the following conclusion:

YES!!! Tell the HiPo they are a HiPo. 1. We need to have the courage to be transparent. 2. If you don't, you might lose your HiPo.

And for those of you who say that you don't want to set up false expectations or incorrect expectations, this is not a good reason. Don't fix your communication problem by not communicating. There are ways to tell HiPos that they are HiPos clearly and without making promises you cannot keep.

HiPos, BTW, are high potential employees - people who you think have the potential to move up in the organization.

Review of Hip and Sage

Fellow blogger and speaker Alexandra Levit wrote a review of Hip and Sage - and the general topic of generations in the workplace on her blog, Water Cooler Wisdom. Check it out!

I have been getting lots of interesting feedback about Hip and Sage because it taps into a couple common situations:

• I am an "experienced" professional and I want to continue to be relevant - but all the technology changes, and resulting communication practices, are overwhelming! How do I begin? How can I maintain balance? How will online networking and communicating affect my life?
• I work for/know/care about some one who is sage but has stopped learning. How do I help them? Why don't they see the connection between how we communicate and how we work?

Over on Management Central, I had a brief exchange about this notion of stopping learning. Here are the comments back and forth:

MC Member: I'm still reading Hip and Sage. While I'm learning how to communicate with the "hip" I'm also able to see those that came before me more clearly. I can almost see the point in which they gave up learning....


Me: Wow, that is very interesting. I wonder how they see things? I wonder if they feel as though they have stopped learning?


MC Member: I would have to say they believe they've stopped learning about new technology. A manager I know refuses to get a PDA and uses his cell phone only for calls.... Because he doesn't feel the need to move forward. Unfortunately, he's always slightly behind whatever the movement is at the moment. Interestingly - he's supposed to be a leader....


Me: And that was really one of the key points I guess I hope Hip and Sage makes - you cannot be a leader and not keep up. You might be able to be a pontificating sage, but most of our organizations need active leaders. I have a friend who is in marketing and she is also strident in her resistance to not learning Web 2.0 technologies. For her, I fear, this will be a career breaker because she is out looking for a job and she will not be able to compete with the candidates who care enough to stay current and understand how to use new technologies to build marketing campaigns.

How to Get Things Done. Period. Hip and Sage Role Model - Jodee Bock

I love this post from Jodee Bock called, Insight Without Action Makes No Difference. And as I read it, I reflected on how Jodee is a great role model for continuous learning and growth. Be sure to check out her blog - I think you will find it helpful and interesting.

This post is an important one for those of us who endeavor to stay current. Intentions alone won't cut it and we know this It is so easy to put off learning new things. We are all so busy.

Well, if you suffer from the bug called procrastination, check out the post and get into action.