Launching the ‘One by One’ Book Club with Permission to Feel by Marc Brackett, PhD

Summary

The 'One by One' Digital Commons online community is launching a book club, starting with "Permission to Feel" by Marc Brackett, PhD, to support museum professionals in enhancing emotional intelligence amidst the challenges of 2020.

Abstract

The 'One by One' Digital Commons community, which initially served as a platform for museum professionals to engage in action research related to digital transformation, is extending its reach with the introduction of a book club. The inaugural selection for the book club is Dr. Marc Brackett's "Permission to Feel," a book chosen for its relevance to the emotional challenges faced during the tumultuous year of 2020. Recognizing the intertwined nature of personal and professional lives, especially with the rise of remote work, the book club aims to foster a holistic approach to emotional intelligence, focusing on empathy, diversity, inclusion, resilience, and agency. The book club's discussions will complement the author's virtual book club, with the 'One by One' community hosting their own sessions the day after, beginning on August 21, 2020. Membership to the Digital Commons online community is currently by invitation only, with participants encouraged to engage in the discussions, regardless of their attendance at the author's sessions or completion of the book.

Opinions

The book club is seen as a valuable addition to the 'One by One' Digital Commons, providing a space for museum professionals to connect and grow in emotional intelligence.
There is an acknowledgment that the lines between personal and professional lives have blurred, necessitating a holistic approach to work-life balance.
Emotional intelligence is considered crucial for effective remote collaboration and communication, especially in the context of the museum and cultural sectors.
The selection of "Permission to Feel" reflects the community's commitment to addressing the emotional needs of its members, with an emphasis on empathy, diversity, inclusion, resilience, and agency.
The community values active participation and inclusivity, encouraging members to contribute to discussions even if they haven't read the book or attended all sessions.

Launching the ‘One by One’ Book Club with Permission to Feel by Marc Brackett, PhD

Last week, we asked our ‘One by One’ Digital Commons online community what book(s) they are reading that inform or energize. Why? Because we are launching a book club! The online community started as a place for our research participants to chat with each other and researchers as we embarked upon a variety of action research interventions intended to boost confidence of museum professionals navigating digital transformation.

We opened up our online community in June to participants of the Digital Forum events hosted by ‘One by One’ research team. Together, with our formal ‘One by One’ research participants, we are now inviting museum professionals or those affiliated with museums and other cultural organizations to join us in the online community for our newly launched ‘One by One’ Book Club.

For our first book, we have selected Permission to Feel: Unlocking the power of emotions to help our kids, ourselves, and our society thrive by Marc Brackett, PhD. All of us can agree that 2020 has been a tough year. We can no longer compartmentalize our personal and professional lives. Forces beyond our control have meant we need to think beyond work-life balance and focus on blending our personal and professional lives. After all, we are participating on Zoom calls as partners, kids and pets wander through the background and/or interrupt our professional conversations with personal requests for love and support. When we talk solutions about how we might improve our industry, we have to consider a holistic approach.

Taking a holistic approach means we need to get better at becoming more aware of and regulating our own emotions, so we might better respond to the emotional needs and reactions of others. A higher degree of emotional intelligence is required when remote working and collaborating through asynchronous communication. This is why the first book we have chosen focuses on those keywords and needs we have heard/seen surfaced in the ‘One by One’ research: empathy, diversity, inclusion, resilience, and agency.

Dr. Brackett is kicking off a virtual book club discussion about his book (timing is aligned to the paperback release). We encourage you to sign up for this discussion here. The first discussion begins on August 20, 2020 (UPDATE: Site changed date to September 10, 2020 — we encourage you to sign-up for this discussion, but we will continue with our ObO Book Club discussion beginning August 21, 2020) and will continue once a week for seven weeks. The day after the author’s book club discussion, we will host our own book club discussion and answer questions with a museum / digital lens. We encourage you to be part of these conversations even if you have not attended the author’s discussion AND even if you have not read the book!

Our first ‘One by One’ Book Club discussion will take place on August 21, 2020 at 11am EST / 4pm BST / 5pm BST for ONE HOUR.

To RSVP for the Book Club and become a member of the core Digital Commons online community you must direct message me (@VargasL) or email me at [email protected]. At the present time, the online community is by invite-only.

We will post discussion questions on the Digital Commons online community in advance of the official and ‘One by One’ Book Club discussions. If you are unable to attend the discussion, we will post a summary of the conversation the following day and invite you to comment on these posts with your own responses.

Our US and UK ‘One by One’ research participants have received a copy of this book and will be participating in and/or following the Book Club discussion. We invite you to read along with us and help us increase and continuously practice our emotional intelligence. Together, we will add to our #bookdna!