Written by Laura Chartier, Learning & Development Consultant and SEWI-ATD VP of Communications.

Original article by Alison Beard, from the July-August 2017 issue of Harvard Business Review

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Do you have a role model or someone who's life's work you admire? I've been enamored with Alan Alda since I was an impressionable youngster watching M*A*S*H (and the reruns of the reruns of the reruns of the iconic series). No doubt his character, Hawkeye Pierce, was influential in the formation of my sarcastic/quirky sense of humor, desire to help people, and quest for peaceful resolutions in times of turmoil. Because everyone has flaws and faults, some of which are more fatal than others, I try not to regard anyone as my be-all-end-all hero.  With that said, Mr. Alda is about as close as they come. This man, celebrated for his talents as actor (TV, film, and theater), scriptwriter, director, nonfiction author, and science-show host, is also a philanthropist and the founder of two organizations designed to help people improve their communication skills.

While this article, "Life's Work: An Interview with Alan Alda," is not specifically aimed at Talent Development Professionals, I read it from the perspective of a teacher, trainer, leader, and communicator. Much of what was conveyed is directly applicable to the many facets of talent development. Alda's commentary about using improvisation as a way to connect and engage with people seemed particularly apropos for interactions within our field.

As I was reading, I used the free version of the digital tool, Diigo, (pronounced DEE-go) to emphasize and comment upon points throughout that appealed to me from the lens of one who coaches and presents, as well as someone who strives first to understand and then to be understood. If you aren't familiar with Diigo, it is a powerful, yet very easy online tool for you to consider. Once you sign up/sign in, you will be able to see my annotations embedded within the interview (pdf file I've linked above). 

From https://digitalresearchtools.pbworks.com/f/Diigo+Description.pdf: 

"Diigo is a free social bookmarking, research, and knowledge sharing tool created to mimic the ease of taking notes while providing a network for sharing and discovering information. Diigo allows you to take personal notes and highlight text information on web pages just as you would on a piece of paper.  You can then bookmark and save this information for further review, while adding tags to keep everything organized.  In bookmarking this information, you can also choose to share with colleagues and friends to allow them to access the web page, view your notes and highlights, and add their own annotations.  All of this information is also saved online and can be accessed by any computer or browser, including cell phones with browsing capabilities.

It's my hope that today, you will learn something new, SHARE YOUR OWN ANNOTATIONS with us, and comment on this blog post so that all can capitalize on the collective knowledge of, and consider a variety of views from within, our amazing talent development community!