Your Name and Title:

 Nicole Forsythe, Digital Services Librarian       

Library, School, or Organization Name:

 Kirkwood Community College


Area of the World from Which You Will Present:

 Cedar Rapids or perhaps Iowa City, IA   

Language in Which You Will Present:

English
 

Target Audience(s):

 Academic librarians, new librarians, librarians interested in ("little l") leadership, anyone who identifies as leading from the middle or being involved in change management

Short Session Description (one line):

 The library profession is a hotbed of change management: come to this session to hone your leadership by understanding the frame of "adaptive" vs. "technical" challenges.

Full Session Description (as long as you would like):

 Although some of us may not like to admit it, librarians are (largely) creatures of institutions, and institutions are notoriously hard to change. As our profession has changed far faster than many of our institutions, librarians increasingly find themselves in the role of change managers, both within the library and within our over-arching institutions. This session will lay out the concept of adaptive versus technical challenges as outlined by Ron Heifetz and Mary Linsky in their book, "Leadership on the Line." By using this frame, leaders can help frame and contextualize their challenges in a way that leads to appropriate action. For anyone excited to integrate change into a library, be it technological, philosophical, or organizational, the ability to discern the nature of change and resulting challenges is key!

Curious for a bit more information? Technical challenges are ones to which solutions can be found (e.g. a library's LMS doesn't work, so they would gather requirements, evaluate products, and buy one), while adaptive challenges are ones to which there are no concrete, tangible solutions (e.g. how do new library staff best integrate into a multi-generational and highly diverse culture?). Technical challenges can be solved with know-how and concrete skill; adaptive challenges rely on the creative elements of human ingenuity and real relationships. This session will summarize the paradigm and propose ways librarians of all types can use it in their own leadership from any level.

Websites / URLs Associated with Your Session:

The book from which the theory comes: http://books.google.com/books?id=c3mYE7jNvn0C&printsec=frontcov...