are we really better safe than sorry - notes

Are You Really Better Safe Than

Sorry?Three Failed Programs, How We Learned and Why

You Should Fail Too

Matt Church

Director

Berkley Public Library

Berkley, MI

Kathryn Bergeron

Associate Director

Baldwin Public Library

Birmingham, MI

1. Choose a program2. Set goals3. Set fail point4. Evaluate5. Re-‐joice/Re-‐tool/Re-‐sign6. What did you learn

What are we doing here?Ch-‐Ch-‐Ch-‐Ch-‐ChangesMerriam Webster

Be EXTRAORDINARYYou Never Know Unless You Try

Library Goal: Fail OftenMaking the best of itAdmitting DefeatFailure in action

1. Why do we fail2. What is failure3. What does failure have to do with being EXTRAORDINARY4. Why should you strive towards failure5. How can you organization encourage failure6. How to make the best of failure7. When should you admit failure8. How we’ve failed and what we learned

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

ChangesBy: David Bowie

K. Why do we fail

F _ _ L _ R _

K. What word do you see?

F A I L U R E

K. Was it failure? You’re wrong!

F E E L E R S

K. The correct word: feelersBut you were conditioned to see failure

K. Which line is longer?

K. If you’ve seen this before, you assume they’re the same lengthBut they’re notWe’ve messed with your expectations

http://www.Tlickr.com/photos/mugley/6237249986/

Grate Expectations

K. But we’re messing with your expectations – you’ve seen a word you think you know, but it’s notYou’ve seen a problem 100 times before, but the answer that you know is wrong.

We’re messing with you. We’re upending your expectations. But it’s just like the world.The world is messing with you!

M. The world is changing faster than we can comprehend it. Look at all the sweet ways we’ve listened to music over the years. It wasn’t too long ago that the world was introduced to the iPod. Look where we’ve come since then.

http://www.fastcoexist.com/1681088/the-‐16-‐most-‐compelling-‐infographics-‐of-‐2012#7

M. Any foodies out there? Look at how serving sizes have changed.

http://visualoop.com/10492/vintage-‐infodesign-‐29

M. This is what the London Underground looked like in 1908.

M. Here’s a look at it today. The world is changing.

http://farm9.staticBlickr.com

/8478/8242434388_7622017e7c_c.jpg

M. How many people heard there would be a wave of librarian job openings in the next couple of years after all of the librarians retired? How’s that prediction panning out for recent library science grads? Hasn’t happened. Times changed, the economy tanked and it’s time for a new strategy.

http://farm3.staticBlickr.com

/2698/4304968451_6d8728883f_o.jpg

M. Try as we might, we can only make guesses or predictions about the future. What will libraries look like in 30 years? What will patrons want from us in 8 years? How will our communities change in the next decade? The future is unkown. How many libraries had the advent of the internet and personal computers in their strategic plans before they arrived? We can make educated predictions but really we’re only making guesses.

http://farm8.staticBlickr.com/7381/9210684962_c622cc8c65_o.jpg

M. Who saw this change coming a decade ago? Outside of science biction and uber techies, no one probably expected to see people wearing a computer. The world is changing quickly. Where’s your place in this rapidly changing landscape?

And you know what, the rules are changing too. A few years ago the prospect of wearing a pair of glasses like this would be laughable. I’m willing to bet most still think that’s the case, but who knows—maybe this will be embraced by all of this and just part of how we live.

http://www.Tlickr.com/photos/mugley/6237249986/

Grate Expectations

M. It’s hard to make sure that our expectations meet reality in such a rapidly changing world.

How can we succeed?

Commit to failure.

K: How can we succeed?M: Commit to failure.

Merriam Webster

K. What is failure?

- lack of success

- a falling short

- one that has failed

M. Merriam gives us three options. “Lack of success” & “a falling short” aren’t shockers. It’s that third one that really hits the hardest. One that has failed. How often do you internalize failure and how much harder does that make it on you? I think this last one scares us the most.

goals: what you want

expectations:what you have

K. Debinition of terms

In today’s presentation we’ll use goals and expectations in two different ways.

Expectation: A way that you perceive the worldGoal: What you want to happen

http://farm4.staticBlickr.com/3170/2396768838_d4c8f254a3_b.jpg

M. Failure comes in two sizes. The birst one is the lame kind. You know you should be doing something, but you don’t. You’re told weeding is an important part of collection development, but you don’t do itYou conduct a survey at a program, but don’t take the results into account when planning the next programYou only put events on your facebook page -‐-‐ nothing elseYou have the resources to make something happen but you opt for inaction.

The second one is totally legit and what we’re going to focus on today. This is the good kind. There’s something that you’ve never done or your organization has never done and you’re willing to try it. You develop your graphic novel collection, which has never had its own selector.You plan a new fundraiser that closes the library and brings donors into the buildingYou try a new social media platform that no other libraries are on yet.

Jump into failure

K. Let’s jump into some failure

Start with an idea…

M: First you’re going to start with an idea…

…to expand your library’s

K. …to expand your library’s potential.

http://www.Blickr.com/photos/nasamarshall/3765799902/

M. Here’s the birst example. To expand your library’s potential you want to create a new collection.

http://www.Blickr.com/photos/jody_art/2099710671/

M. In response to the downturn of the economy, Baldwin opted to create a “Tough Times” collection. We brought together career and personal binance materials from different Dewey ranges into a single collection.

Set goals

K. Step one after forming an idea is setting goals

http://farm4.staticBlickr.com/3178/4564135455_4c14304e48_b.jpg

K. We as librarians are good at having ideas, but we’re bad about writing down exactly what we want to accomplish.

Spend 10 minutes thinking about why you want to implement your idea. Come up with 2/3 reasons why this project is worth your time and effort, what do you want it to accomplish

http://www.Blickr.com/photos/30959743@N00/5312747076/

M. One goal: easier browsing for the patrons.


M. Another goal: to ease the necessity to ask a librarian for help on a sensitive topic.

How will you know IF you’ve failed if you don’t know what

you want to accomplish?

K In terms of goals, how will you know IF you’ve failed if you don’t know what you want to accomplish

But, how do know WHEN you’ve failed?

K It’s just as important to know as you’ve failed -‐-‐ when you need to quit

http://www.Blickr.com/photos/Blyingturtle/837938254/

K. Mediocrity is always easier than knowing when to quitBut when you give in to mediocrity, you’re expending time and resources that prevent you from being the best

http://www.Blickr.com/photos/jenosaur/4887741728/

K. So you have to know when to quit

http://www.Blickr.com/photos/cellphonesusie/2095494955/

K. Fail Point: Quitting before you start.

When you start a project, make sure that you know what your fail point is. Fail point is a predetermined point when you should give up on a projectWhen you determine a fail point you’re not tempted to give up when things get rough. You can adjust your fail point once you get started on the project based on new information.

http://www.Blickr.com/photos/wingedwolf/5471047557/

K. Once you’ve reached your fail point, Just ask yourself three questions before you give up

http://www.Blickr.com/photos/jarbo/9379813470/

K. Am I panicking?

http://www.Blickr.com/photos/b4b2/3954106061/

K. Who am I trying to inbluence? Am I trying to make myself, my boss, look good by quitting? Am I trying to appease someone else.

http://www.Blickr.com/photos/mworrell/266913194/

K. What sort of measurable progress am I making?

Choose our fail point

M. For the “Tough Times” collection, we needed a fail point.

http://www.Blickr.com/photos/fuzzcat/76738710/

M. Our fail point for this endeavor: A signibicant reduction in turnover

And go!

K. Begin your project

Evaluate

K. As your progressing through the project, make sure to evaluate as you go along

http://www.Blickr.com/photos/pjern/2150874047/

K. Evaluation comes in many sizes. First up, statistics. Most of think of numbers when we hear evaluation but it can be so much more.

http://farm9.staticBlickr.com/8391/8620867436_421f798446_b.jpg

M. Surveys are another option. Get feedback from people who participated or experienced something. Ask them to rank things. Ask them to tell you a story. Ask them how it can be better next time. And if you declare your surveys unscientibic, ask a mix of questions to get different types of information from the same group.

http://www.Blickr.com/photos/28misguidedsouls/6517859113/

K. Observation can be a powerful way to evaluate how patrons are using your library, how they navigate the collection and how they interact with your resources.

http://www.Blickr.com/photos/pedromourapinheiro/2505997361/

M: The shoe on the left came into the library and asked for some resources on proper job attire. A few months later, I followed up with the shoe on the right to see if the information helped—I’d call it a success. Try the same after you teach a computer class—get in touch with people to see if the information helped and if they’ve put it to use.


K. Talk to people who attend your classes or programs. You can informally chat to get information or have formal interviews planned. Either way, they may have helpful insights for you.

http://www.Blickr.com/photos/doug88888/4772206814

M. The person who presented a program at the library is worth talking with for some information. What’d they like about the room? What would make it better? If you participated in the program or helped coordinate it, you can contribute to the evaluation as well.

M. Quantitative Evaluation: Here’s a turnover graph of the Tough Times collection from 2007 until the last copies were pulled in 2013


K. Often times the reward is high when you birst start doing something -‐ It could be because you’re putting a lot of effort into marketing, or people are excited with a new product, but eventually that enthusiasm on your part or your patrons part will wane.

http://www.Blickr.com/photos/nox_noctis_silentium/3830417445/

K. But eventually that reward gets reduced and people give up

http://www.Blickr.com/photos/f_jean/4749123322/

K. If you push through those difbicult downturns (when appropriate) you can reap a bigger reward

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/the_dip/page/2/

K. The Dip

K. Example: Graphic Novels turnover at Baldwin since 2007

http://www.Blickr.com/photos/kshathriya/331847679/

K. But that’s not the only way things can go.

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/the_dip/page/2/

K. Cul-‐de-‐sac and the Cliff

Where does our program fall?

M. How does this play out with the “Tough Times” collection?

M. First you see the dip

M. But then you see, it’s really a cul de sac

What about qualitative evaluation?

K. Life isn’t all numbers. Don’t let your board or your boss convince you that quantitative evaluation is the only important options

It’s hard because patrons have

to look in two

places to Tind books…

-‐ Anonymous Librarian 1

Patrons don’t know where to look.


Patrons just end up asking one of us, and then we look confused when we have to take them to multiple places in the collection.


I think it was a really good idea for a hard time, but it didn’t really work out.


M. Qualitative Evaluation is like story telling. You’re getting information from words. Here’s what librarians may have said about the “Tough Times” collection at Baldwin.

Re-joice/Re-tool/Re-sign

K. Once you’re evaluated your program/collection/etc... you have three choices and then...

http://farm1.staticBlickr.com/38/85911467_Bb4835ec53_o.jpg

K. determine were you successful? Did you win the gold cup? Either way, what did you learn from the experience?


M. In the end, we opted to “Resign” the “Tough Times” collection.

http://www.Blickr.com/photos/nathaninsandiego/6863425933/

M. Our goals were not met: It didn’t make it easier for patrons, and they ended up going to a librarian anyways.

People will always ask librarians questions… because librarians rule.

M. So the “Tough Times” collection didn’t pan out as had hoped. Could we have made it work? Maybe, but it wasn’t worth it to keep it going. Plus, we found out people just like asking librarians questions…which is a good thing.

1.Choose a program2.Set goals3.Set fail point4.Evaluate5.Re-‐joice/Re-‐tool/Re-‐sign6.What did you learn?

K. 1.Choose a program2.Set goals3.Set fail point4.Evaluate5.Re-‐joice/Re-‐tool/Re-‐sign6.What did you learn?

Choose a program…

M. Let’s look at another example. 1.Choose a program2.Set goals3.Set fail point4.Evaluate5.Re-‐joice/Re-‐tool/Re-‐sign6.What did you learn?


M. First, the goal. Expand our library’s potential and reach out to young professionals.

http://www.(lickr.com/photos/amanda28192/6216031916/

M. So we started Friends Don’t Let Friends Read Alone: an evening book club at a locally owned coffee house.

Set goals…

M. Goals for this endeavor included…


M. Bring in young people. Find some way to connect with them and get them engaged in the library.


M. We also wanted to support a local business.

Set a fail point…

M. Then we needed our fail point.


M. Our fail point for this book club: A signibicant reduction in attendance.

Evaluate…

M. Up next, evaluation!

M. A quantitative look: Here’s a attendance graph of Friends Don’t Let Friends Read Alone.

M. You’ll see a slight overall increase. It’s trending upward.

Facts:

1.The place where we were having our book club closed. Suddenly.

2.While the book club appealed to young professionals for the birst year, but then stopped attracting them.

M. Here’s some qualitative evaluation for you. The local business wasn’t open any longer and the young folks weren’t hip to us.

Re-joice/Re-tool/Re-sign…

Time to decide if we’re going to Re-‐joice, Re-‐tool or Re-‐sign


M. We could have quit, but we didn’t have to!


M. Our goals were not met: We didn’t attract young professionals and we didn’t support the local business enough to get other businesses to want to participate.

http://www.Blickr.com/photos/hinkelstone/2938685282/

M. But we still had success!

What did you learn?

Want to know what we learned?

We needed an evening book club.

We could still get a regular contingent of book clubers, just not in our target demographic.

We learned that an evening book club could succeed. People wanted to meet at night and talk about books. A dedicated group were interested enough to make it a regular thing. They ended up being a mixed demographic but that’s bine with us. We created something new that met the needs of our patrons.

Choose a program…



K. Expand your library’s potential and reach out on a new social media platform

http://www.Blickr.com/photos/bunchesandbits/6137341753/

K. Pinterest: It’s a new way to reach out on social media

Set goals…



K. To reach out to new people using a new medium


K. To make creating online bibliographies easier

Set a fail point…



K. Quit Point: Unknown – sometimes you just have to feel it in your gut, when the work is too much for the reward

Evaluate…


K. There are no qualitative evidence. You can generally watch re-‐pins and such, but there are no statistics and no tracking of social media other than followers

Perceptions:

1.People aren’t using them, the bibs that we post on the website or those on Pinterest

2.The Pinterest bibs were proving useful in certain cases.

K. Last time we had facts, this time we have feelings

Re-joice/Re-tool/Re-sign…



K. There are some things we need to quit. We shouldn’t be doing as much, but some things are working


K. We’re not really reaching out to new people, but we are simplifying how we make bibliographies. Ongoing bibs are much easier

http://www.Blickr.com/photos/hinkelstone/2938685282/

K. Some success! Just editing as to how we use this medium!

What did you learn?


We need ongoing bibs – like new items or Christmas movies.

But we should use this for us, not for reaching out to other people

It’s something that requires constant monitoring…like small children.

K. What we learned

Library Goal: Fail Often

M. Declare this at your next board meeting or to your management team or whisper it to your co-‐workers.

http://www.Tlickr.com/photos/elycefeliz/6953765035/

K. Once you have no fear of failure, you’re free to be extraordinary

http://www.Tlickr.com/photos/joethorn/290760357/

M. You can extend your library’s reach into new populations and new areas of service


K. You can expand you library’s potential

http://www.Blickr.com/photos/mr_t_in_dc/6284773780/

M. You can binally upend long-‐held assumptions in your library

http://www.Blickr.com/photos/covetchicago/5822884089/

K. Or you can re-‐afbirm exactly what you knew already.

http://www.Blickr.com/photos/ucumari/2048143444/

M. Sidenote: If you know that you’re working under wrong assumptions – or your assumptions have already been proven to be wrong – and you haven’t done anything about this then you are NOT being extraordinary. ACT UPON THAT INFORMATION.

http://www.Blickr.com/photos/funky64/4293098263/

K. Programming is one of the easiest places to breed failure, and evaluate your expectations about your community

1. If you don’t think that your community would participate in something, and you try it and succeed, you’ve realized a blaw in your expectations2. You can get away with doing something once or twice to see what kind of response you receive and then tailor your next steps (continue to offer it, tweak it or discontinue it)

http://www.Blickr.com/photos/kharied/4128848123/

M. Here’s one for collections:If you’ve never developed a collection under the impression that your community isn’t interested, and you try and bind success, you’ve realized a blaw in your expectations.

http://www.Blickr.com/photos/jarleon/8571557564/

K. TechnologyIf you think you won’t bind your community in certain places online, and you try and succeed, you’ve realized a blaw in your expectations. Old people can surprise you with their technological prowess

http://www.Blickr.com/photos/kelehen/8517221494/

M. Rooting out blaws in your expectations will help your library succeed in ways that it couldn’t have otherwise.

http://www.Blickr.com/photos/surrealize/3479423122/

K. It will move you forward

http://www.Blickr.com/photos/surrealize/3479423122/

M. It will help you to reach out to new demographics in your community.


K. It will help you to serve your patrons better.

Seth Godin

knows how to

fail

- fail fast

- fail cheap

- fail often

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8090/8411491552_714be82904_b.jpg

M. I’ve got to thank Kevin King for introducing me to Seth Godin’s work. Really great stuff that you should check out if you dig these concepts. Seth’s got a motto for failure: fail fast, fail cheap and fail often. Failing fast is good—it gives you time to move onto something else. Fail cheap means you don’t need to invest much money or resources to try a new idea. And fail often means you’re going to keep coming back for more. Innovate, innovate, innovate.

Be EXTRAORDINARY

K.

Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently. - Henry Ford

M. We all need to accept that failure’s going to happen—especially if we’re seeking out new opportunities. Failure is part of what makes success so great. To get there you, you need to fail.

Slides from today? A blog of successes and failures?

Visit www.kabergeron.com

are we really better safe than sorry - notes

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