I used to be one of those educators. There was a time when I wanted singular focus — an unadulterated fixation on my scintillating sermon — from every set of eyeballs when I was on stage in the classroom. I was raised to believe the educator was the ‘sage on the stage’. Maybe you were too? Maybe you still are? If I were a high school teacher or a higher education professor today though, I’d be thinking twice about that philosophy. If I were a corporate trainer (I really do hate that term) or a Chief Learning Officer (wait a minute) I’d also be thinking if my approach might need to be altered. Do educators of any stripe really believe learning solely happens through the
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I spend a lot of time thinking, writing, speaking and working in my own personal and professional venn diagram of: leadership development; social collaborative tools; and all things related to learning. One of those pillars — the learning space — is where I started my career. I owe much of what I have today in my professional life to the learning space, be it K-12, higher education or the corporate sector. But it’s the corporate learning sector in particular where I believe a new ‘learning arc’ must be developed. It must shift from Status Quo Ante (as was before) to Ad Meliora (toward better things). Two of my dear friends and colleagues — Marcia Conner and Kerry Brown — were thinking the same way and
Some of you know I actually have a ‘real job’ where each and every day I get to work with great people and turn ideas into action. That role sees me employed by TELUS; an organization that was recently inducted into Canada’s 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures Hall of Fame. Yes, I’m a lucky lad. My buddy Sameer Patel called me a ‘practicing futurist‘ over lunch a few weeks ago in Palo Alto. At first I laughed, but since then the term has been rattling around in my brain somewhat incessantly. I suppose it’s true. By way of example, at TELUS, we put together an infographic showcasing four years of change as it relates to our learning and collaboration strategy. We’ve released the infographic on
Best Buy, a renown electronics retailer perhaps better known for its khaki pants and blue shirt dress code, could be viewed analagously with that of an evolved corporate learning structure. Imagine that you’re at one of their corporate stores. What do you see when you enter the store? There she/he is, the greeter: “Hello sir, how are you today?” As you pass the greeter in this vivid, brightly lit and humming environment there are a number of learning sherpas … the guides on the side not pestering you to buy something, rather, able and available when you require assistance. There are no commissions at Best Buy to make a sale. Employees are there, quite literally, to help you as necessary. Sure, it’s a formal environment with walls, electricity and so on, but it is