herding presidents (and others) to the promised land

Toronto, June 6-7 2016

Herding Presidents (and others) to the Promised Land

Daniel LieberMatthew Mangels

Innovative Ideas Unlimited, Inc. (IIUI)

Agenda

• About Temple Shir Tikvah• The Catalyst: Finding a new Leader

(Rabbi)• Why IBM Connections Cloud• How the Tools were Used• Results• Epilogue: Success!

Temple Shir Tikvah

About Temple Shir Tikvah

• Mid-size Jewish Congregation north of Boston, Massachusetts (USA)

• Reform denomination• 30 years of history• Egalitarian, welcoming, non-exclusive• Membership is about 340 family units from

20+ communities• Most adult members have Masters and/or

Doctoral/Terminal degrees

The catalyst

• Rabbi Rim Meirowitz announced pending retirement

• 5 step process to find replacement over 2 years• 15 people selected to Rabbi Search Committee

• Included 5 past presidents + new president• Included founding members, new members, and one

high school student• Summary: Great people with strong personalities

• NEED to collaborate; no existing tools

Why IBM Connections Cloud

• No existing tools• Pricing worked since external (guest)

users were predominant legitimate need• Existing expertise• Speed to implementation

• Setup and shell content took about 90 minutes to configure

Challenges and Solutions

• Getting people to initially login• Provided discrete, simple tasks (upload

photo of self)• Refusal to bypass system

• Use lots of smiles• Limiting use of e-mail• Getting advance and consistent support of

leadership• Notifications

How the tools were used

• Profiles• Wikis• Exclusive means for communication of

significant content• Log for all communications• Comments work when used

Memorialization of Decision Making

• Documents process for “next time”• Serves as searchable resource• Files retained for justification• People added to process late can “catch

up” and see appropriate content• Helps limit repetitive, unnecessary

“reinventing the wheel”

Results

• Successfully completed process ahead of schedule

• Great rabbi hired!• Planted seed for how to use social

technology productively in groups

Epilogue: Now Using Connections Cloud for Other Purposes• Adult Education• IT• Israel Committee• Social events

Toronto, June 6-7 2016

Questions?

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