AchieveGlobal's blog

The Techno Factor in Blended Workflow Learning

By Sharon Daniels

This is the second of four posts on AchieveGlobal’s study on organizational learning, and our reports “The Rise of Blended Workflow Learning” and “How to Succeed at Blended Workflow Learning.” Be sure to read the complete reports.

Words to the wise: Blended Workflow Learning is a powerful tool, but to do it effectively, you need to blend well, and blend right.

Our conversations about effective learning in organizations usually focus on the teachers and facilitators: Which instructor uses the best techniques; or does this educator really engage learners? But, when it comes to Blended Workflow Learning (BWL), the real facilitator is less of a “Who,” and more of a “What.” 

The Marginal Idiot

By Chris Blauth When you think of ‘effective communication’ does Napoleon Bonaparte come to mind?  If not, he should. Much has been written about Napoleon’s brilliant military strategy and his unending quest for world domination.  Less known, and perhaps legend, is the process he devised and followed to ensure that his generals understood his every command. Enter the Marginal Idiot. Napoleon knew that if someone lacking full capacity to understand information did understand a message, then it was so clear that others in more critical positions—namely generals miles away on the battle front—were certain to comprehend the message and act accordingly.  Unlike in Napoleon’s day, we have the technology today to communicate to one or thousands at the blink of an eye.  Yet are your messages really understood by others?  Keep the following principles in mind when communicating either mission-critical strategic plans or delegating mundane tasks:

1. Organize your thoughts.  It pays to think before you speak.  Whether getting your thoughts on paper or just thinking through what you’ll say, you need to consider your objectives, your audience, and the key points in your message.
2. Deliver you message in compelling ways.  Effective communicators know that how they deliver a message is just as important as the message itself.  Use stories, illustrations, and metaphors to convey your point in memorable and compelling ways.  
3. Explore responses.  Take the time to respond to the questions, concerns, and ideas of others.  Go beyond active listening to empathetic listening.

Or you might want to run your message first by someone you work with that you feel is a…oh, never mind.

What a Customer Looks for in a Training Provider

Sharon Daniels, president and chief executive officer for AchieveGlobal and I are exchanging guest posts today on each other's blogs.

Mine is about what a customer (me) looks for in a training provider, and Sharon has written about what a training provider (AchieveGlobal) looks for in a customer posted over at my blog, Great Leadership.

While I don't claim to speak for every training customer, I have managed training departments for over 20 years at 3 companies, and have worked with well over 100 training providers. I've had some awesome "partners", in the true sense of the word, and I've worked with my share of companies that resembled the cast of "The Office". It was real easy (and kinda fun) to sit back and just make a list of the best and worst.

We're inviting training buyers and providers to weigh in and add their 2 cents, to either or both blogs. Hopefully, the dialog will help facilitate better relationships and help both sides achieve mutual success.

Disclosure: My company is not currently a customer of AchieveGlobal, although my former companies were at various times. AchieveGlobal is not a sponsor of my blog. So how did AchieveGlobal stack up against my list? Actually, pretty darn well. Not perfect, but then again, no company is. I had the same account rep for over 10 years, and I loved their products and services. Finally, Sharon and her team are good sports for being willing to do this with me. 

10 Things a Customer Looks for in a Training Provider (in no particular order.......):

1. A perfect trial offer or pilot experience. Look, I know mistakes happen. However, if you know I'm evaluating your product or service, then I would expect nothing less than perfection on the first date. You've only got one shot to prove yourself - don't blow it. Would you go back to a restaurant where you got the wrong order and poor service? Probably not, unless it was your brother-in-law's and you had to. 

Can you improve learning outcomes, while decreasing learning expense?

By Sharon Daniels

This is the first of four posts on AchieveGlobal's study on organizational learning, and our reports "The Rise of Blended Workflow Learning" and "How to Succeed at Blended Workflow Learning." Be sure to read the complete reports.

We used a great metaphor at the beginning of our report, Why Learning Has a New Logic, describing the business world today as a "shifting topography." That description seems even more relevant now with so many news stories of major earthquakes, tremors and even volcanic eruptions across the world. It's the same on the business landscape too.

Businesses face a continuing need to change because of the changes in the economy. But it's also about new technologies and changes in legislation and how those changes are affecting the core of how businesses operate. 

Leading for the Greater Good

By Craig Perrin

This is the last of seven posts on AchieveGlobal's international study of leadership today, "Developing the 21st-Century Leader." Be sure to read the complete report.

Daily headlines continue to underscore recent high-profile failures of ethical leadership: manufacturers that hide physical dangers, finance companies that sell ruinous products, federal employees who violate the public trust.

These horror stories might call to mind your college ethics class - maybe even Mill's Principle of Utility (the greatest good for the greatest number) or Kant's Categorical Imperative (what's right in one situation is right in all).

While received wisdom can lead us astray, AchieveGlobal's 2009 global study suggests, in this case, that wisdom may be on target. The research identified "Society" as one of six critical zones of 21st-century leadership (along with Reflection, Diversity, Ingenuity, People, and Business). Effective leaders, we found, apply principles such as fairness, respect, and "the greater good" to balance individual and group welfare.

Still in the throes of a slow-motion economic crisis, we continue to ask, "How can leaders correct and avoid the mistakes that got us into this mess?" Seven best practices that the research grouped in the zone of Society offer one credible answer:

• Act ethically to serve the larger good, not just to obey the law.
• Encourage others to take socially responsible action.
• Openly challenge what you consider unethical decisions and actions.
• Take action to benefit others, not just yourself.
• Recognize and reward others based on merit, not on politics.
• Make fair decisions, even if they have a negative impact on yourself.
• Take steps to reduce environmental harm.

For reasons we understand, many leaders focus obsessively on the numbers, in the worst cases maximizing short-term profits with little concern for social and economic damage. The recent AchieveGlobal research suggests that increased awareness and positive action in the zone of Society is at least one ingredient in the antidote to failed 21st-century leadership.

Craig Perrin is Director of Solution Development at AchieveGlobal in Tampa, Florida

The Leader ’s New Chisel

By Craig Perrin

This is the sixth of seven posts on AchieveGlobal's international study of leadership today, "Developing the 21st-Century Leader." Be sure to read the complete report.

"Innovate or die" is no longer a cliché. That phrase now describes the real choice many organizations face in the current economy: rethink themselves from strategy to products to daily operation - or risk oblivion.

AchieveGlobal's 2009 international study identified six "zones of 21st-century leadership" - Reflection, Society, Diversity, Ingenuity, People, and Business.  Ingenuity, in particular, has taken on new meaning and new urgency. Today, offering and executing good ideas is not enough. Leaders must help others do the same by creating a culture in which innovation can thrive. To respond to new threats and opportunities, leaders must question everything, right down to received wisdom at the heart of their business.

Innovation at one time was a little-used skill at the bottom a leader's tool box, fished out for incremental improvements here or there. Today, leaders need sharp new tools and the requisite skills to create a true culture of innovation: curious, challenging, collaborative, confidence-building, and customer-close. Leaders strong in the zone of Ingenuity help their teams - even their organizations - to create a motivating shared vision of future success.

What defines Ingenuity in the 21st-century leader? Maybe exactly what defined it in that 16th-century sculptor, Michelangelo, who into his 80s, laboring over his unfinished "Bound Slave," could say, "I am still learning."

Craig Perrin is Director of Solution Development at AchieveGlobal in Tampa, Florida

Must a Leader be a People-Person?

By Craig Perrin

This is the fifth of seven posts on AchieveGlobal's international study of leadership today, "Developing the 21st-Century Leader." Be sure to read the complete report.

A couple of years back, the Harvard Business Review ran an article about how difficult it can be for new managers to develop the interpersonal skills to lead effectively.

No kidding.

But that challenge doesn't apply only to new managers. Consider some daily realities for any manager, new or experienced: dealing with an array of personalities and work styles, communicating clearly and effectively, inspiring and motivating teams, and doing all this with a sense of fairness.

Our recent international study identified six zones of leadership - Reflection, Society, Diversity, Ingenuity, People, and Business - that address key 21^st-century challenges. The People zone paints a vivid picture of how effective leaders connect with others to boost morale and guide action toward shared goals. 

Reflecting on Leadership

By Craig Perrin

This is the fourth of seven posts on AchieveGlobal's international study of leadership today, "Developing the 21st-Century Leader." Be sure to read the complete report.

There's nothing like a long look in the mirror to motivate needed change. Gazing thoughtfully at your reflection can reveal positives to build on and negatives to improve or eradicate.

The same goes for business leaders: Those who often reflect on their own strengths and liabilities are far more likely to transform unproductive behaviors into behaviors that make them stronger and more effective.

Our recent research into how leaders can succeed in the 21^st century uncovered six zones or groups of best practices: Reflection, Society, Diversity, Ingenuity, People, and Business. Of them, Reflection is perhaps the most central.

To leverage strengths and remove the blind spots that lead to poor decisions, reflective leaders habitually assess their own motives, beliefs, attitudes, and actions.

If "the more you look, the more you see," as the adage goes, it should be no surprise that reflective leaders tend to succeed in other zones, as well. Why this spillover effect for the zone of Reflection?

It's quite simple.

The practices grouped under Reflection help leaders assess their performance in other zones. Because reflective leaders see their place in the big picture, they tend to "take responsibility for their own mistakes" (the highest-rated practice in our global survey). In this way, reflection helps them clarify what makes them strong and where they can improve in every zone. 

The Business of Leadership

By Craig Perrin

This is the third of seven posts on AchieveGlobal's international study of leadership today, "Developing the 21st-Century Leader" (complete report available HERE.)

Leaders with superior strengths in "Business" make successful business leaders.

Now there's a redundant statement, if ever there was one. But I recently have taken a few contemplative steps back from this statement and discovered a core truth.

Our recent research identified six zones or categories of best practices required to meet the challenges of 21^st-century leadership. Of these six zones (Reflection, Society, Diversity, Ingenuity, People, and Business), leaders tended to rate the Business zone of highest importance.

What are some characteristics of leaders who excel in the Business zone?

• They adapt quickly to changing business conditions.
• They're effective at managing the costs of operation.
• They seek new ways to make the business competitive.

Study Exposes Serious Blind Spot Among U.S. Leaders

By Craig Perrin

This is the second of seven posts on AchieveGlobal's international study of leadership today, "Developing the 21st-Century Leader" (complete report available HERE.)

A surprise for me in our recent research was that of six "leadership zones" - Reflection, Society, Diversity, Ingenuity, People, and Business - U.S. leaders rated Diversity as least important. While this finding begs more study, I can't help wondering about possible causes and effects.

It's important to note that only after we ran the survey did we choose the term "Diversity" for seven related leadership best practices:

• Strive to meet the needs of customers representing other cultures.
• Encourage collaboration among people from different groups.
• Display sensitivity in managing across cultural boundaries.
• Collaborate well with people very different from yourself.
• Effectively lead groups made up of very diverse people.
• Learn about the business practices of other cultures.
• Manage virtual teams with explicit customer-centric goals and practices.

Since we labeled this group "Global" in the survey, we can rule out the term "Diversity" (incorrectly seen by some as code for "political correctness") as a cause for low ratings. Low scores may in part reflect that many U.S. leaders have no urgent need to manage across borders, learn about business practices in other countries, or manage virtual teams. 

We Have Met the Enemy...

By Craig Perrin

This is the first in a series of posts on AchieveGlobal's international study of leadership today, "Developing the 21st-Century Leader." (Download the report HERE.)

To succeed in the volatile 21st century, leaders must rethink their historical views and cultivate a new configuration of beliefs, attitudes, and abilities.

That is the crux of AchieveGlobal's multi-phase study of how leaders can reverse the current economic trajectory. Our comprehensive literature review, focus groups, and survey of 971 leaders worldwide identified 42 best practices grouped in six "zones," or vital areas of action for modern leaders:              

Notably, the study found a chasm between the perceived importance and observed use of the best practices, implying wide dissatisfaction with leadership today. Respondents identified their central challenges and in effect pronounced their leaders unable to meet them.

As leaders, we all share in our global ennui, and this study found our fatal flaw to be nothing new: hubris, or blindness of pride, or the mistaken view that business is just business, that we know all we need to know, that we can solve any problem arising in obsessive pursuit of short-term gains. The antidote to hubris, said the study, is the six zones of mindful action - one revered (Business) and others sometimes ignored, including Reflection, which makes us more effective in any zone. As a financial executive recently told us, "We have to learn how not to repeat the past." The six zones and 42 best practices articulate that lesson.

Posts to this blog over the next few weeks will briefly outline our findings in each leadership zone.

A Coach ’s Epiphany: “Open Your Eyes and Bend Your Knee!”

By Craig Perrin

A conversation this week recalled an epiphany from my early career, when I coached tennis.

As an academic at the time, I found it difficult at first to build physical skills in week-end hackers, hot-shot juniors, and pre-teens with their parents eyeing me from the bleachers. One break-through came when I learned to keep groups moving for an hour. A more serious problem was individual instruction. I shouted – “Open your eyes as you strike the ball!” or “Bend your knee!” – and then I puzzled why students couldn’t integrate my superb advice in one smooth stroke. I wondered, numbly, “Why is everyone so bloody frustrated?" Finally, I thought, “How did my best coaches coach?” One thing they did was point out progress, no matter how slight. So I tried something different in my next lesson. Instead of correcting a jittery beginner, I called her attention to anything at all that she did right. To my youthful astonishment, she promptly started ripping cross-court forehands! I continued to refine this method: “I loved the way you punched through that volley!” “That was beautiful when you took short steps to the ball!” Eventually, I found myself praising every student for any hint of doing something right. I might say, “Your wrist looks firmer now!” – even if only barely. And it all worked. Students gained more confidence, rallied more consistently, made more difficult shots, and laughed more often. Soon I had more students and raked in more money. That career morphed into something else, but to this day problems of my own making often follow when I forget that early epiphany. What approach works for you when you coach, or receive coaching? What epiphany can you share?

Questions

By Andrew Calvert How often have you heard, “This might be a dumb question...”? With that one statement speakers devalue their own question, of course, before they ask it! The more I look around the business world – through the perspective of clients, colleagues, contacts, and the media, I am continually struck by how the best ideas came from someone asking a “dumb” question. Einstein, in a famous example, asked what would happen if he turned on his bicycle lights if he were travelling at the speed of light. And from that question the whole theory of relativity was born. Asking the “dumb” question opens new doors: It forces people to rethink what they already know, and it is exactly that kind of challenge that sparks new thinking, new ideas. As someone explains the thinking behind the current situation, the opportunity arises to re-evaluate the original decision or process, to ask, “Why?” So the next time you have a question, instead of devaluing your question, remember – if there is more than one possible answer, then it can't be a dumb question.

Powerful Underground River?

By Craig Perrin I'm tempted to begin this entry, "You'll have to excuse me - I'm from California." As someone trained in interdisciplinary thinking, I'm usually pleased to see connections among things. Here's an example. My son Greg on his own recently decided to study the Bhagavad Gita, the ancient Hindu text, which I've known since my late teens and read with college students when I taught world religions in my early career. So Greg and I have been discussing how its advice and underlying philosophy might make him a better musician. There's a connection pleasing to me: between ancient Hindu scripture and violin-playing. And here's a California footnote: The Bhagavad Gita is the only book that resides in full on my hard drive. I find it both soothing and challenging, often on long flights. Then last week I ran into this article in Business Week: "Karma Capitalism: Times have changed since Gordon Gekko quoted Sun Tzu in the 1987 movie Wall Street. Has the Bhagavad Gita replaced The Art of War as the hip new ancient Eastern management text?" http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_44/b4007091.htm Frankly, I'd never thought of a connection between "the Gita" and business. (How did I miss THAT?) And while the Business Week article dates from 2006, its major points seem even more relevant in our current economic muddle. Beyond the wonderful points raised in the article, I see other connections with today's business challenges:

• The new picture of 21st-century leadership emerging from AchieveGlobal's worldwide study earlier this year - particularly in the areas of "Society," "Introspection," and "People" - has incredible resonance with ideas in the Gita.
• I've been thinking about a new AG statement on work/life balance. The Gita - with its idea of "work without attachment to the fruits of work," or (in California lingo) "it's the journey, dude, not the destination" - could be the nucleus of a fresh new perspective.
• The mainstream business schools drawing from the Gita - Harvard, Wharton, and Kellogg (none of them in California!) - may be on to something. Could ideas contained in the Gita serve the twin goals of reduced stress in our global recession and reduced risk of repeating the mistakes that brought on the recession?

I do not think the Gita or any other book is the sole answer to our problems. At the same time, I'm beginning to see the essential advice in the Gita as a powerful underground river that business leaders might dam up and channel for a greater good.

Service (Emotional) Intelligence

By Andrew Calvert I recently had the honour of being a judge in a national experience award competition. I was invited to attend five attractions and grade them in several areas: Business Excellence, Service Quality, and Mystery Shopping to name three. Every attraction had a good-to-excellent workflow upon entering the attraction, where to pay, where to get information about what to do. Signs were generally clear, queues well managed, routes clearly signed (in more than one language). Once I had my tickets I knew where I wanted to go, what I needed to do to get there. And this was generally consistent for all the attractions. But I observed a few things that really stood out: the people at the point of purchase were without exception totally indifferent to the interactions with their customers. No one asked a question, no one tried to engage me (remember your parents telling you that you only get one chance to make a first impression?) - a missed opportunity for them. Once into the customer "flow" there were several more opportunities to connect with me (and my kids) to create memorable moments that I would later recall and tell people about (as I am now):

• An usher ignored me and my son (her back to me, staring into the distance) as we waited for a ride to arrive.
• Another usher (with no verbal interaction and no smile) pointed to the "tourist shop" as we disembarked from a ride.
• A man feeding turtles ignored me and my 3-year-old while he was less than 3 feet from us.

Even when there was interaction, the service was essentially passive - I had to ask for help. Very few service providers attempted to understand what I wanted or needed. Ironically, when I asked for help almost all were very knowledgeable. One attraction, however, did stand out. Their cashiers were as numb to the customers as everywhere else, but that is where the similarities with the other attractions ended. Every staff member in the attraction had a smile or a word or two for me or my son. They asked questions about what areas of the attraction we had been to and mentioned their favourite areas or recommendations. In fact, they were so friendly that my (other) son asked me if somehow they knew I was a judge and were therefore extra nice. And that was the difference that won my vote. Not the product: Every attraction was world-class. Not the process: They had all managed the journey through their space. It was the emotional connection their staff made to me and my family. As a judge, I voted. As consumers, we vote all the time - by going back again and again because of how the staff and the attraction make us feel, and by telling those we know (and those, who, for example, read my blog) how much fun we had.  

Leadership Lessons from Israel

By Jack McDaniel Which country is the world's #1 destination for venture capital funding? Which has the most start-ups per capita? Which country invests the highest percentage of GDP in civilian research and development? The answer: Israel. Next question: Why? Dan Senor and Saul Singer give an answer in their new book, Start-up Nation: The Story of Israel's Economic Miracle. They cite several factors, including an innovative immigration policy and the aforementioned investment in R&D. However, the authors attribute the largest determinant to the Israeli military experience. Here's how it works: Every Israeli citizen is required to serve in the military following their secondary school education. During this required military service (3 years for men, 2 for women), young Israelis learn vital leadership skills in the areas of problem-solving, innovation, teamwork, and time management. By the time they enter a university, they have far more managerial experience - in arenas where the outcomes can be life-or-death - than their global peers. Senor and Singer then turn the question around to the rest of us. How can other countries reproduce not the specific environmental aspects of the Israeli experience, but the outcome: a young but mature, highly-driven, well-trained, dynamic workforce ready to lead in innovative ways. Google, Microsoft, Cisco, Intel, eBay... they're all conducting their most critical R&D in Israel. What lessons can we learn in leadership and innovation from this tiny country?

Avoiding the “CRM Triple-Dog Dare”

By Chris Blauth Millions have enjoyed A Christmas Story, the iconic 1983 movie about nine-year-old Ralphie Parker, who yearns for a Red Ryder BB gun on Christmas morning. In the classic schoolyard scene, Ralphie's friends Flick and Schwartz debate whether or not a warm tongue will stick to a frozen flagpole. The banter escalates to the most serious of dares: a "triple-dog dare." With his reputation on the line, Flick gives it a try.  Many organizations, sadly, have fallen for the "CRM triple-dog dare." CRM providers wave the banner of improved customer loyalty, which according to Ekinci, et al, leads to higher shareholder value through "the creation and better utilization of customer knowledge."  Yet for all the promised benefits (and billions spent), companies say their CRM is stuck as painfully as Flick's tongue, largely due to technology and user adoption issues. What's surprising, though, is that business leaders often fail to mention the most vital tool for creating customer value: a culture of service. If a company lacks a culture that habitually satisfies the needs and wants of customers, no software can improve service or build a strategic advantage. So, before you speak with any CRM provider, consider two of the keys to customer loyalty:

• You earn customer loyalty through a series of defining moments (points in time when a customer forms an impression about your organization).

While a defining moment is not a full interaction, many moments add up to one "customer experience." A defining moment may be positive, negative, or neutral. To create a customer experience that promotes loyalty, you need to create as many positive defining moments as possible.  Organizations with a mature service culture map typical defining moments and find ways to make them positive. Further, they map atypical interactions to anticipate and mitigate or avoid negative moments.

• To build a culture of service, create positive defining moments in every personal interaction.

While few organizations can afford to deliver the same services to every customer segment, no organization can afford NOT to create positive defining moments for every individual customer. A "customer" is anyone who counts on your products or services. A customer, either external or internal, may have more or less value to you, may have a long- or a short-term relationship with you, may interact with you face-to-face, by phone, in print, or online. In a culture of service, every customer experiences positive defining moments in every service encounter. Taking that "triple-dog dare," Flick suffers a minor blow to his ego. Messing with CRM before embracing a culture of service, you risk more serious consequences. You may even, as Ralphie's mother says, "Shoot your eye out."

Leaping Forward by Staying Connected

By Jack McDaniel Being part of a virtual team is a reality for most of us these days. The nature of virtual teams presents challenges that our parents and grandparents never faced – chief among them the hurdle of feeling “out of touch” with team members. Staying connected in a virtual environment requires planning, effort, and the right tools. Last week, a virtual colleague and friend brought a new connectivity tool to my attention. HP has unveiled “HP SkyRoom.” It’s been hailed as “Skype meets WebEx,” but that may sell it short. The tool was used by DreamWorks Animation during the production of “Monsters vs. Aliens.” HP boasts that its technology was developed in support of NASA’s Mars Rover program. Those are powerful bona fides! In an excellent review from Creative COW Magazine’s Ron Lindeboom, the author asserts the following:

Well, let's just come out and say it right here: Live Office and iChat aren't Skyroom. Skyroom is Live Office and iChat on steroids after working in the gym with trainers. It also isn't one of the many freeware or shareware applications or subscription-based services like GoToMeeting.com.

The differences between other collaboration tools and SkyRoom are significant. It’s not a subscription-based service, the software itself is affordable (under $150), its technical requirements are reasonable (Intel® Core 2™ Duo 2.33-GHz or equivalent processor with 2 GB RAM, a webcam and Microsoft Windows® XP or Vista®, and a broadband network with a minimum transfer rate of 400 kbps), and the visual quality is… well, what you’d expect from software used by DreamWorks. In 2002, I witnessed a demonstration of a “virtual meeting” conducted at a learning seminar. Dozens of cameras in two separate locations, each powered by a roomful of computing and processing power, “joined” two men in two offices hundreds of miles apart. It looked pretty good. Sure, it wasn’t exactly seamless, but it did look like two guys in the same office. Our collaboration tools aren’t there yet, but the industry is making significant strides, enough so that our children and grandchildren should find it both easy and natural to stay connected in virtual teams.

Burying the Lead

By Jack McDaniel In a recent InformationWeek article, W. David Gardner reports on a recent governmental meta-analysis and review of online learning studies. Mr. Gardner’s lead assertion is that:

Online education has been achieving somewhat better results than classroom education, according to a recent report prepared for the U.S. Department of Education.

Dire news for all of the classrooms! However, when I took a closer look at the study itself, I found so many caveats and conditions placed on this finding that, like the ornaments covering Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree, you can no longer clearly delineate the tree itself. Let’s take a few of these ornaments down from the tree for closer inspection:

• The study was not focused on adult learning. The primary focus for the US Department of Education was to measure the effectiveness of learning modalities for K-12 public school students. As an aside, the researchers were chagrined to find so few applicable studies for this population that they found themselves repeatedly admitting that “…caution is required in generalizing to the K–12 population because the results are derived for the most part from studies in other settings.”
• Business skills were only a small part of the curricula studied. Out of nine curricula listed, “business” was mentioned last. While this may not indicate that it was the subject least studied, it does dilute the findings considerably – especially given the importance of curriculum to learning outcomes. “The most common subject matter was medicine or health care. Other content types were computer science, teacher education, mathematics, languages, science, social science, and business.”
• Time on task skews the results in favor of online learning. The studies assumed a huge advantage for learners who were able to spend large chunks of time with online tools materials. “Studies in which learners in the online condition spent more time on task than students in the face-to-face condition found a greater benefit for online learning.” In the business world, the perception that time spent on training – either online or face-to-face - equals lost revenue pushes solutions that include the “benefit” of less employee time off the job.
• The medium is not the message. Time on task, pedagogy, and curriculum are more important conditions than whether the learning was delivered online or in a classroom. “Despite what appears to be strong support for online learning applications, the studies in this meta-analysis do not demonstrate that online learning is superior as a medium.”

In my view, the true lead has been buried: Blended learning is more effective than either classroom or online learning by themselves. The researchers found that:

In recent experimental and quasi-experimental studies contrasting blends of online and face-to-face instruction with conventional face-to-face classes, blended instruction has been more effective, providing a rationale for the effort required to design and implement blended approaches.

What do you think? Is blended learning the wave of the future or a passing fad? What impact will social interaction tools like Twitter have on business learning? What will the adult learning landscape look in 2, 5, or 10 years?

What ’s Your Bloatware?

By Craig Perrin Apple Computer just released a new operating system, “Snow Leopard.” What did they do to improve their already class-leading “Leopard”? They simplified it. They dropped the price. And, as David Pogue points out in the New York Times, they dumped a moldy business model. To keep buyers buying, many software vendors produce “bloatware” – successive upgrades that contain more features but also eat more memory, run more slowly, and crash more often than earlier versions. “Apple’s release strategy is highly unorthodox,” writes Pogue, who then quotes a fictional Apple marketing genius: “’Instead of adding features for their own sake, let’s just make what we’ve got smaller, faster and more refined.’” The pattern that Apple’s strategy represents – from simple, to complex, to bloatware, to simple – is a very old story. Consider music:             Or architecture:       The new simple is never the same as the old. Still, this pattern repeats again and again in virtually every arena of human activity, including business. Apple – ever leading the pack – seems to be saying that it’s now time for simple. Even Microsoft, after the bloated disaster of Windows Vista, will release a simpler operating system in October. What is the bloatware in your business? What can or should you do to simplify?