Monday, December 1, 2008
By Gary Woodill | December 1, 2008
Workplace Learning Today is a daily summary of news and articles about all aspects of employee training, including performance support, corporate training, government and military training, professional education, organizational learning, and adult continuing education. The project is a collaborative effort of the senior staff of Brandon Hall Research, with regular contributions from Janet Clarey (JC), Richard Nantel (RN), Tom Werner (TW), and Gary Woodill (GW). Please send news or suggestions for items to Gary Woodill - gary(AT)brandon-hall.com.
For regular news on our research publications on workplace learning, please sign up for our newsletter.
Topics: Brandon Hall Research | No Comments »
Outliers: the factors of success
By Gary Woodill | December 1, 2008
I just finished reading Malcolm Gladwell’s new book Outliers: the Story of Success (New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2008). As usual he has great stories, but his message boils down to this. To be a high achiever requires a lot more than having high IQ or immense talent. There are many people with both who achieve little. Rather, the reason some people rise to the top is having enough smarts and talent, combined with lots of luck, including being given specific opportunities that can be exploited, an assertive personality that often comes with being a child of educated parents, being born in the right year and place, and into a culture that allows class mobility. Oh yes, as well, most people who rise to the top work extremely hard, (10,000 hours or 10 years of practice at honing a skill seems to be a minimum), and are from cultures that don’t have long summer holidays for school children.
It seems that training is a minor factor in whether we are spectacularly successful or not. Most of the factors are out of our control, although training can make a big difference if the main barrier to success is cultural.
For example, Korean Air Lines was able to drastically reduce its accident rate by changing the culture of the cockpit so that there was less deference shown to the captain by the rest of the crew during a crisis.
For more details, read the book or check out Malcolm Gladwell’s web site. (GW)
Outliers | Gladwell.com | Malcolm Gladwell | 2008
Topics: Brandon Hall Research | No Comments »
Learning Online: Recording a Story
By Janet Clarey | December 1, 2008
Storytelling is as old as humanity. David Anderson highlights StoryCorps and provides some examples of how audio-based interviews (podcasts) can be used for corporate learning. Of course you need a great storyteller to engage an audience and that requires special skills and passion. I couldn’t help but think of fan fiction stories and even blogs as examples of passionate storytelling. No doubt you’ve got some passionate storytellers in your organization. Check out StoryCorps Great Questions page for starters like…
What are the most important lessons you’ve learned in life your career? (my change)
(JC)
StoryCorps, Podcasting and E-Learning | Multimedia Learning | David Anderson | 29 November 2008
Topics: E-learning, Informal Learning, Podcasting, audio | No Comments »
Effective Teleworking with a team
By Janet Clarey | December 1, 2008
I took special interest in this post by Celine Rogue on avoiding conflicts within a teleworking team (Brandon Hall Research is a teleworking company). A past survey I did for some research I was working on indicated that most of you - at least some of the time- work as part of a teleworking team. Celine aska about the issues or problems you encounter. I struggle with the balance between production and innovation. That, and trying to read between the lines when you’re not talking face-to-face (although that’s getting easier with video chat). (JC)
Avoiding Conflicts Within a Teleworking Team | Web Worker Daily | Celine Rogue | 28 November 2008
Topics: Brandon Hall Research, Collaboration, Productivity, Telework | No Comments »
E-Learning 2.0, Meet Marketing 3.0
By Tom Werner | December 1, 2008
All fields that deal with the creation and delivery of information are being reshaped by Web 2.0.
Tom Hayes and Michael S. Malone describe Marketing 3.0.
They see five shifts:
O From loyalty to attention.
O From crowds to clouds (communities).
O From places to spaces (meganiches).
O From memes to bemes (business memes: sharable rewards).
O From silos to simultaneity (online and offline worlds coexist).
Because marketing is about influencing behavior, there are bound to be parallel implications for workplace learning. (TW)
Marketing in the World of the Web | 29-30 November 2008
Topics: Web 2.0 | No Comments »
More MBAs, Fewer PhDs
By Richard Nantel | December 1, 2008
The Economist last week discussed whether the U.S. is losing its technology and innovation edge over China and India. Asian countries place a greater emphasis on educating their populations in mathematics and sciences.
The article suggests, though, that even when other countries come up with an innovative idea, the U.S. is better able to adopt and bring the innovation to market.
“…the commercialization, diffusion and use of inventions is of more value to companies and societies than the initial bright spark.”
The Economist suggests that being the first to have a great idea is less important than being able to do something useful with the idea. Consequently, the article states that what U.S. companies need to retain their competitive edge is better MBAs, not more PhDs.
A gathering storm? | The Economist | 22-29 November 2008
Topics: Brandon Hall Research, Business Skills, Talent Management | No Comments »
No age differences in patterns of technology use for learning
By Janet Clarey | December 1, 2008
A post by Mark Bullen (who is always on the prowl for empirical proof that generational issues are BS) highlights a research study (very small study) that investigates the extent and nature of use of technologies (communication tools, social software, mobile devices) by undergrad students. In short…the study didn’t find age differences in patterns of technology use for learning. My own literature review on generational issues and learning was similarly inconclusive. I think the variables are experience with and exposure to technology, not the generation you fall into.(JC)
More Mythbusing Evidence | Net Gen Nonsense | Mark Bullen | 28 November 2008
Topics: Generational Learning | No Comments »
Friday, November 28, 2008
By Gary Woodill | November 28, 2008
Workplace Learning Today is a daily summary of news and articles about all aspects of employee training, including performance support, corporate training, government and military training, professional education, organizational learning, and adult continuing education. The project is a collaborative effort of the senior staff of Brandon Hall Research, with regular contributions from Janet Clarey (JC), Richard Nantel (RN), Tom Werner (TW), and Gary Woodill (GW). Please send news or suggestions for items to Gary Woodill - gary(AT)brandon-hall.com.
For regular news on our research publications on workplace learning, please sign up for our newsletter.
Topics: Brandon Hall Research | No Comments »
“Pass It Along” IBM’s Knowledge Transfer Tool
By Richard Nantel | November 28, 2008
An estimated 22 million people are set to retire in the U.S. this year. Consequently, succession planning and knowledge capture and transfer are becoming greater priorities.
IBM is working on a wiki-like tool named “Pass It Along” to help transfer knowledge from older workers nearing retirement to younger workers. (RN)
IBM uses wiki approach to corporate training | IT world Canada | Rafael Ruffolo | 20 November 2008
Topics: Talent Management | No Comments »
State of the Blogsphere
By Gary Woodill | November 28, 2008
At the IRAHSS 08 Conference in October, David Sifry, Founder and Chairman of Technorati, presented a report on the state of the blogosphere, with lots of interesting statistics. For example:
133 million blog records indexed by Technorati since 2002
7.4 million blogs posted in last 120 days
1.5 million blogs posted in last 7 days
900,000 blog posts in 24 hours
76,000 blogs with Technorati Authority of 50+
If you are interested in the scope of blogging on the Internet, this is a valuable resource. (GW)
State of the Blogosphere 2008 | Technorati | David L. Sifry | 15 October 2008
Topics: Brandon Hall Research | No Comments »
