The Westmount library is a story in itself. But there are two sub-story fall-outs here.
Women as Leaders
All the directors of the Westmount Public Library were women. And everyone was ‘feistily’ unshakable in keeping their eye on their goals for the Library and making them happen.
Library work has traditionally been women's work. But make that librarian the boss - or anywhere for that matter - with a freedom unfettered by the “tired” age-old definition of “boss” men and “dutiful” women roles, the results can be spectacular!
CEOs Uncovering Productivity Secrets.
It would be a natural fall-out for CEOs to cut a path to the Westmount Public Library to personally study the library’s secrets of unlocking productivity.
A precedent for this has already been set.
That’s what CEOs did who had ordered industrially designed products from IDEO. They were so impressed with David Kelley’s approach to creating successful creativity in his design team - very much like the approach of the Westmount Public Library:
Ideo's formula for creating an industrial product: Putting together a team of designers each with a different background; letting them loose while they got their hands wet by observing the problems first hand; allowing them to come up with no-holds-barred-anything-goes ideas – and then allowing the best ideas to float to the top. Management's rep was there only to keep the enthusiasm on course.
The CEOs were so blown away that they hired Kelley to teach them personally his company’s methods for unlocking creativity.
(David Kelley was asked to create Department “d” at Stanford. Like the CEOs before him, the President of Stanford was so blown away that he changed the curriculum of the University so that “everyone” at Stanford, independent of the specialty of their studies, had to take one course in creative design!)
The approach of the Westmount Public Library was similar. Each librarian-manager brought to the table a diversity of background pre-dating their Masters in Library Science. This diversity enables a much more innovative approach to problem-solving, especially that of creating diverse cultural and community projects which have to appeal to a great diversity of community interests.
And most powerful of all, the head of the library understood so well that the the best way to motivate the 'troops' is by involving them directly into the very heart of the 'battle', The project becomes their project as opposed to just feeling like they're pieces used by management.
Those two aspects together create a super productive work environment. All to the benefit of the library.
The Westmount Public Library’s uniqueness in creating a work frame in which the creativity of its librarian-managers – indeed everyone – flourishes, should be spread far and wide.
It is a powerful spur to develop the potential – and passion – of all who work in an rgganization
