Tata Interactive Systems

Shift Happens

Scott McLeod, of the Univ of Minnesota, recently reworrked and posted a version of a presentation that Karl Fisch created called "Did You Know?".  It's really quite good on several different levels (globalization, learning, change, the future) and is worth a view (~6 mins). 

Several of the themes resonated especially loudly for me, being an eLearning specialist working for an Indian firm, as well as being the (proud) father of a six year old boy.  The world we are living within TODAY is amazing and changing incredibly fast, but it all (may) look like "the good old days" to my son in the same way that today's workforce reflects upon how things were, not in the 1930's, but in the 1830's (or maybe the 1730's!).

The current day statistics and facts he cites are pretty amazing (or scary, depending on your risk profile and comfort with change).  And although it's always dangerous business predicting the future (as witnessed by Charles Duell's prediction, as Commissioner of US Patent Office in 1899, that "Everything that can be invented has been invented."), even if only a portion of the forecasts in the latter portion of the presentation are just partially true, we STILL will be in for a wild ride...

(It seems like some of those predictions may have been based on Ray Kurzweil's research on "The Singularity", and how exponential change is powerful but subtle before you hit the "knee of the curve", where change becomes noticable (which is where he claims we all sit currently).  He says that we'll experience a century's worth of progress in the next 25 calendar years, and 20,000 years of progress(!) in the next 100 calendar years.  Hold on tight...)

So what's the relation to Learning and Development?  The scent of it abounds, even if it's not explicitly stated.  We must prepare to live/survive/excel in a world that will be changing more rapidly than ever.  And in a world of change, it is the person who has learned how to learn who will have the advantage.  We need to stop focusing on teaching fact/figures/answers, and begin to embrace the ability to analyze/sythesize/adapt.  Good teaching and learning strategies will be at the core of success tomorrow, regardless of the details of what that vista ends up looking like.

In a time of drastic change, it is the learners who inherit the future.  The learned find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists.
-- Eric Hoffer

(UPDATE: June 25, 2007)

Since Karl and Scott originally published this thought-provoking stack, a fair amount of momentum and interest has developed.  While some focused on reworking the orginal material with new graphics and slightly updated content (one was quite succesful, having won in two categories of Slideshow's 'World's Best Presentation Contest"),  the original authors (with some help from Xplane) have been busy themselves...  They just released an updated version: Did You Know 2.0.  Check it out...

(Jon Revelos is Director - Story Based Learning at TATA Interactive Systems)

LCB March 2007: What Would You Do to Support New Managers?

This month’s Big Question at The Learning Circuits Blog is “What Would You Do to Support New Managers?” I ask: What is it that you would like from your new managers?

Are there some improvements you would like to see in the way things are managed in your company? What management skills are critical for your organization’s success? These and perhaps other related questions must be asked before a strategy is worked out to fulfill a new manager’s coaching needs.

And this brings me to my point that coaching – more than the medium or the narrow view of ‘training’ – is an indispensable instrument in preparing your new managers to respond to the big challenges you’ve set up for them.

You’ve probably realized that the one-time individual “doer” has now transitioned to the role of an “influencer”, who will shape the productivity and success of large teams. Are there good examples and best practices that your new managers can follow to start delivering the goods from Day One? Here’s a list of what I’ve found useful:

1. Institute a ‘Buddy’ system: At the point of transitioning into managerial roles, can you get respected senior managers to buddy your new managers to educate and develop them? Make use of the mentors’ experience to create a culture of success, and personalized ‘care’.
   
2. Get them to flock together: Often new managers feel like they’re operating in isolation. Helping new managers to learn from each other and developing an environment of peer support goes a long way in addressing concerns that would otherwise have to wait for formal training to come by.
   
3. Encourage inter-departmental flocking: Getting to know how other departments in the organization function, what they do, their staff, etc. helps build a shared vision and the much-touted big picture.
   
4. Promote experiential learning: Get your managers to feedback to the system of the outcomes of experiential learning, e.g. key learning points from a major screw up, a client save, a major deal. What did the team do or not do to become successful? These need to become inspirational corporate stories that people – new managers or not – would like to know or read about.

This is just a start. With strategic objectives clearly in focus, and the tools to deliver coaching in the classroom, on the Web, or face-to-face, you will only increase the likelihood of success with a team of high-performing managers.

(Rohan Kohli is Senior Consultant, Instructional Design)

Innovation, Failure, and Learning

CNBC has started a new 5-part series on Innovation called, "The Business of Innovation".

The first episode ("Innovators and Iconoclasts") has already aired, but is available online here.  It's really quite good, with interviews with many well respected figures from the business and innovation arena.  Well worth the time to watch the 4 segments...

So what does this have to do with learning?

Although the series is hosted by Maria Bartiromo, she is assisted by Roger Schank, well-known educational provoker and Artifical Intelligence/Cognitive Science expert.  From my perspective, he steals the show (full disclosure: I studied under Schank at Northwestern's Institute for the Learning Sciences).

Consider these snippets from the episode's opening:

• Innovators don't really fit in very well (with others)
• Nearly everyone starts out as an Iconoclast (a rule breaker) - little kids don't know the rules; they do what they want to do.
• Failure is KEY!  You have to be failing and failing again.
• Big companies are always trying to hire people who were in the top 10% at Harvard, under the assumption that they are good.  What Harvard graduates are good at is... Harvard.
• You want someone original from Harvard?  Try the BOTTOM 10%.  Those kids are smart enough to get it, then decided they weren't playin' the game.

BINGO!

The connection here (among others) is that we need to be willing to experiment and fail in order to break the mold of "what everyone else is doing" or "how it's always been done".  If we aren't willing to reach out beyond what's known and assured, then we'll just get more of what we've got.

Failure has such an unfairly bad rep - companies (generally) hate it, employees (mostly) avoid it, recruiters rarely ask about it.  Yet it's the home zip code of where learning occurs.  If you do something and succeed, all that tells you is that what you already know works - it provides confirmation, but no growth/learning. 

The primary time real learning occurs is when we do X, expecting Y, and Z occurs instead. 

BOOM! 

Discomfort and surprise result!  Motivation to find out what the hell happened arises!  A new case for your storehouse of experiences is added to your wetware!  And a few new synapses are connected! - Learning has occurred!

It's exactly this kind of semi-contrarian stance that has made Roger who he is.  Love him or hate him, it's tough to ignore him and the points he makes.

Do yourself a favor and do a quick Google on "Roger Schank" and read what he's written/said, as well as the responses he's generated (pro AND con).  I guarantee you will find yourself shifting in your seat and thinking more deeply about some "common/accepted knowledge" than you probably have recently.

Here are a few to get you started:

• His blog on District Administrator, an online magazine for K-12 Education Leaders
• His (occasional) Educational Outrage column
• His Student Bill of Rights
• His Maxims for Learning

(Jon Revelos is Director - Story Based Learning at TATA Interactive Systems)

The Fun Run

Like all corporate citizens caught up in the daily rush to create and deliver great products and services, TIS-ites are also prone to some amount of social guilt. The ‘I wish I could do something for my country, city, neighbourhood’ thought is something most of us have toyed with. The Kolkata Marathon, held on 25th February, 2007, which invited people to run for their city, provided the opportunity to convert those thoughts into actions. Even then, the process did not begin smoothly, and the reason was this.

“6.30 am on a Sunday morning?? You must be kidding!”
“The last time I ran, there was a mad dog behind me”
“I can run 10-hour programs but running 4.2 kms…no way!”

Amidst all this, somebody said the magic words “Don’t be boring” and that did it. Because ‘boring’ is one of those unforgivable states of being as far as TIS is concerned and one by one the employees rose to the occasion, like crusaders on the march to spread the religion of the interesting. We decided to take this opportunity to increase awareness about Learning Disability in India, LD being a key community that TIS supports. The slogan for the banner read ‘Use Your Feet to Lend a Hand’ and our T-shirts sported the Learning Disability logo. If, at this stage, anyone was still wondering why they had registered, they had their reason and a good one too.

Appreciation, Devry Style!

Devry University is one of our key clients and we did a Math Mastery System for them. The project went of really well, and we had a satisfied client on our hands. Then this plaque landed, making us realize that we did not just have a satisfied client; we had a delighted client.

Congratulations to the team for making this possible. Thanks, Devry, for the appreciation! It makes us strive even better.