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Dear
!*FIRST_NAME*!
Here
is the latest edition of HRD Alert! to which you subscribed.
If you have trouble reading this or prefer to read an online copy,
you'll find one here.
You can load it into your browser, save and read or print and
read off-line.
EDITORIAL
Happy
New Year!
Welcome
to another issue of HRD Alert! and the end of another great year.
This issue is short and sweet with only one topic as I know you
are busy winding down from your Christmas festivities and probably
psyching yourself up to return to work.
You
should find my article about Curiosity and Learning of interest
and also see the benefits that come from grandchildren.
Look
for a special deal only available until Wednesday, 5 January 2005.
Tell all your friends and if you buy my titles, part of the profits
will be donated to the Tsunami appeal, probably via Care Australia.
See Worth a Look or click here.
Although
we are all hoping for a Happy New Year, the events in Asia recently
have put a dampener on our celebrations at this end. It's hard to
jump with joy when there has been so many people killed. It's so
very sad and will affect all of our lives for decades.
Next
year will be a year of growth and continued development for DWAVE.
I have several major projects planned and intend to take my business
to a higher level. Hopefully I'll be able to find some good opportunities
for you as well. Watch this space.
Until next issue,
yours
in HRD
Robin
Henry
Principal Adviser/Publisher
I
was sitting at my desk trying to get inspiration for this edition
of HRD Alert! when grandson Tory, who hangs out with me a lot
said, 'What's this Pop?' He'd been going through the top drawer
of my desk and it was about the 10th time I'd answered. It got
me thinking about curiosity and how uncluttered minds remember.
When
we are three like Tory we are very curious about our physical
world and the cornucopia of gadgets and animate beings that fill
it. It's a period of rapid intellectual development, excitement
at every turn, and discovery. My young companion constantly amazes
me how he can recall days later, names he has heard once. (I can't
even remember where I left my cordless phone half hour beforehand!)
I
encourage (and reward) Tory's curiosity by taking time out to
demonstrate or discuss the things about which he is curious. For
example, when he asked me what a staple puller was, I demonstrated
by placing a staple in a sheet of paper and then pulled it out
with the staple puller. He may not yet know why we use staples
to hold sheets of paper together, but he sure knows that one process
places the staple and another removes it.
As
the years go by, we become more selective in what we remember
and our curiosity diminishes to varying degrees. Imagine what
we could do as trainers if we could inculcate a sense of curiosity
in our employees/learners.
Marketers
often use a device to arouse curiosity in their readers. And it
works. The question is, what devices can we use in our workplaces
to develop curiosity in our people?
An
example that comes to mind is to implement a suggestion box. I
saw an excellent example of how useful suggestion boxes can be
during my service in the Royal Australian Air Force during the
Vietnam War era. While some of our bombs were fitted with devices
to make them explode above ground level, it was a hit and miss
approach … some exploded at the right altitude and others
didn't. My boss, an electrical engineer, was curious why this
was happening and after looking at the triggering mechanism, 'suggested'
how it could be improved. His suggestion was adopted and worked.
The RAAF sent him a cheque for $3,000 (quite a lot in 1969).
Rather
than having a truck load of suggestion boxes placed here and there
within our organizations and hoping someone will place a worthwhile
suggestion, I like the idea of circulating a list of 'challenges'
that need resolving and asking staff to come up with options.
Management
doesn't have all the answers (although many managers believe they
do) and quite often the lowest salaried staff can see things that
management can't. If we can peak curiosity, imagination and creativity
will follow. Rather than having people 'Turn off their brains
when they come to work', we want them to 'Turn on their creativity
and imagination.'
In
this rapidly changing and global world, creativity and imagination
are the only really viable skills for long term survival. And
it's much more fun than anything I can think of that we might
call work.
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CB
Mall for Information Products
If,
like me, you are a prolific reader and happy to buy products online
and download them immediately, visit CB
Mall and see if there is anything there that takes your fancy.
There's around 2,000 products to choose from and they cover just
about any imaginable topic. The site has a search engine to help
you find specific topics.
Click
here to
visit.
Special
Discount Offer
As
a once off, very special deal and to help those many unfortunate
people in the Asia - Pacific region who have been effected by
the Tsunami, I'm offering you and any of your friends a 20% discount
on my Winning a Government Job e-books. But you'll have to get
in fast as the offer ends 5 Jan 05.
Click
here
for more information.
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