This is the presentation I gave for my job interview on 5/8/12 at Yale University for my current position as Associate Director for Resource Sharing and Reserves.

1. Solve for X
Tom Bruno
Head of Resource Sharing
Harvard College Library

2. The Equation
If Dedicated Library Staff +
Effective Communication +
Well-implemented Technology +
X =
Excellent Customer Service;
Solve for X

3. Do you like apples?

4. Wait, I read this book…
42!

5. On second thought
• Maybe this is
a trick
question
• Maybe there
is no X

7. Plug & Chug
• Let’s not go down the Keanu
rabbit hole (yet!)
• Remember your high school
algebra?
• Plug in some values and see what
we get

8. X= Walking the talk?
• Colleagues who’ve done
their time, know their
stuff make the ideal role
models
• Competence is the
cornerstone of mutual
respect- both internally
and externally
• Never trust a librarian
who doesn’t love the
smell of red rot in the
morning

9. X= Once more unto the breach?
• Maybe X is inspiration
• Belief in the research
mission of the library
• Employees who are
emotionally invested
are more likely to want
to grow and excel
• Library work becomes
collaborating towards a
shared vision

10. X= Tell me about your day?
• Maybe X is empathy
• Superior customer service
goes beyond mere
obligation
• High touch service hasn’t
gone away, but it must be
applied strategically
• Do it right and you turn
customers into advocates

11. Or does X= the vision thing?

12. Creating a culture of innovation
• What if X is QUESTIONING?
• What if X is NETWORKING?
• What if X is OBSERVING?
• What if X is EXPERIMENTING?
• What if X is all of the above?
Source: Scott Anthony, “How do you create a culture of innovation?”
http://www.fastcodesign.com/1669657/how-do-you-create-a-culture-of-innovation

13. Let’s get integral!
• Put it all together and
what do you get for X?
• X is ideal, inspirational,
individual, innovative
• When we integrate over
all values of X, the
result is transformative
customer service

14. Q.E.D.
• Transformative customer service requires
transformative leadership- or does it?
• The goal of leadership: create effective units
that can accomplish their objectives even
under unpredictable circumstances
• As transformative leadership becomes the
norm, X -> 0

15. Back to Keanu
• Neo: What are you
trying to tell me? That I
can dodge bullets?
• Morpheus: No, Neo.
I’m trying to tell you
that when you’re ready,
you won’t have to.

16. The Scan & Deliver Experience
• Harvard Library’s scan on demand service,
Scan & Deliver, required transformative
leadership
• Positive role modeling, inspiration/motivation,
empathy for individual concerns, need for
system-wide innovation & creativity
• Result: a service which set the bar of
expectations for Harvard Library patrons

17. So long and thanks for all the math
• Questions?
• Comments?
• Corrections?
(Special thanks to Yale, the Wachowski
Brothers, and Gottfried Leibniz)