Australia’s Simon Terry and colleagues lead the fun annual Working Out Loud (WOL) Week,running this year from June 5 to June 11. While working out loud (also called“narrating work,” “making work visible,” or my preference, “showing your work”)is something I advocate doing all the time, as part of your everyday activitiesand work processes, WOL Week is a good time to support the faithful WOLpractitioners and invite newer ones to get started.
Figure 1: Examples of working out loud from my “Show Your Work” page on Pinterest
“Working out loud” doesn’t mean broadcasting every moment ofevery day, or crowing about every accomplishment, or only showing finalpolished work products. Rather, it’s a way of capturing that so-hard-to-nail-downtacit knowledge: not just what we do but howwe get things done. Think about the time someone left your organization and,despite extensive documentation of “activities,” no one could pick up where sheleft off. Or the time you finished a project only to find out someone inanother department had done the same thing. It’s a way of helping to connectdots across organizations or disciplines; it’s a way of helping us reflect and,it’s hoped, improve our own future work; it’s a way of getting help and learningfrom each other; and sure, it can be a way of showing off our skills orexpertise. As Charles Jennings says: “Showing our work means everyone doesn’thave to learn everything the hard way.” (See References.)
Getting started?
The #wolweek guidelines suggest activities for each day ofthe week:
- Purpose—Set a goal and make aplan. Choose some activities, projects, or tasks you’ll share about. Decidewhere: internally? Twitter? Slack? Sticky note on door?
- Connection—Reach out to somepeople in your network. Contact a stakeholder you haven’t interacted withlately. Send a note to some new people in your organization or new followers onLinkedIn or Twitter. Find new ways to connect.
- Contribution—Find someone you can help. Do theyhave a question you can answer? Do you have a skill that interests or couldhelp them? I find co-workers often have an interest in learning about newsocial tools but are embarrassed to ask in public or don’t know how to start.One-on-one time has paid off in many ways. Ask them about their work: “What areyou doing?” “How did you learn to do that?” “What did you find surprising, challenging,or rewarding about that?” People love to talk about their work. Acknowledgepeople for their work or expertise. Build bridges.
- Sharing—Share one piece of work in progress to a relevant community. Askfor feedback for improving it.
- Asking for help—Share a challenge. Share what youneed help with to advance it, make it better. Offer help to others: Wenger, Trayner, and de Laat note that asking for help is a sign of a healthycommunity, as it is an explicit show of trust. Share what you’re workingon; ask others what they’re working on. Ask, “How did you learn that?” “Can youshow me how to do that?” “Why did you do it that way?”
What?
It depends. Sometimes I take a screenshot. Sometimes I makea video. Sometimes I write a quick note about what I’m doing and capture it asa photo. Sometimes I write a blog post. What makes sense for what you areworking on, and the means by which you’ll share it? Instagram wants a picture.Your weekly reports might want a text narrative. Check out my Pinterest board linkedin Figure 1 for lots of examples.
Where?
The immediate reaction I get from many who are new toworking out loud is: “I can’t just publish everything I do on Twitter.” Well,of course not, and no one would want to see it if you did. Some things you onlyshare with your boss; other things, maybe with your work area, your division,your whole organization. Other things might be appropriate for clients orcustomers. Maybe a few things for the whole world. (And maybe some things youjust keep to yourself.) Certainly abide by rules about disclosure, particularlyproprietary information, financials, research, etc. Think about who would benefitfrom your sharing, and don’t assume that’s a small slice of the world.
There’s an example I use in workshops: teacher Paul Bogush’sblog post about making RSA-styleanimated videos with his kids. He offers instructions, tips, lessons learned,and even photos of how to set up equipment. When I ask workshop participantswho might appreciate his post, they start with “other teachers at his school,”but then, with a little nudging, move to “any teacher,” and finally theyrealize the post would be useful for “anyone who wants to make a video likethat.” Note that Paul’s post is also a great help to him when he wants to do this again.
The single best way to start working out loud: Stopsaving everything to your C: drive.
And don’t let this be just a one-week-a-year thing. Once youget started, try to make it a habit: As you finish one thing and before movingon to the next, stop and take a breath. Should you make a note, take a photo, tweeta screenshot, talk to a colleague? On your commute home from work, askyourself: “What story would I tell my five-year-old about my day?” For the lastfew years, we’ve been talking a lot about “social learning.” Well, this is whatsocial learning is.
Want more?
See the list of WOL Week resources here, and follow the #wolweekhashtag on Twitter and elsewhere.
