The book is written. It now needs to be printed and marketed.
It's inspired by scientific research on learning. It's been vetted by three top learning-measurement experts (Rob Brinkerhoff, Jack Phillips, Bill Coscarelli). It's received advance praise from luminaries in the learning field like Ruth Clark, Marc Rosenberg, Clark Quinn, Julie Dirksen, Thiagi, Roy Pollock, Judy Hale, Ryan Watkins, Patti Shank, Steve Villachica, Karl Kapp, Guy Wallace, Adam Neaman, and Jeff Hurt.
I've decided to publish the book through Work-Learning Press because it gives me more flexibility, more control of my hard-earned intellectual property, and a much higher percentage of book-sale revenue than going with a traditional publisher. I know I'm not going to get rich selling a book, but more dollars means that I'll be able to spend less time marketing my consulting services and more time doing research and continuing my writing -- the stuff that I love to do, and the time investment that helps the learning field the most, imnsho.
Finally, let me add this. The days of the self-publishing taboo are over. As the world moves toward a "sharing economy," where merit can truly be tested in the marketplace; more and more writers, artists, designers and other independents are able to control the means of their own labor. I'm delighted to be testing my ideas in the marketplace, sharing what I've learned over the last 17 years compiling scientific research on learning, and sticking my thumb in the eyes of the monopolistic publishers who dominate the workplace-learning field. Also, I'm having a blast playing the role of the provocateur! As you can probably tell!
I chose to write this book -- my first book -- on the dreaded smile sheet because it is a very important topic. Here are two quotes from the book, so you'll get an idea about what will be inside:
"We, as workplace learning-and-performance professionals, often see smile sheets as a small thing—when they are in fact a huge, dark, and demonic colossus. More than any other tool in the training-and-development industry, smile sheets control what we do. They are a self-inflicted form of mind control, warping our thoughts from learning’s essential realities. Smile sheets—as now designed—do not just tell us nothing. They tell us worse than nothing. They focus our worries toward the wrong things. They make us think our learning interventions are more effective than they are. More than any other practice in our field, they have done the most damage."
"By reading this book, you will learn how to create a Performance-Focused Smile Sheet. You will look at your current smile sheets in a whole new light—as if seeing them for the first time. With new-found wisdom, you’ll know how to radically improve your smile sheets, providing you and your stakeholders with a unique and enlightening vision of your learning outcomes! The smile sheets you will build will be inspired by the learning research, will help your learners produce more useful information, and will focus not just on the learning event but also on the situations and factors that enable the learning to culminate in successful real-world accomplishments."
In a nutshell, that's what this project is all about. It's a worthy effort. The book has a chance to revolutionize how we measure learning. By enabling better feedback, we can enable better learning. I hope you'll join me in making the book a reality! Thank you!
To obtain a sample chapter of the book, go to the book website, SmileSheets.com.
Please share this Kickstarter page on Twitter, LinkedIn, and in your social networks. On Twitter I'm @WillWorkLearn. Thank you!
Will Thalheimer
Somerville, Massachusetts
Risks and challenges
The book has passed through the final stages of the editing process. I have one of the most reputable self-publishing companies helping me move through the steps toward printing the book. As I've gone through the publishing process, I have found that occasionally there have been unexpected costs, though these tend to be small costs that I've been able to cover. Biggest risks going forward are likely to involve minor slowdowns due to logistical difficulties, especially given summer vacation schedules.
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Funding period
- (51 days)