No “Fun” post this week – only frustration…
A great thread from Instagram about why teachers are walking out again on Monday, and why it is so important for teachers and folks who care about the quality of education in this province to stand up to the Sask Party. It’s too important to back down. pic.twitter.com/Uvj1QwYULN
— Jo Boots (@Jo_BootsBoots) January 19, 2024
Went to a great presentation by Edmonton Public Library CEO, Pilar Martinez and City of Edmonton Architect, Carol Belanger (Edmonton being the only city in Canada to have this position apparently) about their experiences building various branches around Edmonton, new and renovated, including the massively renovated Central library.
They also talked about value of public libraries to cities, some of the things they did right (and wrong – tank, anyone?) in the process of redoing their Central library and answering a variety of fascinating questions from the audience.
Because I heard a couple of these during the presentation, I thought I would try to list some of the most mawkish yet true sentiments you hear people say about libraries…
“Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go!” – Wham!
…as his proud mom looks on. “My baby’s all growed up!”
Wrestlers are notorious for their appetites but this is something…
Looking for an old picture to feature for this week’s Throwback Thursday, I came across one of me standing in my in-laws’ kitchen in December 2011. What jumped out wasn’t that I didn’t have a terrible 90s-style goatee (which is my current look but also a Throwback Thursday in a way).
Instead, it was that I was wearing a shirt that I still have (and wear!) today, twelve years later. How old is that shirt? Older than my daughter!
Made me think of other ways I’m the cheapest man alive (in most ways)…
1. Drive a 2006 Ford Fusion that *just* passed the 100,000 km mark. Even growing up in a small town where it was a huge part of the culture, I’ve never been into fancy/expensive cars. “If it has four wheels, an engine and gets me where I need to go” is how I look at it.
2. I’m in a very financially stable part of my life but still regularly buy stuff I want or need – clothes, electronics, artwork, etc. – at a deep discount on FB Marketplace.
3. I have literally walked out of a drug store that was charging $2.39 for a bottle of pop and walked to a nearby Dollar Store where the same thing was $1.25!
4. I hate to throw anything out and almost was in tears when Shea forced me to throw out some pillows recently that were quite expensive but I got at a good discount when we bought our latest mattress a few years ago.
5. …and this shirt probably isn’t the only piece of clothing I’ve owned for over a decade!
I just finished a book called “The Big Fail: What The Pandemic Revealed About Who It Protects and Who it Leaves Behind” which is a fairly even handed look at the Covid pandemic, three years after it began, by the same journalists who wrote “Smartest Guys in the Room” about the Enron scandal.
This book has a lot of interesting insights about organizational culture, big egos, high-level decision making, interpersonal conflict, corporatization of public services and much more.
One concept that stood out to me, shown in the excerpt above, is the medical idea of a “Morbidity and Mortality” conference when something preventable goes wrong.
The idea is that everyone, at any level, involved in the situation comes together and has an honest, frank debrief without pointing fingers or assigning blame.
Obviously most workplaces aren’t dealing with direct life and death decisions.
But I do think there’s value in still having some sort of process where staff at all levels can be open and honest with each other without fear of blame, reprisal or censure.
I know personally I’ve had probably ~30 people I’ve reported to since my first job at age 15 and I can probably count on one hand how many managers/supervisors I’ve had where I’ve felt 100% trust that they had my back, that anything I said to them would be treated with respect (and held in confidence when appropriate), that they wouldn’t throw me under the bus to help their own image or career and so on.
Or how many times I’ve been in “all hands” meetings where people don’t feel safe saying what they’re really thinking so end up saying it at the water cooler to some trusted colleagues after the meeting. (I remember being at a Branch Head meeting once where this sorta happened – I don’t remember the topic but afterwards, one of the more introverted librarians in the room came up to me and thanked me for being willing to raise a contentious point that she didn’t feel comfortable raising herself.)
Not sure what you’d call it outside of a medical setting – thinking of libraries which is the world I know best, maybe an “Open Book” conference?
