The design of web portals generally follows a logical perspective spanning silos or sources of content. It often begins with the assumption that the visual content will help learners navigate personal circumstances, choices and opportunities before them as they consider enrolling or following their aspirations. Is it function over form?
This is not to say the content is not valuable and important. We all believe the buffet of choices presents what the silos wish to reveal. All too often, the content is taken out of context or assumed complete because there is just so much information on the web. It means, web portals are not the end-all either. They are one means to deliver information. And, they may not be the most effective way to present content and information to all types of learners - because we all see things differently. Which is why we often cater to different audiences with different sites or pages.
Web portals are often designed to guide visitors through menus and hyperlinks to other content from the authors perspective breaking content up into byte size related chunks. Portal visitors, or for that matter the hard to reach prospective learner or students will often struggle to discern differences across content because it all looks good on the surface with graphics and pictures. The content volume and choices will confuse some because it is appears legitimate and complete - and they follow the immediate paths or instant gratification of choices given.
Imagine throwing a menu with a thousand courses at a patron and asking them what they want after only a few minutes of study. We are forced into selection and often regret our choices. We compare to others. And, then discover our likes and dislikes by accident more than thoughtful analysis.
AcademyOne designs, develops and hosts innovative websites, portals, mobile applications and widgets for all education providers, including higher education, government agencies, high schools, vocational schools, corporate universities, and a variety of specialized organizations and consortiums. The company powers a shared education cloud bridging distributed data systems with loosely coupled technologies.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Why Web Portals Fail Learners?
Everywhere I turn in the virtual world of education, there seems to be yet another web portal designed to serve the varied needs of learners. Some are targeted toward traditional students. Others are for adult learners busy at work or non-traditional learners or for the unemployed seeking further education or career changes.
These needs encompass everything from assessing interests and validating credentials to offering tons of content specific to various programs and initiatives. Talk to any advocate who wishes to demonstrate the value of such delivery. I am sure they will profess when asked about an ingredient or question that their answer is "it is in there" or "here is how you can do that".
Many web portals are designed to direct the attention of learners attracted by the message that they can earn more, if they learn more. In other words, they can earn a credential and get a better paying job. It’s like the thousands of cell phone apps that are offered which cover everything from playing a game to watching MLB.com. We have a world of choices.
Web portals offer a smorgasbord of options. Anything from finding the money to pay for your education, researching a career, assessing your interests, locating a program of study to discovering lost credits that can apply toward a degree can be offered on these portals. They are like expansive food buffets, filled with specialized entries and servings (of unlimited size). These buffets are visually appealing, and they are easy to consume if one has the stomach. Take a plate and fill it up with what you want. Come back for another plate when you are done. Enjoy.
Content and services, which are generally scattered across stakeholders or departments or institutions, are brought together and unified by a technology vision much like the clothed tables holding all the dishes and warmers of the buffet. This presents a unifying theme that can’t predict what consumers want or need, but can offer the dishes they prepare. The silos of specialization can be dismantled, according to many who develop and retrofit websites, to become portals bridging many disparate resources.
In the process of working on many web portals throughout my career, I have often heard and felt the resistance to developing generalized solutions and collaboration platforms that share common attributes, formats and methods of delivery that abstracted the differences of what institutions offer. The buffet table is radically different than the individualized meal prepared by order and served by a master chef for the discerning pallet - an experience worth noting and recalling. I have to say, my recollection is far better of attending those special places and the meals they served than the “all-you-can-eat” buffets that have become so commonplace. After working on so many projects with institutions and their states attempting to address the issues around academic credit portability, I have concluded my self reflection has become a catalyst of things to come. So, over the next ten weeks or so weeks, I am going to write about ten flaws of web portals serving learners in general, and begin to develop guiding principals to form solutions addressing the challenges outlined.
The subtle undercurrent, in my view, rests with the economic model and how we approach virtual services. The web portal, like the breakfeast buffet represents commoditization of delivery, and it highlights why many web portals poorly serve constituents. The experience may be appealing visually and attractive to those hungry for volume. It is based on the premise of trying to be all things to everyone, and it suggests that providing volume is better than offering high quality and well designed information based upon what the learner needs.
The buffet lacks the advice and professional design of a menu or staff who assist in choices, as is often the hurdle encountered when attempting to bridge the reality of education – which is it is messy and tangled. The buffet is economically a more logical choice to serve large masses and assumes that the choices offered satisfy the patrons better than a limited menu catered by expertise. Finally, the buffer, like the web portal attempts self service because there is not enough staff to go around and offer the personalized service one would expect.
These needs encompass everything from assessing interests and validating credentials to offering tons of content specific to various programs and initiatives. Talk to any advocate who wishes to demonstrate the value of such delivery. I am sure they will profess when asked about an ingredient or question that their answer is "it is in there" or "here is how you can do that".
Many web portals are designed to direct the attention of learners attracted by the message that they can earn more, if they learn more. In other words, they can earn a credential and get a better paying job. It’s like the thousands of cell phone apps that are offered which cover everything from playing a game to watching MLB.com. We have a world of choices.
Web portals offer a smorgasbord of options. Anything from finding the money to pay for your education, researching a career, assessing your interests, locating a program of study to discovering lost credits that can apply toward a degree can be offered on these portals. They are like expansive food buffets, filled with specialized entries and servings (of unlimited size). These buffets are visually appealing, and they are easy to consume if one has the stomach. Take a plate and fill it up with what you want. Come back for another plate when you are done. Enjoy.
Content and services, which are generally scattered across stakeholders or departments or institutions, are brought together and unified by a technology vision much like the clothed tables holding all the dishes and warmers of the buffet. This presents a unifying theme that can’t predict what consumers want or need, but can offer the dishes they prepare. The silos of specialization can be dismantled, according to many who develop and retrofit websites, to become portals bridging many disparate resources.
In the process of working on many web portals throughout my career, I have often heard and felt the resistance to developing generalized solutions and collaboration platforms that share common attributes, formats and methods of delivery that abstracted the differences of what institutions offer. The buffet table is radically different than the individualized meal prepared by order and served by a master chef for the discerning pallet - an experience worth noting and recalling. I have to say, my recollection is far better of attending those special places and the meals they served than the “all-you-can-eat” buffets that have become so commonplace. After working on so many projects with institutions and their states attempting to address the issues around academic credit portability, I have concluded my self reflection has become a catalyst of things to come. So, over the next ten weeks or so weeks, I am going to write about ten flaws of web portals serving learners in general, and begin to develop guiding principals to form solutions addressing the challenges outlined.
The subtle undercurrent, in my view, rests with the economic model and how we approach virtual services. The web portal, like the breakfeast buffet represents commoditization of delivery, and it highlights why many web portals poorly serve constituents. The experience may be appealing visually and attractive to those hungry for volume. It is based on the premise of trying to be all things to everyone, and it suggests that providing volume is better than offering high quality and well designed information based upon what the learner needs.
The buffet lacks the advice and professional design of a menu or staff who assist in choices, as is often the hurdle encountered when attempting to bridge the reality of education – which is it is messy and tangled. The buffet is economically a more logical choice to serve large masses and assumes that the choices offered satisfy the patrons better than a limited menu catered by expertise. Finally, the buffer, like the web portal attempts self service because there is not enough staff to go around and offer the personalized service one would expect.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Collegiality in Academia
Here are my introductory remarks at the opening dinner of SHEEO July 13, 2010, The Graves 601 Hotel, Minneapolis, Minnesota - regarding Complete to Compete, the National Governors Association initiative to boost graduation rates and degrees. The premise to maintain our standard of living, serve the goals of economic development and address work force needs in the 21st century is a great back drop for the State Higher Education Executive Officers meeting.
I am often subtle in my remarks using analogies to make my points. The drive to increase educational services across an ever widening array of learners who need guidance, coaching, remedial support, and advising is a perfect storm. The drive to leverage capacity to serve learners and the drive to increase enrollments, funded by tax payers, should be carefully planned with policies, rules and regulations to safeguard the academic diversity on one hand, and control the conflicts of interest on the other. The emphasis and friction of accepting prior learning, and how it counts toward degree requirements has often been a major area of contention across institutions who are disconnected. I have written on the macro and micro economic costs before which reflect the loss or waste in capacity due to FTE spent on course work that does not count. As we work to foster transparency, acceptance of prior learning and student mobility trends, we also have to have real time referees understand the nuances of prior learning assessment, and the required oversight to maintain the rigor and validation of information and claims made by learners, and how they are assessed.
Without umpires and referees - and even instant replay, the means to an end to graduate more students without independent cross checks, can have unintended consequences - such as lowering the value of a degree and watering down what it means to employers and other stakeholders. We rely and present accreditation as the central answer, but I am not sure their long term review of practices is adequate to keep the conflicts of interest at bay at the operational level of institutions seeking to drive enrollment higher and lower costs.
Thus, my topic is the need for collegiality and how institutions should work together to address student mobility and prior learning assessment like the ball players coming together to play the summer All star game. We forget the rivalries and focus on the competencies. They are not playing for their individual teams. Like a consortium of players, institutions and their faculty should foster a new form of collegiality to address how prior learning can be recognized and respected independent of the enrollment drivers, providing the balance between learner's expectations and institutional responsibility - utilizing the funding formulas to reinforce quality practices.
There has traditionally been a strong element of Collegiality in the governance of Colleges and Universities rooted in environments where individual independence of thought and mutual respect are necessary, particularly in institutions with strong research.
Collegiality is often contrasted with Competition- our drive to win at all costs - eliminating the opposition’s survival in effect. The World Cup just ended. This week, the All Stars – where teams gather their best – to play the game of baseball - putting aside their rivalries and differences while displaying skills orchestrated by managers who develop strategies to win home field advantage. Then play resumes as teams strive to win their divisions.
Today, the connected world uses their cognitive surplus - interacting in fundamentally different ways than generations before. We are not bound by borders or for that matter the institutions in the same way. In contrast to receiving TV broadcasts, reading newspapers and listening to radio, our generation leverages technology to be active participants with social media and networks that radically change the way we participate in learning inside and outside the classroom, at work and in our busy lives.
Academic programs - once composed as hierarchical linked requirements dominated by lecture, are now commercially orchestrated with content, self paced reflection, assessment and more. The dimension of our connected world relies on alliances and consortiums abstracting differences and sharing resources to achieve a greater good or lower cost or faster delivery. How we evaluate and trust digitally is much different than in-person meetings. Measuring effectiveness and creating cross checks requires information - like instant replay to govern fairness of play. Your effort as SHEEO’s - is more important than ever - as energies scale to graduate more – while not losing the nuances and strength fostered by decentralization and variety. We can’t afford to diminish the quality of education or water down the meaning of what completion represents or what the process of attending college is all about – that would destroy the meaning and strength of the education investment.
AcademyOne is an innovative technology company focused on what Adam Smith called the invisible hand – a process where we compete to provide unique value and agree to share much of our work - because it does not offer a competitive advantage. Technology often falls into the middle ground. We support SHEEO and important collaboration projects around the world. We also support PESC, the Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council, developing specifications and methods harmonizing electronic services through voluntary cooperation. I want to thank SHEEO for giving AcademyOne this opportunity and supporting our work – especially with PESC - as we help define technology for the 21st century focused on what we all have in common through services such as EdUnify and ontology that will frame web applications for the next generation like the music staff changed the world ten centuries ago - focused on the notes independent of composer or music genre or instrument. Enjoy the conference. Listen to the music – it is all around you. Attend the Ball game – and as you do, remember how important the refs are managing the tug and push of competition. Technology, like the refs in the middle, can offer perspectives based upon common standards and rules agreed upon before the game begins.
I am often subtle in my remarks using analogies to make my points. The drive to increase educational services across an ever widening array of learners who need guidance, coaching, remedial support, and advising is a perfect storm. The drive to leverage capacity to serve learners and the drive to increase enrollments, funded by tax payers, should be carefully planned with policies, rules and regulations to safeguard the academic diversity on one hand, and control the conflicts of interest on the other. The emphasis and friction of accepting prior learning, and how it counts toward degree requirements has often been a major area of contention across institutions who are disconnected. I have written on the macro and micro economic costs before which reflect the loss or waste in capacity due to FTE spent on course work that does not count. As we work to foster transparency, acceptance of prior learning and student mobility trends, we also have to have real time referees understand the nuances of prior learning assessment, and the required oversight to maintain the rigor and validation of information and claims made by learners, and how they are assessed.
Without umpires and referees - and even instant replay, the means to an end to graduate more students without independent cross checks, can have unintended consequences - such as lowering the value of a degree and watering down what it means to employers and other stakeholders. We rely and present accreditation as the central answer, but I am not sure their long term review of practices is adequate to keep the conflicts of interest at bay at the operational level of institutions seeking to drive enrollment higher and lower costs.
Thus, my topic is the need for collegiality and how institutions should work together to address student mobility and prior learning assessment like the ball players coming together to play the summer All star game. We forget the rivalries and focus on the competencies. They are not playing for their individual teams. Like a consortium of players, institutions and their faculty should foster a new form of collegiality to address how prior learning can be recognized and respected independent of the enrollment drivers, providing the balance between learner's expectations and institutional responsibility - utilizing the funding formulas to reinforce quality practices.
There has traditionally been a strong element of Collegiality in the governance of Colleges and Universities rooted in environments where individual independence of thought and mutual respect are necessary, particularly in institutions with strong research.
Collegiality is often contrasted with Competition- our drive to win at all costs - eliminating the opposition’s survival in effect. The World Cup just ended. This week, the All Stars – where teams gather their best – to play the game of baseball - putting aside their rivalries and differences while displaying skills orchestrated by managers who develop strategies to win home field advantage. Then play resumes as teams strive to win their divisions.
Today, the connected world uses their cognitive surplus - interacting in fundamentally different ways than generations before. We are not bound by borders or for that matter the institutions in the same way. In contrast to receiving TV broadcasts, reading newspapers and listening to radio, our generation leverages technology to be active participants with social media and networks that radically change the way we participate in learning inside and outside the classroom, at work and in our busy lives.
Academic programs - once composed as hierarchical linked requirements dominated by lecture, are now commercially orchestrated with content, self paced reflection, assessment and more. The dimension of our connected world relies on alliances and consortiums abstracting differences and sharing resources to achieve a greater good or lower cost or faster delivery. How we evaluate and trust digitally is much different than in-person meetings. Measuring effectiveness and creating cross checks requires information - like instant replay to govern fairness of play. Your effort as SHEEO’s - is more important than ever - as energies scale to graduate more – while not losing the nuances and strength fostered by decentralization and variety. We can’t afford to diminish the quality of education or water down the meaning of what completion represents or what the process of attending college is all about – that would destroy the meaning and strength of the education investment.
AcademyOne is an innovative technology company focused on what Adam Smith called the invisible hand – a process where we compete to provide unique value and agree to share much of our work - because it does not offer a competitive advantage. Technology often falls into the middle ground. We support SHEEO and important collaboration projects around the world. We also support PESC, the Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council, developing specifications and methods harmonizing electronic services through voluntary cooperation. I want to thank SHEEO for giving AcademyOne this opportunity and supporting our work – especially with PESC - as we help define technology for the 21st century focused on what we all have in common through services such as EdUnify and ontology that will frame web applications for the next generation like the music staff changed the world ten centuries ago - focused on the notes independent of composer or music genre or instrument. Enjoy the conference. Listen to the music – it is all around you. Attend the Ball game – and as you do, remember how important the refs are managing the tug and push of competition. Technology, like the refs in the middle, can offer perspectives based upon common standards and rules agreed upon before the game begins.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Giving Thanks
As the leaves turn in early in Fall in Philadelphia, I begin realizing the year is three quarters over. Not long before Thanksgiving I ponder (the holiday we celebrate with family and friends giving thanks). Some years go faster than others. I think it is all part of our chase for clarity, comfort and compensation for our work. Like many, I often get lost in work and have difficulty separating my work time from my other activities around family and friends. Blackberry, LinkedIn, Blogger, Facebook, Online Banking, ETrade, Amazon, Ebay, American Express, Expedia, New York Times, and other websites are just a few of the many distractions I have from isolating thoughts and giving thanks to my maker.
Whether one is religous or not, one has to consider circumstances and the randomness of life. My travels to Sweden was short this month, but a great exploration all the same. I always observe and learn new things on my trips. This trip to Uppsala was filled with observations and learning. Refreshing. I wonder where was I when I attended school sometimes. Did I not listen? Did I not read the text books? Celsius invented the 100 degree scale upside down. Darwin struggled to publish his work on the Origin of Species conflicted with his fear of public reaction and the impact on his family, notably his wife who was a devote Christian. He hid his work under the stairs as he troubled over how to reveal his insights to her.
The fun of learning is often lost in the abstraction and summary of the facts. What is fact and what is fiction? I have learned there is context. Every person and every discover has a story. We have perceptions of them. Maybe we push out the facets of what is behind events because they are not relevant to the facts of time, place and participants? Or, did my brain just push out all this antidotal information to make way for new information I am working on in the moment? We gather our experiences from events throughout our lives. The interactions and intersections are common. And, we often discount them, not realizing how important they are to molding what we believe and judge.
I was fortunate to have a great education that was contiguous in the first stage of my life. There were few distractions like we have today. And, as I get older, I keep running into information or uncover assumptions made that I have carried around with me for years. It is troubling to a degree. You think you learn what you need to learn in school to build a fine career. That is often how we are sold the idea of getting a good education from our parents and others who circled our life.
Living is learning. And, what we learn in school and what I give thanks for, given the season, is that I was fortunate to have learned how to rejuvenate myself through exploring what I don't know. Learning how to learn. The discipline of thought, asking questions, conveying new ideas and attempting to see how things evolve as new information is uncovered.
Learning is more than training. Training has borders and structure. It is oriented toward a goal and objective desired by someone who wants to convey information like teaching me how to throw a ball. Show me, then I do it. Practice and I learn the mechanics. Test me, and it reflects if my training worked.
Learning is more than that. It is giving me the space to question what is, what could be and why? It is not training me for a special skill, but offers me a way of thinking in logical steps to make new conclusions, inferences and hypothesis.
I give thanks for my love of learning. And, wish everyone the best this season as we venture to rejuvenate our connection to each other through sharing and goodwill.
Whether one is religous or not, one has to consider circumstances and the randomness of life. My travels to Sweden was short this month, but a great exploration all the same. I always observe and learn new things on my trips. This trip to Uppsala was filled with observations and learning. Refreshing. I wonder where was I when I attended school sometimes. Did I not listen? Did I not read the text books? Celsius invented the 100 degree scale upside down. Darwin struggled to publish his work on the Origin of Species conflicted with his fear of public reaction and the impact on his family, notably his wife who was a devote Christian. He hid his work under the stairs as he troubled over how to reveal his insights to her.
The fun of learning is often lost in the abstraction and summary of the facts. What is fact and what is fiction? I have learned there is context. Every person and every discover has a story. We have perceptions of them. Maybe we push out the facets of what is behind events because they are not relevant to the facts of time, place and participants? Or, did my brain just push out all this antidotal information to make way for new information I am working on in the moment? We gather our experiences from events throughout our lives. The interactions and intersections are common. And, we often discount them, not realizing how important they are to molding what we believe and judge.
I was fortunate to have a great education that was contiguous in the first stage of my life. There were few distractions like we have today. And, as I get older, I keep running into information or uncover assumptions made that I have carried around with me for years. It is troubling to a degree. You think you learn what you need to learn in school to build a fine career. That is often how we are sold the idea of getting a good education from our parents and others who circled our life.
Living is learning. And, what we learn in school and what I give thanks for, given the season, is that I was fortunate to have learned how to rejuvenate myself through exploring what I don't know. Learning how to learn. The discipline of thought, asking questions, conveying new ideas and attempting to see how things evolve as new information is uncovered.
Learning is more than training. Training has borders and structure. It is oriented toward a goal and objective desired by someone who wants to convey information like teaching me how to throw a ball. Show me, then I do it. Practice and I learn the mechanics. Test me, and it reflects if my training worked.
Learning is more than that. It is giving me the space to question what is, what could be and why? It is not training me for a special skill, but offers me a way of thinking in logical steps to make new conclusions, inferences and hypothesis.
I give thanks for my love of learning. And, wish everyone the best this season as we venture to rejuvenate our connection to each other through sharing and goodwill.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Shock the roots of my system
There are millions and millions of people seeking to make a better life for themselves and their families throughout this country. Some are born here in difficult circumstances. Others come here from faraway places following life changing events. It is the American dream and hope.
I met a young women named Abbey the other day and have pledged to help her personally transverse the difficult road. She came to the United States during the civil war in her country - Sierra Leone in southern Africa near New Guinea in 2005. She has her Green Card, a gift from her country won through a lottery system. She is in her thirties. In her circumstances, she left her country thinking her two sons and fiancee were killed by the Rebels only to learn a year later they escaped and resettled by her bother. Abbey has not seen her two boys, 11 and 13 for five years. She sends money as she earns it to help pay for food, clothing and school. She also sends money home to her mom, who is ill and her brother.
I am a second generation American. My father has done a great job exploring our family tree and telling his children where and how our grandparents arrived in America when their parents sought refuge from tyranny in Russia during the serious convulsion of the early 20th century. My mother's parents came to America from Poland before World War I. So, it was less than 100 years ago my family was facing what Abbey is now facing.
Abbey works two jobs and 70+ hours per week. She works at the home where my Dad lives and another nursing home near Darby, Pennsylvania. She handles two shifts from 11pm to 7am and then 11am to 7pm driving between the jobs and attends nursing school 3 days a week seeking her LPN on her days off from work. She is a nursing assistant and caregiver. She drives across the Commodore Barry Bridge into southern New Jersey three days a week to attend a small for-profit and State approved school called Southern New Jersey Tech. I can't imagine how much sleep she gets. Given all this, I was impressed by her personality and spirit. She has a sense of humor and religious trust in others, to a point I would say is naive.
I would infer there are billions throughout the world like Abbey seeking a better life. We are sheltered from them because of distance. They would do anything to be in my circumstances here in the United States, free of war and turmoil. Abbey is here in the United States by herself. She has no family. She has friends where she lives in Darby, Pennsylvania. She socializes with many from her country and similar background she meets working and going to school. They are like a clan, driving, eating and even sharing rooms. Abbey does not have her own place. When I first met Abbey, all her personal belongings fit into a plastic shopping bag, including her small cloth purse.
My career and focus has been on higher education. That focus has kept me away from other postsecondary education providers like professional schools until meeting Abbey. New Jersey Tech is not accredited as a college. They are approved to provide LPN diplomas in Nursing by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development of New Jersey. There is no financial aid. No student grants. No help to help her pay the $13,000 tuition. It is a cash and carry school. How can we expect to raise someone's standard of living when they have to live on $15K a year, attend school, pay for family support, try and become a citizen and struggle to pay to make calls weekly to stay connected in the lives of her family?
Abbey has paid $11,000 in tuition (Cash) with no financial aid, loans or help. That is two thirds her take home pay not considering taxes. There seems to be about 40 adults, mostly African or minorities attending this institution to get their diploma in Nursing by the end of October. They are being sold the value of a diploma on the basis it will have some worth in the labor market because New Jersey has approved them. Yet, New Jersey offers no aid program or assistance for this part of the market. Something I will attempt to challenge on another plane of thought. Abbey still owes $1,500 and the school's owner won't let her sit and finish class this month, allowing her to graduate as planned at the end of October. It is their tactic to put pressure on students who can ill afford it. She told me this last week and I have been trying to find information on the school, its program, management and policies. They have no website. No listing in directories I can find. So, I am of course very suspect.
I am also trying to make arrangements for her to make her final payment. But, giving her $1,500 directly without having some assurance the school is legitimate and her diploma will mean something to her career is pretty tough to swallow from my vantage point. Yet, I am still going to do it all the same. I will be really mad if I find out this school is not legit.
This may sound crazy, but the licensing of schools operating under the approval of New Jersey should have better procedures for helping students and their sponsors/friends. At the least, the State should require a website for the school, to publish contact information, policies and methods of making payment or better yet, to get loans and aid. At the least, the State website should have the schools listed. I could not find anything easily. I may have not been looking in the right place though.
From a national perspective, a country born from immigration and that has mushroomed to a world power; we (in general) treat these people terribly. But, she is one of millions I am sure. This one, I am going to help. This one can make a small difference.
Abbey's situation is not unique for sure. She recognizes she needs to improve her knowledge and training to uplift her life. She is motivated. She is working hard. But, I also know she is attending an unaccredited school which will be her first step on the ladder. I have tried to lecture her in vain on the telephone and in person. I can't convince her to transfer to a local community college on fears she will have to start over. She still wants to get her citizenship, move to an apartment, get her kids to join her in the US and finally get married to her fiancee that is taking care of her kids back in Sierra Leon. That will take thousands of dollars and years of effort. So, who am I to take her off course?
This is the underbelly of the education market that needs to improve and reform in my view – and we never hear about it until you run into it directly. That is why I call it a shock to the roots of our system. Because, when we shock a tree by moving it and replanting it during the growing phase, the leaves fall off and it almost goes into a death spiral. And, it takes a year or so to get its health back. Some don't survive. We work in education to make a difference. To nurture success, means we need to take risks and help where we can. I know Abbey will be one of the lucky ones. And, I hope my message helps others reach out to help others like her.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Audience Participation Please – the new Net Reality Show
I am not Nostradomus obviously. But I can predict a few things following patterns and observations. It is like watching a movie or play, interpreting the plot and predicting the end of the story. As we all become part of the show, interacting with software over the web, it is as if we are in a large, audience participation reality show.
Today, software is designed to connect, communicate and infer actions that can optimize effort and provide value to users and customers. As we evolve past the decades of designing software to serve the "system" or "machine", we transcend to software that begins serving us in new ways. Like LinkedIn, Plaxo, Twitter and Facebook, the software offers us a look at events that were never captured before. The structure and collection of data is information itself. Like who viewed my profile and how many messages do I have to read? Who are my fans? I can't sleep until I get my unread message count down to something reasonable. Software today is no longer about feeding the monster "system" or "machine", like an ERP or CRM, but interacting with the world. The information management and tracking systems is slowly losing the level of importance we once believed was strategic when services are obtained to replace functions from cash flow management, credit card purchasing, procurement management, refunds, ecommerce, opportunity management, project management, grant management, and on and on and on.
We are now seeing software systems evolve and focus on collaboration and work flows that no one would have contemplated just a few short years ago because of the implications of the net effect and sharing information. Meeting wizard, desktop sharing, video streaming, simulations, voice over IP, cloud integration services, shared repositories, content conversion and much much more are delivering more value and alternatives to the systems deployed and operational across organizations. All Pretty cool. Blogging is one of them. Social networking is obviously another category. New forms of news and event tracking like Twitter is another. Second life and other virtual worlds are colliding with reality, as if we are evolving to a MATRIX like world (the original movie). Are we connected? Or not? Who is the architect anyway?
The new types of software that lets me communicate to the world and connect to others would not be considered enterprise. Yet, if for one minute a President or CAO would be disconnected from his or her Blackberry or iPhone, the whole world would stop for them. An organization's business processes and operations are not optimized around Facebook and Twitter, right? Well, we could have said that about websites and email a few short years ago. Now, we have content management and entire software systems to manage how an organization exists on the web and interfaces with it's stakeholders through distributed components and networks that just connect.
As an individual, I can track what is going on across various communities. Millions and millions do it. Who finds my stuff interesting beyond my wife, kids and friends? Well, keeping track of who visits and views is already upon us. I can track things for free and I can share things in the virtual world that lets people assimilate my thoughts and information. My blogging, like many others is a great example of that. I am not doing it for the system or feeding machine though, but to express myself and to share insights across a community. If someone finds what I write helpful, I achieved my goal. If no one does, who cares, because there is no real cost? I can still feel good about expressing my thoughts and documenting them for the future.
From this context, we are all part of a larger audience. It is called social networking. But, it is a form of new entertainment for many. A new medium of content.
When I consider that my blogs will only be found by someone searching, I digress. What is a search? Everything has to be indexed to be found. When I consider that, I think of my computer and how I have to constantly search for files I codified at one point, saved in a folder and then can't find it, without remembering some part of the name or date or source. My memory is not as good as it once ways. Why can't the computer help me with that? It will.
The implication though is that software and evolution of the net today is taking us beyond working for the drudgery of working for "machine" or "system", but it is serving our purpose more than previous generations. And, whether I am using Amazon to buy a book or computer or TV, software today is designed to serve users and their needs. It remembers me. And, my profile. And, my purchases. And, my posts. The movement from record keeping to self service to software as a service helps users live and work. It is still evolving. It is just the tip of the iceberg. Since what we are also seeing is the trail of use and how that impacts our thinking and behavior. We have multiple profiles on multiple platforms all over the web. We have information summarized across systems that creates a virtual profile of our activities like footprints in a muddy field. My USAIR profile is an example of preferences on how they can help me. Combine that with my profile on Hilton and Marriott and what happens?
Google page rank and the relevance of information linked to content tries to answer search requests and finding information, media, books, etc. How does a content search help us? Does it change our thinking? Does it alter our behavior? Do we make new assumptions? For example, Google page rank drives SEO and efforts to stack the deck. Everyone who builds a website and wants a presence to be found, seeks to have relevance. This in turn feeds new types of software to optimise keywords and content organization. It motivates us to connect and get listed. In contrast, when we use to have analog phones and the phone company published yellow and white pages, many wanted and preferred not to be listed. We feared for our privacy.
We change behavior and influence the systems we utilize and the people interacting with them, which in turn become even more abstract and complex as a result. We impact each other. Like a reality TV show where the actors are uninhibited and intertwined.
I can see nine people viewed my Linkedin profile over the last week. What does that mean? Who are they? Should I care? Is that good? All of a sudden, I am seeking information I never knew existed or cared about. On Facebook, I see comments and photos and questions shared. I get invitations, suggestions and applications telling me who is doing what today by the minute. Do I have time to feed the new system? Can I answer all the emails I am getting from all the systems I am exposed in? Is it productive for me to even go down this path? Something to contemplate. But, one assumption we always seem to make, because we are connected, is that not everyone is. The digital divide is like parallel universes. They don't intersect, except for a few who venture to cross boundaries.
Today's software systems are all evolving with the implications of connectivity, network effect, virtual profiles and relevance. Where enterprise software systems evolve in this new era of reality will be important to organizations that rely on them for standard practices that may be obsolete by new forms of connectivity and relevance. People will spend less time in the systems designed around the business that once was transactional and inhibited by access, connectivity and complexity because of specialization.
Tomorrow, software will be designed to extend, project, interpret and even think for us as we transition from users to customers like actors interact on the theater stage. We are all in the online reality show and we watch others as the show unfolds. The audience participation is part of the show. And, none of us, even proprietary enterprise software vendors can stop the show as it unfolds.
I know many of you will say that is an oversimplification. That is ok. I just wanted to put the thoughts out there.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Faster horses
Henry Ford supposedly made the statement, “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” This quote conceals the challenge we all face seeking to discover how others see things beyond our own perspective. My interest in exploring the quote is further stimulated by my desire to understand what makes innovators tick and how do innovative companies succeed.
Are innovators born with the intuitive sense of what to do and how to explore ideas? Do we nurture innovation and the innovative process in schools through art, science, history and math? Are innovators more creative creatures than normal human beings? What stimulates people and companies to be innovative? Do we teach innovation in business or mentor people to be innovative? Why do some step out and become very innovative while others do not? Do you meet a lot of innovators in your circle of friends? Do you work with innovators or people you believe are innovative? What are the characteristics of someone who is innovative? For that matter, what are the characteristics of a company or organization that is innovative?
I believe everyone has the built-in ingredients to be an innovator. Many would argue with me on that point. My goal in writing this paper is to uncover and reinvigorate the innovator in all of us – to stimulate the discussion. We assume innovators are special people like Steve Jobs of Apple, Henry Ford of Ford Motor Company and Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo. They are special. They are people who have mastered the process of innovation and have learned how to stimulate companies and their employees to be innovative. I believe innovation is a process we all intuitively are born with, but often lose or regress as we are put through the socialized process of rearing, education, work and life in general. The fun of exploring the unknown, the woods behind the yard or the other side of the tracks is often lost to the anxieties of 'what could happen?' or rules put in place to minimize risk of exposure to elements outside our control.
There are no real boundaries of markets hidden beyond the horizon. They are virtual and constantly evolving. Yet, that is not the main point of my focus for this article. It is not usually a single discovery or conclusion we patent, but an evolution of thinking. This is why it is so hard for patents to be processed and approved here in the United States or anywhere in the world. Where is original thought come from? How can we separate thoughts from the work of others? Is not everything we do, based upon some work of someone who came before us? It is hard to say. That is also why it can take years to originate and defend a set of patent claims.
Do we really understand the market (or what ever) feedback we solicit? Market research is spent to uncover implications following a more scientific and probing methodology. Engineering builds on the knowledge gained. We seek to understand the symptoms and root causes that create the circumstance of market opportunity. We often begin with assumptions. Then, we test our assumptions. And, we test the symptoms to determine the root causes or underlying explanation. Part of what separates innovations and innovators success I believe is how they address the root causes or symptoms of the problem by design.
Does the market or prospective consumers really understand the questions we ask? The Ford quote highlights how innovators seek to uncover perspectives on a problem or challenge. In Ford’s viewpoint, it was about the mode of transportation and going from A to B. Is there a better way than walking or riding a horse or carriage? Can we create something faster? Can we create something easier, less smelly and affordable? Can we create something that won’t die in the sunlight without water?
On first blush, Ford’s quote makes me think about how smart Ford must have been to see over the horizon to build the Model T. Ingenious is an understatement. The quote highlights how innovators everyday see things others do not see. And, how they build that vision, articulate it and get others to believe in it. Yet, I believe this is part myth or story. There is more to it.
Generally, we can say everyone is an innovator at some level. Whether we are trying to figure out how to build the next game box like the Wii by Nintendo, launching portable media players like the ipod by Apple, evolving book selling, distribution and reading though the Kindle by Amazon or we are coming up with a way to get our children to try new foods or eat their spinach, innovators seek to understand the underlying obstacles of a problem and experiment with possible approaches to solve them.
Some innovators are more persistent than others and will keep refining ideas until they reveal the potential or are consumed by it because it did not serve the consumer or the market. And, some dig deeper and wider. We question the status quo not just from a single point of view. We explore and characterize a perceived market, potential customer, unmet need or pain by developing a model from insights gained thru interactions over time.
I can also say it in another way. Innovators have honed a skill to walk in the shoes of their target consumer. Empathy. We seek to discover or engineer a prospective product or service that could be developed, acquired or assembled. How do we teach this? How does this skill evolve from childhood and taught when we socialize thinking into do’s and don’ts? Why do some develop the orientation better than others, capitalizing on their ability to question without anxiety while others accept the status quo?
The utility of the product or service has to be great enough to justify its development, marketing and utilization. An innovative product could be a feature in a broader platform – like the car radio or electric windshield washers. The market also has to be large enough to offer the ROI. And, it is often weighed as part of a broader market basket, not just stand apart from what other products and services offered.
The GPS is an option on cars many have used, but eventually will be an expected built-in feature as the car platform continues to deliver more value. The GPS could also be acquired through Pep Boys or offered by cell phone carriers as a means for us to find where we are and where we want to go. The GPS, like all products evolves. It initially was the technology of connecting satellites, towers and standard protocols to convey global positioning to a moving device. It has evolved much more than that to include searching for gas stations, restaurants and movie theaters. These innovations all play out in the broader context of addressing segments and needs.
Another example is how a product requires or eliminates routine maintenance or gives us reminders. BMW builds-in annual check-up sensors and a user interface to remind drivers to change the oil, rotate tires and fill washer fluid. Microsoft Windows and other software systems monitor for updates and automatically install them with settings reflecting the permission of the computer user. Monetizing features, products and services is an example of the challenges facing innovators across all sectors today as evolution continues to march onward. Are the things we innovate part of a market basket or do they stand on their own? Are they not all part of the larger eco-system interlinked?
Products are often sold as part of something else - ingredients mixed like flour, yeast and water. The quality of all ingredients, when you come right down to it, is engineered to serve the consumer in a broader eco-system. Is the water filtered? Is the flour milled? Is the yeast active and dry? Rooted in thinking thru the interdependencies, drivers and value proposition are the expectation to justify consumption and use by someone directly of indirectly.
Obviously, everyone does not have the same insights, passions or dreams to develop an idea. I tend to have thousands of ideas a week. It is pretty hard to live and work with me - because people tell me that or I infer it because my attention moves around a lot. Whether the idea could be disruptive, ahead of its time or just an incremental step toward a larger movement is another aspect to consider when we look backward on history and ponder snapshots of time. I consider this a form of pattern recognition. And, I often struggle to explain it so that others can see what I see.
Sure is easy to repeat a quote that often projects the myth that innovators are smarter or wiser or luckier. I doubt Ford just asked one question - which is an oversimplification of the innovators approach. The innovator is inside us all and often has to be stimulated to come out. That is what Steve Jobs and others have learned how to do in their companies, creating new products which, on the surface seem risky for a company like Apple making easy to use computers. Just look at your own circumstances and think about what is around you, who is around you and ponder how you interact across time and space. Living is innovation every day. We seek to answer what we desire like what food or drink would satisfy hunger or thirst? We seek sleep and shelter. We seek comfort and safety.
Many are frightened to think they are innovators, for fear of failure or realization they don’t have the ability to think thru the circumstances. They are defeated before they even address their first challenge because they have been socialized by society, parents, schools and others to not challenge the status quo or to explore the conversation hidden by our natural tendencies. Some of us have trained ourselves to think differently, and thus we strive to innovate, driven by recognition and rewards for matching an unmet need at the right time, right place and with the an approach that can survive the economics driven by the natural utility we seek.
It is easy to take things out of context. We can dissect Ford’s quote into several questions and observations. One is that not everyone sees opportunities, circumstances, and obstacles the same. One that realizes innovation is a process over a long period of time and thought. One that innovation is just an element of human existence, or in a wider context, Darwin’s theory of evolution. It is not usually one question or one answer.
We live in a feature rich, product centric world that often tries to redefine the way we connect to the world. Tweeting, digg'ing, texting and social networking is changing the way we communicate from thoughtful plotting to instantaneous indulgence of too much information. But, let's not be fooled that the whole world is doing it. There are billions and billions of people still fighting to find a way of life. They spend 80% of their day seeking fresh drinking water and daily food. They don't live near a Seven Eleven or Wawa. And, it is daunting to think that my sheltered life, the luck of being born in the free world, in the United States, only further calls me to use my talents, brain and time on earth to be creative, expressive and of course innovate.
Thus, the push to find an opening, new ways to improve things, reflects the human side of reflection, inspiration and perseverance, like many others, never satisfied by the status quo. Whether for profit or for mutual improvement, we are physcially and metaphysically in motion all the time. It is not static. Thus, when others often tell me I keep changing, I have to draw on and reflect why it is so important to work with others to overcome sensitivity and discomfort as we work with moving targets all the time.
My passion is to innovate and to motivate others to innovate. And, I hope during my life I help those around me step beyond influences and experiences that inhibit their ability to contribute to the innovative process we all share. Not all see it that way though. Ideas are not good or bad, but have to be explored with discovery and probing. Finally, I believe we are all innovators by design, and that questioning the status quo is the essence of the innovative process, to uncover assumptions and conclusions others leave us with when we consider past, current and future circumstances.
Are innovators born with the intuitive sense of what to do and how to explore ideas? Do we nurture innovation and the innovative process in schools through art, science, history and math? Are innovators more creative creatures than normal human beings? What stimulates people and companies to be innovative? Do we teach innovation in business or mentor people to be innovative? Why do some step out and become very innovative while others do not? Do you meet a lot of innovators in your circle of friends? Do you work with innovators or people you believe are innovative? What are the characteristics of someone who is innovative? For that matter, what are the characteristics of a company or organization that is innovative?
I believe everyone has the built-in ingredients to be an innovator. Many would argue with me on that point. My goal in writing this paper is to uncover and reinvigorate the innovator in all of us – to stimulate the discussion. We assume innovators are special people like Steve Jobs of Apple, Henry Ford of Ford Motor Company and Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo. They are special. They are people who have mastered the process of innovation and have learned how to stimulate companies and their employees to be innovative. I believe innovation is a process we all intuitively are born with, but often lose or regress as we are put through the socialized process of rearing, education, work and life in general. The fun of exploring the unknown, the woods behind the yard or the other side of the tracks is often lost to the anxieties of 'what could happen?' or rules put in place to minimize risk of exposure to elements outside our control.
There are no real boundaries of markets hidden beyond the horizon. They are virtual and constantly evolving. Yet, that is not the main point of my focus for this article. It is not usually a single discovery or conclusion we patent, but an evolution of thinking. This is why it is so hard for patents to be processed and approved here in the United States or anywhere in the world. Where is original thought come from? How can we separate thoughts from the work of others? Is not everything we do, based upon some work of someone who came before us? It is hard to say. That is also why it can take years to originate and defend a set of patent claims.
Do we really understand the market (or what ever) feedback we solicit? Market research is spent to uncover implications following a more scientific and probing methodology. Engineering builds on the knowledge gained. We seek to understand the symptoms and root causes that create the circumstance of market opportunity. We often begin with assumptions. Then, we test our assumptions. And, we test the symptoms to determine the root causes or underlying explanation. Part of what separates innovations and innovators success I believe is how they address the root causes or symptoms of the problem by design.
Does the market or prospective consumers really understand the questions we ask? The Ford quote highlights how innovators seek to uncover perspectives on a problem or challenge. In Ford’s viewpoint, it was about the mode of transportation and going from A to B. Is there a better way than walking or riding a horse or carriage? Can we create something faster? Can we create something easier, less smelly and affordable? Can we create something that won’t die in the sunlight without water?
On first blush, Ford’s quote makes me think about how smart Ford must have been to see over the horizon to build the Model T. Ingenious is an understatement. The quote highlights how innovators everyday see things others do not see. And, how they build that vision, articulate it and get others to believe in it. Yet, I believe this is part myth or story. There is more to it.
Generally, we can say everyone is an innovator at some level. Whether we are trying to figure out how to build the next game box like the Wii by Nintendo, launching portable media players like the ipod by Apple, evolving book selling, distribution and reading though the Kindle by Amazon or we are coming up with a way to get our children to try new foods or eat their spinach, innovators seek to understand the underlying obstacles of a problem and experiment with possible approaches to solve them.
Some innovators are more persistent than others and will keep refining ideas until they reveal the potential or are consumed by it because it did not serve the consumer or the market. And, some dig deeper and wider. We question the status quo not just from a single point of view. We explore and characterize a perceived market, potential customer, unmet need or pain by developing a model from insights gained thru interactions over time.
I can also say it in another way. Innovators have honed a skill to walk in the shoes of their target consumer. Empathy. We seek to discover or engineer a prospective product or service that could be developed, acquired or assembled. How do we teach this? How does this skill evolve from childhood and taught when we socialize thinking into do’s and don’ts? Why do some develop the orientation better than others, capitalizing on their ability to question without anxiety while others accept the status quo?
The utility of the product or service has to be great enough to justify its development, marketing and utilization. An innovative product could be a feature in a broader platform – like the car radio or electric windshield washers. The market also has to be large enough to offer the ROI. And, it is often weighed as part of a broader market basket, not just stand apart from what other products and services offered.
The GPS is an option on cars many have used, but eventually will be an expected built-in feature as the car platform continues to deliver more value. The GPS could also be acquired through Pep Boys or offered by cell phone carriers as a means for us to find where we are and where we want to go. The GPS, like all products evolves. It initially was the technology of connecting satellites, towers and standard protocols to convey global positioning to a moving device. It has evolved much more than that to include searching for gas stations, restaurants and movie theaters. These innovations all play out in the broader context of addressing segments and needs.
Another example is how a product requires or eliminates routine maintenance or gives us reminders. BMW builds-in annual check-up sensors and a user interface to remind drivers to change the oil, rotate tires and fill washer fluid. Microsoft Windows and other software systems monitor for updates and automatically install them with settings reflecting the permission of the computer user. Monetizing features, products and services is an example of the challenges facing innovators across all sectors today as evolution continues to march onward. Are the things we innovate part of a market basket or do they stand on their own? Are they not all part of the larger eco-system interlinked?
Products are often sold as part of something else - ingredients mixed like flour, yeast and water. The quality of all ingredients, when you come right down to it, is engineered to serve the consumer in a broader eco-system. Is the water filtered? Is the flour milled? Is the yeast active and dry? Rooted in thinking thru the interdependencies, drivers and value proposition are the expectation to justify consumption and use by someone directly of indirectly.
Obviously, everyone does not have the same insights, passions or dreams to develop an idea. I tend to have thousands of ideas a week. It is pretty hard to live and work with me - because people tell me that or I infer it because my attention moves around a lot. Whether the idea could be disruptive, ahead of its time or just an incremental step toward a larger movement is another aspect to consider when we look backward on history and ponder snapshots of time. I consider this a form of pattern recognition. And, I often struggle to explain it so that others can see what I see.
Sure is easy to repeat a quote that often projects the myth that innovators are smarter or wiser or luckier. I doubt Ford just asked one question - which is an oversimplification of the innovators approach. The innovator is inside us all and often has to be stimulated to come out. That is what Steve Jobs and others have learned how to do in their companies, creating new products which, on the surface seem risky for a company like Apple making easy to use computers. Just look at your own circumstances and think about what is around you, who is around you and ponder how you interact across time and space. Living is innovation every day. We seek to answer what we desire like what food or drink would satisfy hunger or thirst? We seek sleep and shelter. We seek comfort and safety.
Many are frightened to think they are innovators, for fear of failure or realization they don’t have the ability to think thru the circumstances. They are defeated before they even address their first challenge because they have been socialized by society, parents, schools and others to not challenge the status quo or to explore the conversation hidden by our natural tendencies. Some of us have trained ourselves to think differently, and thus we strive to innovate, driven by recognition and rewards for matching an unmet need at the right time, right place and with the an approach that can survive the economics driven by the natural utility we seek.
It is easy to take things out of context. We can dissect Ford’s quote into several questions and observations. One is that not everyone sees opportunities, circumstances, and obstacles the same. One that realizes innovation is a process over a long period of time and thought. One that innovation is just an element of human existence, or in a wider context, Darwin’s theory of evolution. It is not usually one question or one answer.
We live in a feature rich, product centric world that often tries to redefine the way we connect to the world. Tweeting, digg'ing, texting and social networking is changing the way we communicate from thoughtful plotting to instantaneous indulgence of too much information. But, let's not be fooled that the whole world is doing it. There are billions and billions of people still fighting to find a way of life. They spend 80% of their day seeking fresh drinking water and daily food. They don't live near a Seven Eleven or Wawa. And, it is daunting to think that my sheltered life, the luck of being born in the free world, in the United States, only further calls me to use my talents, brain and time on earth to be creative, expressive and of course innovate.
Thus, the push to find an opening, new ways to improve things, reflects the human side of reflection, inspiration and perseverance, like many others, never satisfied by the status quo. Whether for profit or for mutual improvement, we are physcially and metaphysically in motion all the time. It is not static. Thus, when others often tell me I keep changing, I have to draw on and reflect why it is so important to work with others to overcome sensitivity and discomfort as we work with moving targets all the time.
My passion is to innovate and to motivate others to innovate. And, I hope during my life I help those around me step beyond influences and experiences that inhibit their ability to contribute to the innovative process we all share. Not all see it that way though. Ideas are not good or bad, but have to be explored with discovery and probing. Finally, I believe we are all innovators by design, and that questioning the status quo is the essence of the innovative process, to uncover assumptions and conclusions others leave us with when we consider past, current and future circumstances.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)