relevancy

Today I attended the first of a two day crash course on "Managing for Results" led by Sandra Nelson and June Garcia. You're probably thinking "that's weird, she's not a manager", which is absolutely true. I attended as the staff representative to the Community Planning Committee. But also because I've become Sandra and June's biggest fan. It's easy to see why their Planning for Results process has become the benchmark in library land: they are savvy, knowledgeable, entertaining, and thought provoking. This morning I was particularly intrigued by Sandra's comments about "irrelevant excellence". You know what she means right? The effort we expend on tasks that have tremendous meaning to us, but are not important to our customers. An example that comes immediately to my mind? The storytime handouts I make and then find littering the floor of the library. Clearly, parents and careproviders don't find them to be relevant. And I'm pretty sure the kids don't care. But just so you know, the handouts are excellent. I promise.