Episode #264: The Boss Needs Sparking

Our education moves through many transitions. We do our basic academic education at school and university and then we hit the university of life. Company education programs begin with very basic induction sessions. We may be studying technical subjects for regulatory requirements or the firms specified areas for further study. We might get some rudimentary soft skill education, although the majority of companies rely on OJT - On The Job training, particularly in Japan.

During the middle management years we might get some leadership training or in the case of large firms be dispatched to some worthy academic institution for a week of executive training. The instructors are academics, the case study method is a favourite, as is group work. Often the course colleagues are from around the globe. The whole thing is fascinating and very cool. The nature of the approach means we are usually focused on the middle to distant future. Very macro and broad in nature.

It is hard to grab hold of something from one of these courses and start executing it on the first day back on the job. These experiences happen infrequently in one's career, because of the cost in terms of money and time. They are delivered in big doses and then separated by years or possibly it was a “one shot and your done” game.

What about on-going education? The frequency is a key factor. Those who drive and spend some considerable time in cars have access to a mobile university courtesy of MP3 recordings, podcasts or apps. The same for those doing the daily commute on trains and buses. There is such a wealth of knowledge available today, it is astounding. Most of it is free. These days, you can also go on to YouTube and learn just about anything.

TED talks are great for specific topics and there is now a self-paced study mega industry based around information products. These are for a fee and are usually provided by practitioners, rather than academics. The academic world itself is also putting out their offerings on-line for free, so we stand before a tsunami of knowledge heading our way.

However, are we spending our time fruitfully accessing this cornucopia of information, insight and wisdom? Often we are not, because we are so busy working IN our businesses that we have little time and energy left over to work ON our businesses. We are all creatures of habit and routine. We have found a way through all the complexity of modern life by trying to minimize the scope of what we do. The problem with this approach though is that we go into stasis.

Business keeps unfolding and evolving and we have to keep up. In this age new developments can make you a buggy whip maker before you know it and you can be out of business. Anyone in Japan remember iMode? It was pretty good and a world leader in it’s day and now it is gone. Blackberry? MySpace? By the way, did you see that press conference with the head of Nokia bemoaning “we didn’t do anything wrong”, after Steve Jobs killed off their business with the introduction of the iPhone and the app universe. That is one example that highlights the power of challenger technologies and systems.

The viewpoint of each successor generation is different. Those who grew up with the telephone, differ from those who had the fax, and differ from those who wield a mouse. Now we are walking around with massive computing and inter connectivity in our palms through our digital devices. This means that whatever you learnt even five years ago on that executive course is probably redundant or soon will be. If that was the final investment in you by the company, what have you been doing to educate yourself?

As the boss you need to keep studying, keep pushing and keep up. Are you doing it though? Look at your timetable, how much is allocated to study in a week. Reading the newspaper doesn’t count by the way. I am talking about more specific efforts in your business area of specialty. If the boss isn’t growing then how can the business grow? Bosses, get on it!