In the lead up to the Federal election we hear our politicians talk about Australian values. When you actually attempt to identify the values, it is not as easy as it sounds, particularly as we live in a multicultural community.

In light of this dilemma, LDI's Kevin Obermuller commissioned a survey to find out what our Australian values are. The tool, created by Richard Barrett from the Values Centre, collects and interprets the data which will be used in his upcoming book on country cultural values.

It is important to note that this survey is not associated with any political party, or organisational outcome. As Kevin says, "I am hoping the survey gives us enough data to be able to begin to better understand what Australians feel is important; how they see our country today and how they wish our country to be in the future."

Diversity of opinion and respondents is critical; and for the data to be valid, we need to build a response of between 5,000-10,000 people. Please complete the survey and send the link to as many people as possible. In return, the data will be summarised and included in a later LDI newsletter prior to the publishing of the book.

To access the survey on line : www.corptools.com/rba
Click on the Australian Flag then enter:
Username: ausnva
Password: values

Alternatively, email kevin.o@learningdimensions.com.au for a copy to be mailed to you, or write to Learning Dimensions, 7/71 Queens Road, Melbourne, 3004.

Thank you.

After 14 years as a Learning and Development consultancy, creating tailored learning interventions for our clients, we will soon announce a major initiative around Safety Leadership.

For the last 5 years we have worked with many organisations delivering cultural and behavioural change initiatives in Safety Leadership; including some of Australia's biggest construction, retail, mining, energy and manufacturing companies. Having received rave reviews for our work, we have taken a bold step which will be announced shortly. Please keep an eye open for the announcement launch and accompanying invitation in the coming weeks.

As part of the research work we do, we spend hours looking at the Web and identifying sites of value. If you are interested in reference sites for Learning and Development or Organisational Development, the following may be of interest;
www.onepine.info/content.htm this great website gives an overview of the most significant theorists and models in OD
www.blacksacademy.com
contains some very clearly written documents on management theory that we wish we had found 20 years ago.

Melissa Williams
LDI is pleased to announce the appointment of Melissa Williams as our new Managing Director. Melissa first worked with LDI 14 years ago and since that time has spent several years living in Asia managing a global training firm as well as establishing operations in USA, Singapore, Malaysia and Europe. With a passion for learning and influencing in different cultures, Melissa is responsible for the strategic direction, growth and sustainability of LDI. Melissa is married to Ron and together they are muddling through parenthood with their beautiful 7 month old baby boy, Jonathon.

Andrew Rubins
Also new to the team in 2007 is Andrew Rubins. Andrew was a major client of LDI's 11 years ago as Training and Development Services Manager at Ansett. Since that time he has held senior roles at Right Management Consultants and Coles Myer. As Senior Partner at LDI he is responsible for business development and is able to indulge his passion for supporting organisations through strategic change. Already, during his short time at LDI, he has worked with several leadership teams on strategic planning, team building and organisational restructuring. Andrew is married with two young rambunctious boys who are nothing like their father.

We often hear teams saying “we need time management training”, “we never have time to get ahead of the game”, “we are too reactive” or “we need more staff”.

At LDI we find that, for the most part, the real need is for agreed protocols around how the team works together at the micro level. We have discovered that many individuals have a sense of protocols for their own work practices, but that they vary significantly in a team unless actually discussed and agreed. This can be as simple as agreements on why people are cc'd on emails or making sure meetings start on time.

Our Handy Hint; Have a group discussion about work protocols and gain commitment to a published list of them - it will make everyone's life easier!

1. We are working with two different business units inside an Australian bank to develop a L&D Strategy, Curriculum and Implementation Plan for each business unit.
   
   
2. We have recently worked with the executive management group of a publicly listed biotech to improve teamwork and collaboration.
   
   
3. We worked with a Federal Government body to identifying current and desired values of the Department and how team members' values balanced against current and aspirational organisation values. A team debrief day created better understanding and team cohesion.
   
   
4. LDI worked with a Global Construction firm who told us that; "We teach people about safety in the work place yet see unconscious behaviours suggesting the message is not translating from theory into practice". Our solution was a 3 month intensive cultural and behavioural skills program combining classroom and workplace learning to ensure that actions and behaviours correlated with the program's messages and themes.