Librarians: Action adventure stars

Coming soon, if not here already, is the The Librarians, a follow-on series to the three "Librarian" movies of a few years ago. I kind of enjoyed that series, as much for the pleasure of seeing Bob Newhart and Jane Curtin, as the good-natured foolishness of the narratives.

But here we are: Librarians as action adventure stars. Cool! 

So, what is the narrative in your library? What do you seek, provide, obtain? What "super" skills do you possess? Do you carry on with the swagger of Indiana Jones or in a more self-effacing manner? I always imagined myself as a Columbo-like character, always with just one more question to narrow the search for the right answer - you know, like a reference interview. Plus I liked the trenchcoat!

And now, lights, camera and ACTION!

Holiday cookies + cookie day = FUN!

'Tis the season for holiday cookies. And, by happy chance, this Thursday, December 4, is designated by someone as Cookie Day. Seems like a right proper shidduch (match)!

https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/cookie-day/

So why not combine the two and have everyone bring in their favorite cookies, holiday and otherwise, and mix and match, exchange recipes, make new friends, award prizes for creative decoration or conspicuous consumption, see if you can put together a synchronized dunking team or two and award applause for their daring and bravado!

It all seems like a nice way to bridge the eating gap between Thanksgiving and Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, etc.

World Kindness Day - Thursday, 11/13/14

This coming Thursday is World Kindness Day and the simplest exhortation would be for me to encourage us all to practice a random act of kindness; and I do offer that.

https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/kindness-day/

But kindness has a deeper meaning to. When I asked the woman who became my wife what she found attractive about me, she immediately answered that she knew at first meeting that I was a kind person, and that was especially important to her. I am not sure I thought much of kindness before then, but if it was important to Rockman, then it became important to me.

Some years later, she wrote an editorial for Reference Services Review entitled Kindness as a Leadership Virtue (I may have the exact title wrong). Her point was that being kind and being a strong and effective leader are complementary, not contradictory. I think she was right then and is right now.

(See also this Forbes article from last year: http://www.forbes.com/sites/carriekerpen/2013/11/18/kindness-does-not-equate-to-weakness-in-leadership/)

And there endeth my tangent on kindness and leadership.

So on Thursday, please take a moment to smile at someone/everyone, offer a thank you to a colleague, co-worker, etc., let someone go ahead of you in a checkout line, pay the toll for the car behind you - you get the idea. It costs little and offers immeasurable satisfaction.

November 5: Remember, remember, it's stress awareness day

This Wednesday is November 5 and that means:

It is Guy Fawkes Day. "Remember, remember the 5th of November, the gunpowder, treason and plot. I know of no reason, why gunpowder treason should ever be forgot."

And it is Stress Awareness Day. (Do you suppose Guy Fawkes felt any stress as he was bringing explosives to Parliament?) In any event, don't just be aware of stress, as in, Gee, I sure am feeling stressed; do something about it. Take a walk, have a run, or swim some laps; practice Tai Chi; knit; bowl; dance; wear a Guy Fawkes mask; tell knock-knock jokes; eat comfort food; put on that silly piece of clothing you've been looking for an excuse to wear.

I plan to put on one of my hats and count how many smiles I get as I run my errands for the day. Of course, if I don't get any smiles, then I will feel stressed and depressed and that's actually my normal state so how will I see the difference!

Work is NOT Supposed to be Fun

Here's an interesting take on work and fun and what the author calls The Flow.

https://www.workreloaded.com/2011/02/work-is-not-supposed-to-be-fun/

The basic idea seems to me that if you are doing work you love, then work can be fun, which is different from having fun at work. I think there is truth in that which begs an important question: Do we love what we do? And if we don't, what choices can we make to change that?

Hoaxes

I am reading a book that features the editor James Bennett, the man behind sending Stanley to find Livingstone and other such promotional and sensational ideas. But one of his most brilliant stunts in the Great Zoo Hoax.

 

http://hoaxes.org/archive/permalink/the_central_park_zoo_escape/

 

http://hoaxes.org/text/display/the_central_park_zoo_escape_text/

 

Well, this made quite an ado and led me to think about other great hoaxes, intended or otherwise.

 

One is certainly Orson Welles' War of the Worlds, although how widespread and believed is subject to debate --

 

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/history/2013/10/orson_welles_war_of_the_worlds_panic_myth_the_infamous_radio_broadcast_did.html

 

Another is Piltdown Man - http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/science-of-natural-history/the-scientific-process/piltdown-man-hoax/

 

And some of us lived through the infamous autobiography of Howard Hughes written, in fact, by Clifford Irving - http://www.cbsnews.com/news/liar-liar/

 

So, do you have a favorite hoax? Or one that you'd like to perpetrate assuming it is done in fun - always in fun - and not maliciously?

Sparano v Soprano

The interim head coach for the Oakland Raiders is a former coach of the Miami Dolphins by the name of Tony Sparano. And doesn't that just conjure memories of TV's Tony Soprano. Do you suppose the former channels the latter? And that current players might get whacked or just disappear if they don't play up to snuff? Is there a job here for Paulie Walnuts?

My guess is that the Miami papers had tons of fun with this when Sparano was down there, but that's no reason why we can't enjoy the moment as well.

So, fans of The Sopranos, what advice do you think Tony would give Tony?

Make Up a Word

You've seen these games where the challenge is to create a word to describe a new social or personal phenomena. Well, have you thought of doing this for your place of work? For example, I worked in libraries and I might conjure up Circplop and LibBabble. What do they mean?

Circplop: A book hitting the bottom of the book return bin.

LibBabble: The sometimes esoteric language that librarians use when talking to one another that no one else understands. (This could just be called jargon, I suppose, but LibBabble sounds so much more fun; plus, you can purse your lips and blow through them and make a funny noise when you get to the "babble" part.)

So, you get the drift? What word(s) can you, your team, etc. make up that are appropriate (and fun) for your organization? Or, can you come up with better or alternative definitions for Circplop and LibBabble?

Lyrics that make you smile

I was listening to a wonderful new recording of West Side Story by the SF Symphony and was captivated by the seamless interplay of words and music. And in the song America, this particular lyric made me smile:

I'll take the island Manhattan,
Smoke on your pipe and put that in.

I have heard that song many, many times and only now appreciate the gift of the rhyme that Sondheim provided.

So, so you have a particular lyric that makes you smile with pleasure and delight at the craft of the lyricist whenever you hear it?

International Talk Like a Pirate Day: September 19

I think I post this every year, but this really is one of the most fun days all year to celebrate. Maybe you can get people to come to work in pirate paraphernalia; speak in pirate lingo; have a pirate feast; board another department and make them walk a virtual plank; watch some pirate movies; and so forth.

As for me, I am so ready. Got my hat. Got my patch.

 

 

 

And, of course, tattoos!

 



Show and Tell

Remember back in your/our childhood days the occasional activity of bringing something from home for show and tell? I do. Well, we're never too old to play at this. What we have to show and tell has certainly changed, but it could be an entertaining and fun way to get better acquainted with your colleagues. 

This is easy-peasy. Pick a day. Ask for volunteers - maybe start with yourself. Then find something that is particularly meaningful to you and that you would feel comfortable sharing with others. Take 5 minutes or 10 to show and tell, answer questions (if any), share reminiscences (I had a banky, too), and then move on. In my case, it might be my violin, bowling pin hat, wedding suit, or something else completely. If you want to add an element of gamespersonship, ask before you present if anyone can surmise the significance of what you are showing; or not.

Have a nice labo(u)r day!

Oakland A's Pitcher Explains Sabermetrics (may be funny to baseball fans)

Baseball is a game of numbers, and we at the Oakland Athletics keep track of everything. From the number of hits in a given number of at-bats to the number of runs allowed to the number of stolen bases, there are numbers for evaluating every aspect of the game. 

As far back as 1964, when Earnshaw Cook published the book "Percentage Baseball," baseball statisticians have been providing us ways to get as deep into those numbers as possible to determine just how valuable a player might be. In 1971, the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) was formed in Cooperstown, New York, and lent both its acronym and advanced mathematical functions to analyze the game. Bill James, the pioneer of sabermetrics, defined them as a way to provide an objective view of baseball. 

Sabermetrics finally let us enjoy baseball the way it was meant to be enjoyed: with a TI-89 graphing calculator. 

Many of you are familiar with the movie "Moneyball," which chronicles the Athletics' use of sabermetrics to successfully assemble a winning team on a decidedly small-market budget. By thinking outside the box and favoring players' on-base percentages over their batting averages, those A's were able to build a productive lineup of affordable players en route to a 20-game win streak and a division title. 

Since then, the use of sabermetrics has continued to change the way players are evaluated. Metrics such as OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging) and wOBA (weighted on-base average) provide a much more comprehensive and accurate evaluation of a hitter's overall productivity than, say, batting average. Meanwhile, the wRC (weighted runs created) and wRAA (weighted runs above average) categories help quantify a player's total offensive value to his team in the form of runs created over the course of a season. 

Just as metrics for hitting have advanced past on-base percentage, pitching metrics are going far beyond earned run average. WHIP (walks plus hits per innings pitched) measures the number of baserunners a pitcher allows, on average, per inning. FIP (fielding independent pitching) and xFIP (expected fielding independent pitching) assess a pitcher's abilities based on results he can "control" -- K's, BBs, HBPs and HRs allowed -- and have proved to be very reliable predictors of future performance. 

And it turns out WAR is good for something after all. The wins above replacement category quantifies a player's overall contributions to his team and quantifies how many wins a player is worth to his club, compared to a league-average stand-in. 

Although these might be some of the more commonly used calculations in evaluating a player's value, they are just the tip of the iceberg. 

The A's use of advanced statistics

The Athletics' front office has remained on the cutting edge in its use of sabermetrics to evaluate players. From the offseason right up until the July 31 trade deadline, the A's have signed several free agents and negotiated several trades -- and some of these trades and deals left even the most patrician baseball folks scratching their heads.

So exactly which metrics do the A's value most when assessing potential players? I think I've finally figured it out:

BDP (beard dependent pitching): While FIP eliminates defense and focuses on strikeouts, walks and home runs allowed, BDP assesses a pitcher's value in relation to the league average by isolating outings during which the pitcher has a beard.

WPA/3+C (win probability added with three-plus catchers in the lineup): Athletics manager Bob Melvin is a former catcher, so he values backstops and looks for ways to get as many into the lineup as he can. By playing Stephen Vogt in the outfield or at first base, either Derek Norris or John Jaso can get behind the dish while the other slides into the DH spot. It's worth noting that Josh Donaldson made his major league debut as a catcher and did not convert to third base until 2012, so there are instances when the A's have four players in their lineup who are capable of getting behind the plate.

[+] Enlarge

Thearon W. Henderson/Getty ImagesDerek Norris' healthy mullet has been a factor in many A's wins this season.

LOH-Wins (length of hair wins): This metric estimates how many wins a player adds to his team as the result of the length of his hair. For instance, you could look at the direct correlation between the length of Norris' mullet and the number of wins since its conception. 

rfFSR (right field fan scouting report): The fan scouting report (FSR) is a metric used by sabermetrician Tom Tango that estimates a player's value based on fan observations and online voting. The rfFSR evaluates a player's value based on reports and polling of the fans in the right field bleacher section at O.co Coliseum. Those are some of the best fans in the game, so it comes as no surprise that this metric is one of the most reliable when predicting future performance. 

wOPS (weighted overhead press): This gem calculates how strong a player is to determine whether he can carry a team. In Oakland, no one player carries our team. We all have very similar wOPS numbers. 

Roberts

BABIP: That's batting average on balls in play, right? Wrong. It's baseball averages compared to Bip Roberts. According to Baseball-Reference.com, over 12 seasons, Bip Roberts held a .294 batting average and a .358 on-base percentage and had a 162-game average of 36 stolen bases per year. Roberts played his final season for the A's in 1998, but sabermetricians still use his stats when evaluating players. 

HR/FB: That's home runs per fly ball, yes? Think again. It's home runs by a fullback. When you're a small-market team, sometimes you're forced to think outside the box. When you also share a stadium with an NFL team, it never hurts to see if any of their players can use their size and strength to drive the baseball out of the ballpark. No word yet on when Raiders fullback Marcel Reece will be given a chance to hit for A's scouts. And the jury is still out on whether this also can be applied to a wide receiver such as Jeff Samardzija. 

Contact percentage: This metric is out of this world -- literally. This number indicates how often a player is able to successfully decode messages received from outer space (just like Jodie Foster's character in the 1997 film "Contact"). Although this is an interesting metric, it has nothing to do with baseball, so it's not a great indicator of future performance. But "Contact" is a great movie. 

BB percentage: If you're guessing this particular sabermetric indicates a hitter's walk percentage, guess again. It's called "Baseball is Best." This metric helps indicate a player's intangibles because it shows just how much a player likes baseball. When a team is considering signing a player to a long-term contract, it's important to find out if baseball is the sport he likes to play the best. 

Sabermetrics are becoming more popular as we continue to strive for a better understanding of the game. And as the game evolves, so will the metrics. Hmm, maybe someday there'll be a metric to quantify clubhouse chemistry (the JON/nY GoM.E.S. phenomenon?). 

Critics will argue sabermetrics don't paint the whole picture. Some say a player still must pass the "eye test," and the only information a manager might need to make a decision is a past experience or a gut feeling. 

Others argue there are intangibles that cannot be quantified. Or they say the formulas are becoming too complicated for people who didn't ace calculus and don't know the mathematical order of operations or how to use a graphing calculator. Sabermetrics might not tell the whole story, but the numbers never lie. 

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm about to be shoved into my locker. 

Sean Doolittle, Special to Insider | ESPN.com

We All Need a Bubble Machine

Two things about a recent kerfuffle about the L.A. Dodgers having a soap bubble machine that they set off when one of their players hits a home run.

1) What a great idea. Good for them. Big fun!
2) Can anyone really believe that MLB made a fuss about it? I mean, it is a bubble machine!

http://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgers/la-sp-dodgers-20140807-story.html

Frankly, I think we all could use a bubble machine (or something like it) from time to time. And they are easily available from the likes of Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=bubble+machines&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=36278185179&hvpos=1s1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7445096660373377595&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_86th5n5gck_b) and the sort.

If you don't want to go that far, have a bubble gum blowing contest; play Don Ho's Tiny Bubbles (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlCiDEXuxxA); have a glass of sparkling cider and pretend the fizz is champagne bubbles. You get the idea.

4th of July

We all know about fireworks and such, but here are some other thoughts for 4th of July weekend.

Read individually, or as a group, the Declaration of Independence.
http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/index.htm

Watch Yankee Doodle Dandy, Stars and Stripes Forever, 1776, Born on the 4th of July or some other interesting and topical movie.

Dress in red, white and blue.

See if you and co-workers can create a human American flag.

Other ideas?

Why NO FUN at work?

This is a serious question and I'd really like to engage you in considering answers. I have done a little research - and I admit to not being especially skilled - to find publications that can explicate and enumerate reasons for no fun at work. And I haven't found very much.

Here are some of the reasons that I have seen articulated:

• There is no time for fun. 
• Fun is counterproductrive (if not unproductive). 
• Business is serious. It is not professional to have fun. 
• Fun is disruptive. 
• There is a workplace, not a play ground; there is a workforce not a play force.
• Fun requires people to participate whether they want to or not.
• Fun carries the risk of offense to colleagues.

There are probably other reasons and rationales. One that comes to mind is that leadership is not comfortable with the idea of fun at work. 

So help me out, please. Why is fun at work such a hard sell?

Play Therapy

I found a pamphlet for an organization called Association for Play Therapy (http://www.a4pt.org/) and they seem to be a real and reliable organization. They offer some outcomes for play:

• Builds trust and mastery
• Fosters learning and acceptable behaviots
• Regulates emotions
• Reduces anxieties
• Promotes creative thinking and problem-solving
• Encourages open communication
• Elevates spirit and self-esteem

In short, play is a good thing. Not all the time, to be sure, but every now and again. Perhaps we should consider adding play as a part of our personal and professional lives.

June 6 -- D-DAY AND National Doughnut Day

June 6th is the 70th anniversary of D-Day and deserves to be celebrated with great appreciation for the men and women who participated in the landings. And here are some anagrams to solve to help remember:

HEROINESWE
DSORW
NUJO
HAAMO
LOGD
HUTA
INSOVAIN
RORDLVEO
SODAGENTLY (2 words)

June 6th is also National Doughnut Day.

http://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/doughnut-day/

I plan to pick up some deep-fat tasty treats and bring them to the cigar store where my dad and I occasionally hang out and eat one and smoke a nice stogie. How do you plan to celebrate? (Checkout the Kresge Business School Library - they own this day!)

Liza Doolittle Day: May 20

Here's a bit of the lyrics from Just You Wait, 'enry 'iggins, from My Fair Lady. (Full lyrics can be found at: http://www.metrolyrics.com/just-you-wait-lyrics-my-fair-lady.html)

One evening the king will say, "Oh, Liza, old thing
I want all of England your praises to sing"

Next week on the twentieth of May
I proclaim Liza Doolittle day

So, next Tuesday is May 20 and as King of this blog I proclaim Liza Doolittle Day. 

• Speak with a cockney accent;
• Dress as a flower seller;
• Dance all night;
• Find a 'enry 'higgins and tell 'im what you'd like to do to him;
• or whatever else strikes your fancy and fires your imagination

'ave fun!

Fun Ideas for a Staff Retreat in May

Feet Don’t Fail Me

a)      Everyone goes barefoot for the day;

b)      Paint or stick happy faces on toes and create and dance a happy foot dance;

c)      Paint or stick roses on toes and dance to Moses Supposes His Toeses Are Roses from Singin’ in the Rain. (http://www.zazzle.com/red_rose_sticker-217982755706889259)

Liza Doolittle Day: May 20th

a)      Dress like the flower girl as Liza is/was;

b)      Speak in a Cockney accent;

c)      Find a likely ‘enry ‘iggins to be subjected to Liza’s wrath

Library Limericks

a)      Have each unit compose a limerick suitable for their functions, skills, etc. or for the library in general, i.e.

Our library is really a fun place,

There are many smiling work faces,

There’s no end of glee,

We often go Te-Hee-Hee,

Our building is the coolest of  places.

b)      Have a contest to create a limerick for the retreat.

The retreat we are on is a cool one,

Who knew retreating could be so much fun,

As we share and we learn,

To one another we turn,

And say we are almost sorry the day’s done.

Human Croquet (http://strange-games.blogspot.com/2006/05/human-croquet_114799450890208568.html) – There is a literary tie-in here to Kate Atkinson’s novel of the same name

Limerick Day: May 12

Coming Monday, May 12, it is Limerick Day :)

http://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/limerick-day/

This form is credited to Edward Lear and popularized in his A Book of Nonsense. Here's an example of his craft:

There was an Old Man with a beard,
Who said, 'It is just as I feared!
Two Owls and a Hen,
Four Larks and a Wren,
Have all built their nests in my beard!

Are You Part of a No Fun League?

I thought this article in my local paper was very interesting about how the National Football League, an enterprise based on a game people play, is taking action to remove some of the fun from celebratory moments.

http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Rule-to-ban-dunking-marks-return-of-the-No-Fun-5352362.php

My response, not surprisingly, is Really? In truth, I believe that we should invest more time in celebrating accomplishments and if those celebrations include something that is fun and exuberant; I mean, how often do we give ourselves over to a moment of unbridled enthusiasm in any event?

So if someone at your organization wants to dunk a completed report over an imaginary goalpost, or get a sis-boom-bah, or just offer up some high fives, tips of the hat, thumbs ups, or whatever your corporate culture goes for, then there's nothing to it but to do it.

Analysis of Positive Humor in the Workplace (Me - It's a good thing!)

I'll skip right to the findings, and I quote: "Results suggest employee humor is associated with enhanced work performance, workgroup cohesion, health, and coping effectiveness, as well as decreased burnout, stress, and work withdrawal. Supervisor use of humor is associated with enhanced subordinate performance, satisfaction, perception of supervisor performance, satisfaction with supervisor, and workgroup cohesion, as well as reduced work withdrawal.

Citation: Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol 27., No. 2, 2012, pp 155-190.

Effective Office Humor: Wall Street Journal article

Found this article published in the Wall Street Journal titled "Secrets of Effective Office Humor."

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887324085304579008554174349982

Here is an interesting paragraph that points to potential benefits of humor:

Employers like to hire people with a sense of humor, research shows. And mixing laughter and fun into a company culture can attract skilled workers, according to a study last year in the journal Human Relations. A 2011 study at Pennsylvania State University found that a good laugh activates the same regions of the brain that light up over a fat bonus check.

The article is good about pointing out some of the challenges of using humor, both in delivery and how it is received.

And it provides a fun activity - Jargon Day.

"The best office humor brings people together, often through shared pranks or inside jokes, Mr. Tarvin says. For nearly three years, employees at Silver Lining Ltd. held monthly "corporate jargon days" when they tried to use as much vague, bureaucratic language as possible, says Carissa Reiniger, founder and chief executive of the New York City-based small-business management consulting firm. The goal: to goad the group to break the buzzword habit!

And this makes me think of Buzzword Bingo which gets at the same idea of using less jargon and clearer language.

http://www.businessbuzzwordbingo.com/

Rock 'em, sock'em :)

Daylight Saving Time: Where do you store your daylight?

Daylight Saving Time 2014 begins at 2:00 AM on Sunday, March 9. My questions are: Where do you store the daylight that you save? Where do you keep it? When do you use it and how? Can you lend it? Borrow it?

Yeah, I know, pretty darned silly, but that's how I am feeling today at the annual mixed blessing of losing 1 hour of sleep and gaining 1 hour of daylight

Golden State Warriors on fun

Here's an comment from Mark Jackson, Coach of the Golden State Warriors basketball team and from one of his players:

And that's what Jackson is after. He wants his team to get back to playing freely and having fun - the characteristics that allowed the Warriors to overachieve last season.

"We're pressing, we're worrying about this and worrying about that, but we're at our best when we're just having fun," Green said. "Of course, any time expectations rise, you're human. You're going to know it, and you're going to react to it. But no one expects more out of us than we expect out of us."

See: http://www.sfchronicle.com/warriors/article/Warriors-hope-for-boost-in-energy-enthusiasm-5216046.php  (You may have to be subscriber to SFChronicle.com to get full access.)

Now when it comes to high-stakes stress and anxiety professional sports rate pretty highly. And yet, even in this environment, there is the understanding that having fun while being ferociously competitive can be a good thing. How does your organization, team, etc., seek out and encourage random acts of fun?

Sun flips poles: What are you flipping to celebrate?

Big news: The Sun has flipped upside down and reversed magnetic poles (http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Sun_flips_upside_down_while_reversing_magnetic_poles_999.html), Hokey-smokey.

So, what are you doing to celebrate/commemorate this event? Wear flip flops? Flip up/down sunglasses? Flip your lid? Flip a burger? Walk on your hands (a form of flipping)? Flip flop a position? Watch back episodes of Flipper? Here's a chance for cosmic creativity!

Good luck!

Spring Training

I love baseball and when I lived in Chicago the beginning of spring meant the beginning of spring; or perhaps just the slight diminishing of winter; or the promise of the former and the frustration with the latter!

In any event, mid-February was a key date because that is when baseball teams reported to exotic locations such as Florida and Arizona to work out the kinks, hone their skills, and prepare for the upcoming season.

And here we are. It is February and baseball teams are following the rituals of the season.

My question?Why don't organizations do this too?

It wouldn't be hard to imagine a series of in-house (with appropriate warm climate posters) or out-of-doors activities (where the weather is nice) to review personal and team goals for the year; work on those skills you wanted to improve on; (re)consider your primary customer, client, etc., and how you are providing service to them; and at the end, on, say March 21, have a solstice party to celebrate the end of spring training and the return to full-time work. Also the official beginning of Spring.

So, batter up and work on the double-play, the bunt, the relay throw and whatever might help your team be more successful.