Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Session 114 (J Bozarth/J Campos) - Designing for Performance...


Background Knowledge

Being friends with Jane in real life, I have followed the story of her husband and his health since day one.  I have looked forward to this session in the most profound way since I heard about it...so here it is.

The Process

Leading up to K's surgery, symptoms were noticed...not surprisingly, these symptoms got bounced around by specialties until someone put their figurative finger on it and realized this had to be taken care of now.  So, they did...and there was little information that was helpful to prepare them (again, being in healthcare, this isn't all that surprising...it's more in the moment-ish).  The procedure happened, and rehab began...and all involved felt unprepared for all that came with it.

But, as Jane oft does, she came out handling it all, not without the help of those around her.  Knowing her, and knowing K, it's great to know how things worked out, but i can't help but still feel very emotional listening to the story.  When you see a story such as this from square one, it's a reminder of several things, not the least of which how little your problems should appear.  When Jane talks about living wills and "not making it" makes my screen a little blurry...moving on.

Nobody's Worried About Anyone's Schedules But Theirs

The recovery process begins, but Jane was told to plan for a week off of work.  A week later, K was still in the hospital.  But Jane, AGAIN as Jane does, took it all in stride, going so far as to check out the homestead for any potential issues with a walker and mobility.  Therapy is recommended, and Jane is handed a calendar with 26 appointments on it.  26. Damn. Appointments.

But, guess what?  Jane can spring you out of a Turkish prison (so I've heard...*wink*), and she and K have both gotten way closer back to normalcy than anyone imagined...and we all couldn't be happier.

Now Over to Jeanette...

Jeanette swings it all the way back to slide one...and looks at the MRI image and asks the question: What is this?  Now, those of us who know Jane or just listened know, BUT...what about someone seeing it for the first time?  Tumor?  Brain?  That's about it...and we, as trainers, have to ask ourselves: How well and thoroughly do we really understand the content, and how good of a job do we do preparing our learners?

We look at the text of the awful "patient aid" titled "What to expect when you're expecting a craniotomy!".  Long story short, the people that wrote this and provided this are BEYOND out of touch with (what would equate with) the learner in this situation.  How many times do we simply posture up and say "Don't worry your pretty little head...we're smarter than you and WE'LL handle all the heavy lifting."  Let's not "gloss over" anything...let's tie the learner in...let's connect them...let's allow them to own something.

Tumor's Gone...Problem Over?

Jeanette shows the picture of K post-op, with the scar...and asks "Tumor's out...problem's over?", to which we all uttered a resounding NO.  Defining the problem, not just a facet of it, is IMPORTANT, and yet all too often we're happy to stop the figurative bleeding and not even consider the bandage...the healing...the wound care...etc.  In K's care, there was a wide range of concerns, a wide array of people involved...there's SO MANY ANGLES that unless you put solid effort into defining the entire SCOPE of the it ALL, your solution is incomplete.  Period.

Analogies and examples abound...but, Cliff Notes version is this: Despite how much we want to believe that we're working out of silos, we're still EMBEDDED in our silos.  Like BURIED.  Just like with a patient, we need to view learners as total pictures...not just a picture of one shortcoming/knowledge gap.

Conclusion


I've gotten a little more engaged verbally than typing-wise, but if nothing else is taken away from this, take this: Learners are our patients, and we need to see their entirety...not just the part(s) requiring our immediate attention.  Easily the most emotionally engaged I've ever been in a presentation, and I can't thank Jane enough for sharing this incredible story.

Morning Keynote - David Pogue "Learning Disrupted"

The Power of Music

(Starting to blog this a wee bit late, due to technical issues...go with it)

Ocarina...the importance of music...could bring us all together. "You can't play the F#?  ME NEITHER!!!"  Solid segue into our music presentations...

The Internet of Things

Thermostats, Video Cameras, etc...the technology is out there.  But most people who get a digital thermostat don't even program them.  Solution?  Infrared sensors make decisions based on your work/life balance, but the problem now is that every company is "making Internet of Things Things". Someone had a great idea to make a HUB of all the Internet of Things Things, and THEN someone made 40 of those...

...so, yeah.  That's where we're at.

Apple made another laptop this year, too...and, with it?  A NEW TYPE OF CABLE!! (Jerks).  BUT WAIT...it's the same upside down as it is rightside up!!!  HOLY CRAP!!!  The Jesus Jack exists!  One cord to rule them all!!

Even better news is WIRELESS CHARGING...if you're not excited about this, you're dead on the inside.  Seriously.  "Why are we not worried about our intestines turning into cooked steak?" (Question I was wondering about, perhaps not in that fashion...but still).  Chinese manufacturers are devouring this, trying to build this technology into existing pieces of technology (refrigerators, TVs, etc.). 


Infiltrative, Yet Useful...
Wikipedia, AirBnB, TaskRabbit, the "Who's Sick Around Me" site...it's all-inclusive at this point.  Look at TaskRabbit - Dave's wife was sick, he went on this site, and people bid against one another as to who was going to go and get cold medicine and deliver it to his wife's office.  Bidding started at 40, he ended up paying a college kid 20 bucks to go, get it, and deliver it.  Insane.  Uber is another example...you've got a personal chauffeur on call, but NOW there's uberX: Ordinary people like us with extra time in the family car, trying to make a couple extra dollars.  This technology is infiltrating...and it's not a totally bad thing.

So, this is the new way of doing things...but when did all this arise?  Answer - During the recession, out of necessity.  The genie's not going back in the bottle...it'll never go back.  "Fiver" - People will do a variety of things for FIVE DOLLARS...an oil painting of your damn cat? Done.

Wearable Tech: Hot or Not?
Dave pretty much demolishes Google glass...which I'm just a little bit okay with (I never got the "draw").  Google's working on the followup, which will include a more comfortable design and a record light (to avoid the whole "Are you recording?" question).   Fitness trackers, on the other hand (FitBit, Nike+, etc.) are hugely successful...70 million sold this year.  Until this came along, the only insight into your body you had was once a year at the doctor.  But now?  We wake up, and we experience "fitness through humiliation" (turning health into almost a socially competitive "game").  T-shirts are now able to sense health factors, along with baseball caps, headbands, and so on.  So, catching on?  Hell yes...but definitely a niche market, at least for the moment.

 Oh, that one slide though...What has been seen cannot be unseen...

AND YET...there's a looooooong way to go.  For example, most motion sensors today identify the act of bicep curls the same as eating a bag of Doritos.  True story.  But they're working on it - Google's health band, Google's contact lens (which can sense glucose levels in diabetics from tears...it's coming.  Be ready.)  The data is there...and if it could somehow be universally extracted, we've got the answers to cancer.

Conclusion

Trying to tune into the rest of this, as Dave is showing some amazing medical technological advancements.  Go find him online (@pogue), like immediately...solid, solid stuff.  Long story short, while learning may be disrupted and our lives interfered with from new and emerging tech, we would do well to welcome these intrusions.

Conference Introduction - Dave Kelly

What Is Innovation?

So, Dots is a game I apparently shouldn't play, should I want a social life...I lack said social life already, so I'm all in.  Thanks, Dave...

"People make decisions on the dots they see...but the Innovators in the world see the dots BEYOND the screen...the ones that other people miss."  Dave mentions that innovation is more than that, though...it's about seeing patterns, it's about seeing what they do together and beyond.

Always Be Connecting Dots....
That's what we're going to be doing here at DevLearn...it's about a community looking to do "stuff" beyond the status quo.  If any statement has ever encapsulated what it is we do here, it's that - It's why I present on the importance of Community, it's why I look forward, more than the conference itself, to the people...the interactions. 

Dave goes on to cover the conference details...awesome, but if you're following this on the back channel it might not be worth too much.  Suffice it to say, no matter what, that the statement still holds true: If you can get here, get here.  I told my Morning Buzz crew (handsome lot that they were), who were mostly first timers to DevLearn, that Community is the most important thing at any conference.  People make community, and without people, the community isn't as rich.  Your presence, just like everyone else's matters.  Make it happen.

More to come later, but SUPER stoked for this year...should be a great one.  Stay tuned...