Some wishes for Kindle books

I love reading Kindle books but wish it would support these things:

• An app for book signings. A strength of print books is the ability to get the author's autograph, turning the book into a keepsake. How can Kindle readers, for example, be used at book signings to attract people to meet the author?
• Marginalia. Notes and highlights are powerful, but it would be nice to be able to do marginalia as well. I use OneNote for marginalia, but I'm sure readers would want to have the marginalia in the book itself.
• Highlight continuation automatically. My Paperwhite flips to the next page to let me continue a highlight. The PC and Cloud readers don't. I have to fiddle with font size to get the section I want highlighted on the same page.
• View multiple pages. My particular quirk is I like to stretch a word processing document across a wide monitor so I can view 4 or more pages at a time. I feel like it makes it easier to jump back and forth between pages to follow a narrative or argument. I find it very useful when I'm grading papers. I'd love for my ebook reader to do the same because I like to be able to quickly jump back to a previous page to refresh my memory or jump forward to pick up on the book's organization. 

OneNote has been a great productivity tool, but...

I thoroughly enjoy OneNote for personal productivity. It's amazingly powerful. For example, if you paste the URL of a YouTube video to a OneNote page, it will automatically insert the video on that page so you can watch it on that page.

However, one feature I'd like to see on OneNote is the ability to assign a page to multiple sections at the same time and, when I update that page, its copy is updated in all those sections. Someone might say I can tag the page, but tagging in OneNote seems more suited to specific items within a page so you don't lose track of them.

This could serve you well when you think through decisions. #YourUnfinishedBusiness

Community of Christians

Currently reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Life Together, his essays about Christians living in community with each other. He wrote this in 1930s Germany when Hitler's government had coopted the Christian church and outlawed dissenting churches. He made this statement that's worth pondering: "Visible community is grace." In other words, it's by God's grace Christians who meet together regularly can do that. Many around the world are isolated, imprisoned, sick, or living in closed countries.

What struck me, however, was Bonhoeffer's statement: "Yet what is denied them as a visible experience they grasp more ardently in faith." That is, the experience makes them more firmly believe they are part of a larger community of faith.

That gave me an insight into Hebrews 1:1 (NIV), "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." I used to think of this verse in terms of Christians' hope to see God face to face in heaven. I now see it also as assurance of being part of a fellowship here and now even though we don't have that visible experience.

Why is that important? Often, the encouragement of others keeps us going in difficult situations. Teammates on sports teams pulling for each other, soldiers protecting each other, parents attending children's activities, all these are examples of how we can mutually encourage each other. What Bonhoeffer suggested was the faith of these scattered and isolated Christians convinced them there were others out there praying for them and yearning for eventual face to face contact.

Bonhoeffer's words also helped me think about Hebrews 12:1 in a different way. The writer of Hebrews listed Bible characters who epitomized faith and concluded in Hebrews 12:1 (NIV), "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles." There is indeed a community encouraging us to push forward in our walk with God.

I found the book on Amazon in these formats: paperback, Kindle, hardcover.

Gig learners

What's euphemistically called the agile workforce is the collection of freelance, consultant, and temp workers employers use, and employers may be thinking about how to integrate them into a talent management strategy.

The big question the linked article raised is how law and regulation views the relationships. The more firms integrate these non-fulltime workers, the more they may start to appear to be fulltime workers. That means organizations could be expected to provide the benefits associated with full time employment.

Higher ed needs continuing studies units

Where do continuing studies units rank in higher ed priorities, especially in delivering university programs to working adults? One report argues that working adults "represent the greatest opportunity for increased economic mobility, equity, and growth in the next century." Continuing studies units are how higher ed institutions can reach these new learners.

The age-old question

Yet another article about demonstrating the impact of training and development programs on performance.

Issues identified:

• "…more than eight in 10 executives (84 percent) rated learning as important or very important."
• "…the amount spent on learning jumped 10 percent from the previous year."
• "…only 37 percent of companies believe their learning programs are effective."

Tips for linking learning to performance:

• Democratize your learning.
• Make learning personal and relevant.
• Set the bar or everyone.
• Bring on the feedback.

What's not as clear is the actual link to a firm's financial performance. If learning is the independent variable and financial results is the dependent variable, how can the Chief Learning Officer demonstrate a clear relationship?