Innovation in Education

Anyone who has been reading my blog for quiet a while now would know that I am a LifeLongLearner. I  have deep interest in Learning, Education . Choices I have made at various stages of my Career are testimony to that. Attending Edgex , meeting Educators and having conversations on the topic of Education was one of the highlight this year. I came across an interesting  article recently  "Innovation is the key to bettereducation ( Source  www.brookings.edu  ) . It is surprising and astonishing to note R&D spending by sectors. Overall US spends about 3% of its total expenditures on R&D.  While Pharmaceutical companies Top the chart with  figures as high as 23% ( not surprised )  however Education R&D spending is only 0.2% (!!!) .  Does it mean that in US, education sector by far has remained immune or impervious to Innovation ? What could be the reasons that has Education sector attracted least R&D as compared to other sectors till date ?  Is the political clout of US Universities comparatively less compared to Pharma companies to attract R&D budget from US Govt ? Is Education sector ready to be disrupted through  Innovation / Emerging Technologies ? Is that the reason why Coursera offering MOOCs is a huge success and instant hit ?  Probably, Economics alone won’t be able to solve the problems in society especially in matters of Public Policy. Society needs more Behavioral Scientists. Society needs more Behavioral Economists. Do we have enough platforms where behavioral economists are asked to join the conversation on Innovation in Education and share their voice ? My introduction to the field of Behavioral Economics has been through Prof Dan Ariely .  It would be interesting to read his further thoughts on challenges Education sector faces and his take on what  would prototype of the solutions for Education sector might look like.  

P.S. - I "Hope" for a world where both Education & Healthcare is free to 7.147 billion people on Earth :-)

Future of Work

1. US Debt = 16 trillion dollars ?

2. Euro Zone Crisis has wordwide impact

3. Greece in Trouble

4. Economic growth propelled by BRICs countries - China, India, Africa , Russia

4. The world is increasinly becoming  flat and interconnected

5. Business World is Social , Social is the Business World.

6. Future of Work is impacted by technology.

6. Business Conversations have shifted to Social Networking Platforms   with much scope for Big data Analytics

7. Influence is measured by the Expertise one shares in Social Ecosystem

8. Blogging as one of the ways to unlock Career Opportunities  at IBM  ?  Sacha Chua found her job at IBM via blogging

9. Leaders ( Harriet Pearson, Cihef Privacy Officer)  ( Virgina Sharma, Chief Marketing Officer, IBM India )  & IBM experts have embarced "Open" platforms . IBM CEO (Ginni Rometty) said Hello to IBM via Lotus connections .

10. Numerous Choices to wear multiple hats - To be an Active Listener, LifeLongLearner, Contributor, Leader and Follower all at same time

11. Digital Influence = Expertise , Authenticitiy, Transparency, Trust , Identity

12. A business imperative that  Gen Y & Millenials learn from wisdom & Insights  of Baby Boomers  leaving the workforce  ?

13. I participate in HRTech Chat  to learn and stay updated . Also, I made new  friends from HR Industry . Could HR Tech be the solution - SmartPhone/ Blackberry/ Iphone/ Ipad Apps  to engage Digital Natives  & address multi gen workforce challenges ? 


14. Increasingly, I anticipate HR to play integrator role - To integrate People, Process & Technology. I am glad I get to live Future of Work at IBM as Luis Suarez mentions in his blog - Once a BlueIQer, always a BlueIQer.     :-)

3Cs of Digital Eminence

After experimenting across wide networking platforms, I have come to a conclusion that 3 Cs are the key to manage  Digital Eminence .

C - Creation ( It can be your Blog or main website where you write down your original thoughts or quote and attribute to the sources )
C- Curation ( My Tumblr site where I am experimenting with curation after being inspired from Maria Popova , Eric Barker  , Farnam Street 
C- Conversation ( Conversation is the key to a wider network and weak ties . See what I am chirping about & with whom  . If you read this blog, Tweet @ me , would love to say Hello to you ! :-)

On Writing

I am naturally drawn to writers and writing. Is my affinity to writing a recent phenomena ? Not really, probably more than a decade old . My twitter presence since 2008 has only accentuated it. The cure for writing good is reading more, writing even  more and writing it out in open. Of not being afraid to manage ignorance & think aloud in the open. I juggle  between private and public blog. A good question which would concern many  first time bloggers would be - What to keep private and what to post publicly ? There is no one right answer. It depends. It is determined individualistically. I like Seth Godin's style of writing  for brevity, insights ,wisdom and business context. And then , there is Twitter to experiment with writing in bite sized chunks for easy consumption. I read somewhere , there are more writers in America today than there are readers. I guess, Twitter was invented for bite sized writing and cascading stories in 140 format :-)

Success

I have tweeted this earlier that I am in total awe of Maria Popova. I am highly influenced by topics she curates on and gems she finds and share through brainpickingorg using her curation skills . Simply awesome. Here is an excerpt from the latest post on brainpickings.org on 5 timeless speeches on success. As you grow, you’ll realize the definition of success changes. For many of you, today, success is being able to hold down 20 shots of tequila. For me, the most important thing in your life is to live your life with integrity, and not to give into peer pressure. to try to be something that you’re not. To live your life as an honest and compassionate person. to contribute in some way. So to conclude my conclusion: follow your passion, stay true to yourself. Never follow anyone else’s path, unless you’re in the woods and you’re lost and you see a path, and by all means you should follow that. ~Ellen Degeneres

(@rucsb) Open Invitation to Amrita Tripathi (@amritat)

Amrita,

Pleasure to meet you today. As discussed in person, I invite  you as guest speaker to an IBM India event on 20 July over conference call . As you will be in US, would evening 4:30 pm IST  suit your schedule ? It would be early morning in New York ( 7am) . Would you be interested to  share your  Career story with our young women audience who are early on  in their careers (Entry level to Mid Management) . We can connect on a call to fine tune the details  . It could be narrative around following aspects where audience can draw parallels from your personal story for their own career development

1. Finding true calling , identifying where do  you want to go, what kind of person you want to be, values clarification first and then making  a career out of your job.
2. Aspirations, ambitions, dreams .Flipping the burger is part of process in early years
3 Paitence is virtue , Playing the game is important , Making it big through perseverance.
4 Find mentors , not just one, tis desirable to have 2 -3 mentors across diverse fields
5 Finding the balance through work life integration and  healthy habits &  choices


Let me take a pause and ask What do you think / feel ? In fact, it may not appeal to you at all AND you may say ,Ruchi, I have this better topic ? ( Managing Stress ,Women's Health ? ) which will connect with young working women audience who are baffled with variety of choices and trade offs in their lives.  Let me know which topic will make you comfortable , where you feel you are at ease and at same time will excite you enough to share you own experience / observations / narrative in your own style  . I leave the choice to you :)

30 min  Narrative / Story
15 min Q&A

We can connect anytime on a call to discuss and flesh it out. I am just a tweet  / SMS away.

Having said that,  I understand that you have  busy schedule and travel plans, if this is a short notice , we can plan out an exclusive  face to face session when you are in Delhi and invite you over at mutually convenient time period later.

Stay awesome ! Lovely meeting you today :)

Cheers, 

Ruchi

What I am still learning.....

1. Catch 'em young. (Newcomers )

2. Learn how to fish ( What we won't teach you but expect you to learn )

3. The Art ~ not to loose sight of "People Equation " while managing business

4. The perpetual debate ~ Great Managers /Leaders are born or made ? Fit versus Flexibility approach

5. Plenty of opportunities ~ ~ Globally connected people's economy
key skill required ~ Imagination

6. Let's talk beyond compensation - what motivates ~ Autonomy, Mastery, Purpose ( Daniel Pink's video on Ted Talk - surprising truth about motivation )


7. Chuck the 3 year 5 year Career plan .Allow room for new experiences, improvisation and serendipity .

8. Belongingness ? ~ Join communities of interest to stay current on an industry

9. Mantra for success - Don't be shy to ask for help , Volunteer to share your expertise , Help a newbie Succeed, Professional giveback .

10. Leaders are not afraid to follow. Be both a follower & a Leader.

Hope !

Everytime I see ads like this , it makes me #Happy & #Hopeful.Beautiful Lyrics. Beautiful composition. Thank you Coca -Cola for spreading and sharing happiness .




Umeed vali dhoop,
Sunshine vali asha..
Rone ki vjah hai kam,
Hasne ke bahane hai jyada..
Zidd hai muskuraaenge,
Khush rehne ka hai wada..
Umeed vali dhoop Sunshine vali asha..
Tum ye jis se agar puchoge,
Vo khush rehna he chahe.. :)
Jab sache mann se mango,
To khul jaati hai raahein..
To khul ke khusi lutao,
Ye kya hai aadha-aadhaa..
Umeed vali dhoop Sunshine vali asha..
Umeed vali dhoop Sunshine vali asha.....

Social Business - A perspective !

Get social

View more PowerPoint from Ruchi Bhatia

As One - Individual Action, Collective Power

I like getAbstract very much. I am a bookaholic , however, now since so much of information is available in digital format, I probably , wont be able to read all the books that I may like to read in a specific timeframe. That's where getAbstract is very valuable, I can get keytakeaways from as many books as I like. :-)This one caught my attention and I would like to share about Individual Action & Collective Power. Organizations are likely to fail when they suffer a “disconnect” between leadership styles and strategic goals – and between prevailing and preferred ways of working. For people to reach their full potential, leaders and followers need to work as a collective – a single organism united for a common purpose. Examples from politics, business and the not-for-profi t sector suggest eight models or archetypes of collective leadership. Spanning command-and-control and laissez-faire leadership formats – and hybrids of the two – these models provide a taxonomy for “As One” behaviors . Key takeaways from this book by by Mehrdad Baghai and James Quigley ( Deliotte Global CEO)

• Leaders and followers should work “as one” – in a unit – to solve problems.
• Eight archetypes describe successful leader-follower relationships:
• “Landlord and tenants”: The leader controls a resource others want.
• “Community organizer and volunteers”: In a reversal of power, leaders inspire, but
followers set the agenda and act.
• “Conductor and orchestra”: A leader sets rules; followers offer their “personal best.”
• “Producer and creative team”: The organization gives a team of experts and
innovators the resources and the creative freedom to meet the producer’s goals.
• “General and soldiers”: The leader’s “mission” – and the followers’ sense of security
– depends on clarity, hierarchy, and command and control.
• “Architects and builders”: Architects ask a team of diverse but interdependent
builders to bring their blueprint to life in clearly defi ned stages.
• “Captain and sports team”: Captains inform the team and help it adapt to change.
• “Senator and citizens”: Like-minded people work together as a community, choosing
to observe the same “constitution.” Their leader is a mentor, not a dictator.

Hope is a big word

Enjoy. When I see such videos, I deeply believe there is HOPE in the WORLD.

Thought Leader

Art Kleiner is the editor in chief of the award-winning management magazine strategy+business, as well as the author of two well-known management books. He developed a framework for advancing thought leadership in partnership with MIT’s Center for Organizational Learning. His definition of “thought leadership” is elegant and accessible: it’s about translating ideas, and giving the view from our vantage point, turning them into communications that are clear and actionable. His point is that you don’t have to be Peter Drucker or Marshall Goldsmith to be a thought leader…..each of us has the ability to articulate our thoughts effectively and influence others with our good ideas. It does, however, take preparation.

In Art’s framework, there are four facets of thought leadership. It’s important for emerging thought leaders to address each of these, one at a time (tackling more than one at a time leads to “thinker’s block”).

Briefly stated, the four facets are:
- What is my Purpose: Being explicit about your vision and priorities
- Who is my Audience: Defining who you are trying to reach, and discovering their assumptions
- What is the Research: Being cognizant of how you are substantiating, and challenging, your information and assumptions
- What is the Story: Determining how to make your message compelling to your audience

P.S- Above paragraph is from Dr Marshall Goldsmith newsletter

Hacker culture

Thanks to George Siemen's blog , I came across this amazing article. on Hacker Culture.

Reposting and resharing from George's Siemens blog

The Hacker Way is an approach to building that involves continuous improvement and iteration. Hackers believe that something can always be better, and that nothing is ever complete. They just have to go fix it — often in the face of people who say it’s impossible or are content with the status quo.

Hackers try to build the best services over the long term by quickly releasing and learning from smaller iterations rather than trying to get everything right all at once…

Hacking is also an inherently hands-on and active discipline. Instead of debating for days whether a new idea is possible or what the best way to build something is, hackers would rather just prototype something and see what works. There’s a hacker mantra that you’ll hear a lot around Facebook offices: “Code wins arguments.”

Hacker culture is also extremely open and meritocratic. Hackers believe that the best idea and implementation should always win — not the person who is best at lobbying for an idea or the person who manages the most people.

He then distills the hacker way down to five key principles:

1. Focus on impact
2. Move fast
3. Be bold
4. Be open
5. Build social value

Reform, rhetoric, and change
In education, we have decades of reform rhetoric behind us. I have never heard someone say “the system is working”. There appears to be universal acknowledgement that the system is broken.

Classrooms were a wonderful technological invention. They enabled learning to scale so that education was not only the domain of society’s elites. Classrooms made it (economically) possible to educate all citizens. And it is a model that worked quite well.

(Un)fortunately things change. Technological advancement, coupled with rapid growth of information, global connectedness, and new opportunities for people to self-organized without a mediating organization, reveals the fatal flaw of classrooms: slow-developing knowledge can be captured and rendered as curriculum, then be taught, and then be assessed. Things breakdown when knowledge growth is explosive. Rapidly developing knowledge and context requires equally adaptive knowledge institutions. Today’s educational institutions serve a context that no longer exists and its (the institution’s) legacy is restricting innovation.

Social cause - Creating Happiness

It does not happen very often that I come across really appealing ads. Here is one which I think is done brilliantly. With a very neat storyline and message very crisply delivered.
So true, simplicity is usually a result of much complex thinking, it is evident in this 1.31 min ad.Enjoy :-)

Get your own valid XHTML YouTube embed code

Linchpin ( Key Insights from Seth Godin )

Key insights learnt from Seth Godin's book " Linchpin"

Human beings’ biological survival instincts and modern sociological conditioning
have combined to create a workforce of rule followers and negative thinkers.
• You have a choice: You can merely perform your basic mundane duties at work day
after day, or you can become a “linchpin.”
• A linchpin is an artist “who uses bravery, insight, creativity and boldness to
challenge the status quo.”
• Linchpins are indispensable people others turn to for help or advice.
• They are not always brilliant, but they see opportunities and seize them.
• The “lizard brain” is risk averse. Its powerful negative instinct, called “the
resistance,” prevents you from embracing change that it perceives as a threat.
• Motivate your brain’s creative force, your “daemon,” to oppose this barrier.
• Linchpins overcome fear and anxiety, and leap into the unknown.
• Linchpins try to view the world from other people’s perspectives. They understand they
cannot control everything, and they are generous with their time, money and talents.
• They make a conscious decision to approach life differently.

Innovation in Learning Delivery will Deliver ( Performance) !

1. There is tilted focus on Learning when rewards are based on Performance & Right Behaviors ( Competencies) .
2. In that context, Learning that Delivers ( Performance)& builds competencies becomes more valuable .
3. For Performance Improvement ( a subset of Performance Management ) to occur , we need to focus on building Organizational Capabilities through Consulting , Design , Delivery and these 3 arms have to continuously talk to each other . And loop in feedback from each other.
4. For Learning to Deliver ( Performance) & Competencies to gain centre stage of conducting business , the processes associated with Delivery of Learning have to keep pace with innovation & changes which happen in business environment, change in workforce dynamics , marketplace . L&D processes ( consulting, design,delivery) have to become less complex and more cost effective.
5. New Models in Delivery of Learning would create opportunities for new measurements systems, systems that capture KPIs ,Metrics , Lead indicators.
6. Do we need to shift focus to taking Learning to worker instead of bringing knowledge worker to Learning environment , does ir make a better business sense ? Learner styles & preferences can offer more insights into better design .
7. Doesn't Aha moments happen when knowledge worker is at work embedded in work context, talking to colleagues, clients, seniors, coaches rather than in a workshop/ classroom/ death by powerpoint / environment. ?

How many times you have experienced Aha moments in a Learning environment ( classroom or otherwise )? please share your stories of Aha moments & experience ...

Art & Science

"How often people speak of art and science as though they were two entirely different things, with no interconnection. An artist is emotional, they think, and uses only his intuition; he sees all at once and has no need of reason. A scientist is cold, they think, and uses only his reason; he argues carefully step by step, and needs no imagination. That is all wrong. The true artist is quite rational as well as imaginative and knows what he is doing; if he does not, his art suffers. The true scientist is quite imaginative as well as rational, and sometimes leaps to solutions where reason can follow only slowly; if he does not, his science suffers."


-Isaac Asimov

Learning Organization

Peter Senge must be very happy with the growth and proliferation of Social Media and social networking platforms. After all , the gentleman pioneered the concept of Learning Organization decades back in 1994

Let me take this concept of Learning organization to next level.

To my mind, in future the word organization would be replaced by word "Networks ".Let me highlight Key characteristics of Learning networks

1. Mashup of people with diverse skills, experience, competencies and capabilities
2. Woven into a matrix to solve key business issues / challenges on real time basis.
3. Real time Flow of information & valuable content embedded in context.
4. Co creating and consuming value together to achieve aligned business goals and objectives
5. Enabling participation and contribution and transparency on solid foundation of systems thinking.
6. Powered by Analytics for meaningful callouts, opportunity areas, insights to make it an iterative process.

Thoughts on my mind .....

1 . Leadership is all about building bridges and not burning them.

2. One big shift social media will have on corporate sector is to democratize it.

3. Innovation in delivery of " Services " would be the key to competitive advantage .

4. Organizations would need to understand social media and build organizational capabilities to take full advantage for success in new economy. Digitization is the new buzz word.


5 .True Innovation is most likely to come from " start ups " in near future, this is what I anticipate.

I would appreciate views and counter views from readers , I believe that is the only way to learn better.

Letter to Mentee 2.0

My Dear Mentee 2.0 ,

It was such a delightful moment when you chose me as a mentor. Instantly, i was in a new role and felt elevated . This is the hallmark of great people. They make other people feel great. In all its entirety, mentoring is so far one of the most humbling experience. One learns as much as a mentor just like a mentee. There is something special about this Mentor- Mentee relationship. Both explore together that new possibilities exist or can be created together.
You are doing the right stuff. Keep inspiring people for adopting Social Software . Keep collecting stories. You will be on your way to write a book too. Build your original thoughts. Start with blog/ journal. Think beyond what is available. How connected Leadership benefits individual & organization as a whole. Learn more about folksonomies, What impact organization E2.0 capabilities has on bottom line or top line ? Does it contribute to engagement factor in an organization ? Start exploring for your research . How E2.0 effects organizational behavior ? Observe and experience. In my experience, E20 is a moving target, keep setting new goals for yourself and simply share, interested folks will tag along with you & collaborate to accelerate the change.

Last but not least, Use your imagination for imagination is more powerful than knowledge.

Yours truly !!!
RB

Digital Thoughts !

1. No man ever listened himself out of a job. As a step 1, participate in Social Computing as an active listener .

2. Start small , move some of your work activities which require maximum collaboration to online social spaces.

3. Build digital eminence.

4. Invest time first and derive value later.Like real world relationships, in any social networking platform , it takes time to build online relationships.Be genuine, be caring. Start with how you can contribute to your network .Grow your network through influence.

5. Share your expertise, experience and insights and learn from your Social network .

6. Social Computing is by design a Q2 activity. ( Not urgent but important activity ) , refer to Stephen Covey time management matrix. Effective people like to spend time in Q2 quadrant, which is the quadrant of effectiveness.

7. Begin with end in mind. Stay focused on your goals. Collaborate and Socially network for a reason.

8. Digital eminence is the currency you build today to en cash in future.

9. Remember KISS formula. Keep it simple , stupid. Don't spread yourself too thin trying to be omnipresent on all social networks. Plan what works for you.

10. Wish everyone in my present and future network a Happy Social Computing journey ! Stay networked , Stay Happy !

Succintly Social

It is about

1. Deep Rooted Philosophy
2. Culture, Values
3. Transparent
4. Open
5. Collaborative
6. Networks and Relationships
7. User Generated Content , Emergent , Digitization
8. Word of Mouth Publicity
9. Listening, Engaging, Sharing
10. Co-Learning , Co-Creating, CO-nsuming , Co-inventing, Co-innovating, Co-mmunity.

If your product, service, campaign, initiative, program has above features then you are leveraging the Social space . There are variety of Web 2.0 platforms which amplifies and scale up these conversations .However, The best of breed / web is yet to emerge.