How digital world is changing VERY FAST Learning and Working. And What This Means to YOU!

time-capsule-new_mediumAfter 25 years, I recently picked up the guitar again. I am producing dramatically improved results already.   It’s not just because I’m more mature and more dedicated, it’s because my entire learning process is different. It is a funny experience. Not having played any guitar in the last 25 years, it is like having at hands a ‘time capsule’ that I am able to deeply analyze and appreciate.

Now, valuable guitar information is delivered faster and easier to me through a single platform: the digital world. I’m not limited by geography. I don’t need to travel to a teacher’s home or music studio. Now, I can choose whatever on-line teacher I want from anywhere in the world. I also have instant access to sophisticated learning techniques like animated tablature to help me ‘read’ the music, or riff loops that allow me to practice on a small portion of a piece. I can even review and practice through “slowed down” tracks. And much, much more. My learning pace is two to three times faster than before.

This improved e-learning with the guitar mirrors the impact of today’s business learning experience too.

Complex learning techniques used to be available only in a few professional centers. But now, e-learning makes self-learning a true and complete learning opportunity, not just an add-on to a learning path. This does not completely substitute the classical way of learning, of course, but complements it way beyond. If you do not leverage its potential, your learning pace will be slower. And so, if you are learning for professional re-use, you will be soon outpaced in your market.

The key for business success for learning providers is not simply providing the content, but in integrating the potentiality of video, audio, text, multimedia to make the education experience as easy as possible for the learner. It is important to address the ‘use cases’ of a learner and ensure to support the ‘hard corners’.

At the same time, faster, easier and cheaper learning means that access to education and knowledge is no longer a barrier to entry for the learners.

The differentiation – and so the competitive advantage of the single individual, of a team, or of a company– comes from the use of that education and knowledge, its interpretation and creative adaptation and evolution.

This really shifts the focus from the rapid reuse of existing knowledge to the redefinition of it. The balance of power of has dramatically shifted.

Businesses learning providers, and business learners too, must base their competitive advance in fostering a combined internal culture of continuous evolution and innovation.

Copyright 2015 Andrea Masci. All Rights Reserved.

Advertisement

Future Report: The key 3 areas of growth projected for the tech industry, and the hot jobs there

jobs word and blue earth globe

As touched in my previous post, the tech market is changing. Tech buyers expect (1) predictable business outcomes and (2) fast end user adoption from their technologies.

This implies that the tech job market is changing too: the current technology domain expertise is not sufficient anymore, but a heterogeneous skill-set is required to ensure matching the buyers’ expectations.

A recent IDC analysis predicts that 90% of IT roles will be redefined in the next three years. This means, about 30 million professionals need to be newly skilled or upskilled.

In that context, here are the three technology areas are strongly emerging: CloudMobility.  And Big Data/Internet of Things/Social.

How will these drive the skill change? Let’s examine it.

Continue reading

KPIs are like jokes: if you have to explain them, they’re not good

kpi photo

What is the ultimate scope of KPIs? It is to simply translate your strategic intent into measurable goals and to air all the required resources to them – with laser-focus.

In my previous post, we talked about the number one fundamental feature of your KPIs: that they must be relevant. They have to provide the information you need to steer the business – when you need it.

But to accomplish to that, relevancy is not enough.

That brings me to the second fundamental feature you must have. Your KPIs have to be communicative.  Continue reading

Why now is a good time to discuss KPIs: “Be Relevant”

kpi_1

For many companies, like here at SAP, October is the pressure-filled time to set projections for next year.  These targets must be gauged and translated into performance metrics or Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).  So, since a lot of us are involved in this activity, let me share a few pragmatic tips that may help you approach KPIs from a fresh perspective without going into detailed theory.

For performance metrics to best help us monitor and steer our organization,  they must have two fundamental features: Continue reading

Simply Fast

The fundamental question for today’s business manager is: “How can we get to speed?”

speedy g

Speed is key.  Even back in the late 19th century, Elbert Hubbard, a US writer and philosopher, thought progress was happening at a rapid pace as he wrote, “The world is moving so fast these days that the man who says it can’t be done is generally interrupted by someone doing it.”

And now, business is changing more rapidly than ever before.

Continue reading

Welcome to Simple Strategies & Management

After 18 years of dealing with the complexities of devising effective Strategies & Management every day, I have decided to launch this blog because I want to share the thoughts, trends and ideas that catch my curiosity and will also interest you.

“Simple Strategies and Management” is more than a blog title, it’s my frame for work and life. Keep things simple, readable, and understandable.

strategy

German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer notably wrote, “In every art simplicity is essential.” And management is no different. Continue reading