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Todd T. Holm

March 2019 - TD Magazine

The U.S. Marine Corps sought to promote disruptive thinking to establish a culture of creativity and innovation.

Pardon the Disruption

Between the daily borage of controversial headlines around misappropriated spending, workforce reorganization, and federal pay cuts, we often miss hearing the good news about innovation and progress occurring within the government workforce. Well, the 2012 Next Generation of Government Summit in Washington D.C., which brought together more than 600 Generation X and Y public sector workers, didn’t miss a beat sharing information about how many federal workers are taking steps to move government work forward. The summit was chock full of sessions on everything government employees are doing right. It’s time to share these stories.For two days, attendees learned how their peers were driving change, creating innovation, and leveraging social media tools to improve government.Carmen Medina, former CIA Director of Intelligence and author of the series “Corporate Rebel,” gave attendees a “pep talk” about how to be a “good” corporate rebel. “Optimism is the greatest act of rebellion,” she told the audience. “Nobody likes a pessimistic change agent.” Medina gave the young government leaders several key tips to drive change: start small, don’t avoid conflict, and when opportunity opens up, run through the hole as quickly as possible.Todd Park, the chief technology officer of the United States, discussed lessons learned about “innovation in government.” To create innovation in government, public sector employees must “embrace we-gov (open innovation)” and remember “that most of the smartest people in the world work for someone else.” Park is part of the recently announced series of Open Data Initiatives in energy, health care, public safety, and education to spark new private-sector consumer-facing and business-oriented tools, products, and services—such as mobile apps and websites—all while rigorously protecting personal, proprietary, and national security information.During the keynote on “How to Drive Big Change in Government,” Lena Trudeau—associate commissioner  in the Office of Strategic Innovations for the General Services Administration—challenged the audience to take a risk. “With crisis comes opportunity,” says Trudeau. “Sometimes you need to show the risk inherent with maintaining the status quo.”In other exciting news, I’d like to introduce you to Paula Ketter, the new Editor of The Public Manager, ASTD’s journal dedicated to supporting government managers. While Paula is new to the role of Editor for the The Public Manager, she is certainly no-newbie. Paula is the Editor of ASTD periodicals, and has overseen the publication of ASTD’s flagship monthly magazine T+D (Training + Development) for five years. She has also served as the Managing Editor of The Public Manager for three years. Paula is a veteran journalist with more than 30 years of experience writing and editing for newspapers and magazines. Carrie BlustinDirector, Government SectorPublisher, The Public Manager

Government Newsletter: August 2012

I have been attending the ATD International Conference & EXPO for the past eight years and have also attended ATD TechKnowledge, ATD Mexico, and ATD Brazil Summit as speaker. Now, I’m a member of the International Conference & EXPO PAC, 2019-20, evaluating the global perspectives track.How did you feel when you first attended an ATD conference? What keeps you coming back?For those of us who work in training and development, the first time attending an ATD conference is unforgettable. We want to attend each session, talk to everyone, and go to the entire expo. Everything at an ATD conference is relevant—the sessions, the keynotes, the networking events—and you want to embrace everything at once.Soon you realize that you will not be able to do it all and that you have to look for what is more relevant to you and your company in the short- and medium-term and prepare your schedule.How do you select sessions? What should attendees do during the sessions to get most out of them?I suggest analyzing the main problems you are facing day-by-day in your work. With this in mind, consider the tracks and listen to some world-class speakers in your chosen area. I suggest downloading presentations and taking note of key comments and insights. Later it is important to review them and begin practical actions to test the concepts.How do you network and make friends? What social media tools do you use to connect with people?This event is a place of contacts and networking. In the sessions we have opportunities to interact with people and give a short description of what we do in our work, and to ask colleagues why they are here and what their challenges and problems are. This is an excellent way to broaden the horizons of business and foster collaboration with some of these people in the future.For social media, I recommend Twitter to share thoughts and insights. For connections and networking, certainly recommend LinkedIn. There is a feature called Find Nearby that is great for this occasion. Stay connected!How can someone become a speaker for next year’s conference?I think if you follow these steps, you will have a good chance to be an ATD speaker:Look for a relevant topic that makes sense to speak on for the demanding audience of ATD.Write a clear and convincing description that shows you have deep knowledge of the subject.Have a good background of theoretical and practical experience.Communicate and interact with the audience in a style that demonstrates a well-told story.· Present with interactions to engage the audience.Share takeaways that are clear and relatively easy for the audience to apply.Avoid being too _salesy—_your presentation will lose credibility.What’s the best way to transfer the learning after you return to your home country?Take one or two concrete ideas and apply them to relevant projects as a pilot. After this first experience, collect results, adjust, and scale the solution.What is one suggestion you would like to give first-time ATD conference attendees?Focus on the tracks and your insights, make as many connections as possible, and enjoy!Any other tips that you think it would be helpful for attendees?Download the app.The ATD conference is the most important event for those who work in our industry. You will find world-class experts, so don´t go back home with any doubts—solve them here!At the ATD Store you will find interesting studies and books from the speakers. You can have them sign your book and network with them.Use the lunches and happy hours to develop your network. Stay connected with them.ATD Global has organized several opportunities for international attendees to be recognized, learn with each other, network, and have fun! For instance, you can connect with Emma and other colleagues in the Global Village. And be sure to attend the International Orientation, an informative session for new and returning international attendees to network and learn how to get the most out of ATD 2019. Learn more here.

Todd T. Holm

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