Everything is a Remix The Key Mistake Undermining Your Pitch - Michael Schrage by Michael Schrage | 1:00 PM November 26, 2012 Over 90 minutes into the meeting, the frustration boiled over into anger. The product manager, who had come up with what he thought was an airtight, iron-clad, compelling and irrefutable business case for launching a fairly clever innovation, completely failed to persuade the impassive CMO. The CMO, who didn’t “own” the product line but was responsible for brand and strategic positioning, said that he understood the value proposition but felt it blurred the “premium” positioning he wanted that product to have. In a room filled with marketers and developers, the product manager exploded: “What could I say or show you that would get you to change your mind?” I was sitting quietly in the corner of the room and I knew exactly how the CMO would respond. “Nothing,” the CMO said, looking right at the furious product manager, “There is nothing you could say or show to convince me.” There is a powerful and singular exception to this.
s Trend Briefing covering "10 Crucial Consumer Trends for 2013" 2013 will be the perfect storm of necessity and opportunity: some economies will do OK(-ish), others will be shaky, but whatever market or industry you're in, those who understand & cater to changing consumer needs, desires and expectations will forever have plenty of opportunity to profit. A remapped global economy, new technologies (or 'old' technologies applied in new ways), new business models... hey, what's not to like? Hence this overview of 10 crucial consumer trends (in random order) for you to run with in the next 12 months. Onwards and upwards: To date, the ‘big data’ discussion has focused on the value of customer data to businesses. The perfect storm of consumers’ ever-greater lust for NEWISM and niches, the expectation of (instantly!) For many of you, our free content is enough to keep you going until 31 December 2013.
How to heal the nation in seven simple steps You do well, as nursing educators, in training young people for basic competence in your profession. But what about those soft skills, which are actually hard skills, required to turn young nurses into more than well-oiled machines and make them well-rounded professionals? I can hear you saying of your charges: I can train you how to set up a drip, but how do I train you not to be one? In a country as broken and angry as ours, I cannot think of a more important duty than to prepare nursing professionals to heal not only physical wounds but our invisible wound s as we emerge from a bitter past and still bitter present. I wish to suggest that there are seven human qualities of critical importance in the preparation of nurses as well as other professionals. 1. A group of clinical heads of a well-known hospital were complaining to me about "the lack of" (a common South African start to a conversation) things they needed. 2. What destroys this country is a culture of laziness. 3. We are slow.
www.timeslive.co.za/opinion/columnists/2012/09/13/parents-selling-out-children I tell him that I am confused, dumbstruck. Would he really deny education to the poorest children in the rural, disadvantaged areas of Olifantshoek and Kuruman? Is education not the only way out of poverty for the children? "Yes, my daughter is in school here. It is difficult to check the veracity of his claim that the parents and the children took a resolution to close the schools in these areas. It is now more than two months since 40 or more schools have remained closed, according to one media report. So far, the politicians from "national" have not been able to end the boycott. I ask the man on the phone: "What on earth did this mayor do that caused you to take such a dramatic step and close learning centres for children?" He was wound up by now. "The mayor is lazy and useless. Their other concern in this area is the demand for tarred roads. I could not judge whether the big people were having a partisan political fight here that has little to do with services.
Best, Worst Learning Tips: Flash Cards Are Good, Highlighting Is Bad In a world as fast-changing and full of information as our own, every one of us — from schoolchildren to college students to working adults — needs to know how to learn well. Yet evidence suggests that most of us don’t use the learning techniques that science has proved most effective. Worse, research finds that learning strategies we do commonly employ, like rereading and highlighting, are among the least effective. (MORE: How to Use Technology to Make You Smarter) The scientific literature evaluating these techniques stretches back decades and across thousands of articles. The WorstHighlighting and underlining led the authors’ list of ineffective learning strategies. The BestIn contrast to familiar practices like highlighting and rereading, the learning strategies with the most evidence to support them aren’t well known outside the psych lab. (MORE: ‘Implicit Learning’: How to Remember More Without Trying)
Implicit Learning: Researchers Uncover How to Learn Without Trying It’s rare that a computer science lab brings us a scenario worthy of a spy novel, but that’s what happened earlier this month when Hristo Bojinov, a researcher at Stanford University, divulged his latest project. Here’s the setup: Imagine an operative has been entrusted with top-secret computer files. He needs a password to enable him to access the information — but what if he falls into the hands of the enemy, and they force him to reveal the code? Bojinov and his colleagues concocted the perfect solution: a password that the spy could use any time he needed it, but which was not available to his conscious mind. He couldn’t give up the code to his captors even if he wanted to. In effect, the scientists would be hiding the password in the brain of the spy. (MORE: Born to Be Bright: Is There a Gene for Learning?) As cloak-and-dagger as it sounds, the technique the Stanford scientists have developed takes advantage of a common phenomenon known as implicit learning. Second, practice.
Can You Learn Everything “On The Job”? Earlier this month, officials from the University of Wisconsin announced the school’s plans for a “flexible degree” program, which would allow students to enroll when it suits them, study online at their own pace — and gain academic credit for knowledge they’ve acquired outside the classroom. Completion of the program is based on “competency,” not on “seat time,” meaning that if students can show they know their stuff, they can skip over introductory courses and other prerequisites to get their degree sooner. The announcement is good news for Wisconsin residents who can now transform their professional expertise into a college diploma. But the program raises important questions, not only about how to assess applicants’ vocational knowledge and how much academic credit to award (issues that officials say are still being worked out), but also about how learning in the workplace happens and how effective it is. (MORE: How to Increase Your Powers of Observation)
Improving Students’ Learning With Effective Learning Techniques: Promising Directions From Cognitive and Educational Psychology Read the Full Text (PDF, HTML) Some students seem to breeze through their school years, whereas others struggle, putting them at risk for getting lost in our educational system and not reaching their full potential. Parents and teachers want to help students succeed, but there is little guidance on which learning techniques are the most effective for improving educational outcomes. This leads students to implement studying strategies that are often ineffective, resulting in minimal gains in performance. What then are the best strategies to help struggling students learn? Fortunately for students, parents, and teachers, psychological scientists have developed and evaluated the effectiveness of a wide range of learning techniques meant to enhance academic performance. The authors describe each learning technique in detail and discuss the conditions under which each technique is most successful. Which learning techniques made the grade? About the Authors (PDF, HTML) By Henry L.
Social evolution: The ritual animal Lifeispixels/Getty Images Members of large, stable groups such as religions, tribes and nations typically reinforce their commitment with routine rituals such as Buddhist prayers in Thailand. By July 2011, when Brian McQuinn made the 18-hour boat trip from Malta to the Libyan port of Misrata, the bloody uprising against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi had already been under way for five months. “The whole city was under siege, with Gaddafi forces on all sides,” recalls Canadian-born McQuinn. He was no stranger to such situations, having spent the previous decade working for peace-building organizations in countries including Rwanda and Bosnia. But this time, as a doctoral student in anthropology at the University of Oxford, UK, he was taking the risk for the sake of research. It worked: McQuinn stayed with the rebels for seven months, compiling a strikingly close and personal case study of how rituals evolved through combat and eventual victory. Nature Podcast Human rites Rebel yell
Trends every South African HR professional needs to know about in 2013 | knowledgeresources At the end of January, Knowledge Resources held a Seminar focusing on the HR and Labour Market Trends for 2013. I’ve summarized some of the most important points raised at the conference and I know you will find them beneficial… South Africa’s Socio-Political EnvironmentPresentation by Justice Malala, Political Analyst Post Manguang – Cyril Ramaphosa’s election as deputy president of the ANC and the endorsement of the NDP is positive for the business sector. The same goes for the rejection of nationalisation of the mines as policy.Marikana and its consequences will lead to lower investment in the mining industry. Wild cat and unprotected strikes will continue. Economic Conditions for 2013Sizwe Nxedlana, Chief Economist FNB The global economy is recovering. Wage and Salary TrendsPresentation by Dr Mark Bussin, Chairman, 21st Century Pay Solutions Group Regulatory and Compliance framework for the HR and Labour market during 2013 has the potential to change extensively Learn more here.
Why Education is a Powerful Content Marketing Strategy: 17 Examples I just finished reading this Richard Branson post about following your passions in life. In it, he restates this magnificent quote from Nelson Mandela: “ Education is the most powerful weapon to change the world. ” I truly believe in this. Think about this truth: Our customers don’t care about our products or services; they care about themselves. If you get a chance, take a look at this interview that CMI’s Chief Strategist, Robert Rose , conducted with Coca-Cola’s resident content marketing expert Jonathan Mildenhall . Isn’t that the key? So if we want to change our world through content marketing, we need to distinguish ourselves as the leading educational voices for our industry. Here are a few examples of companies that are successfully working this educational angle. IBM’s “CityOne” In IBM’s “Sim City”-style business simulation game, “ CityOne ,” players are challenged to solve problems in four key areas — banking, retail, energy, and water. Indium Intuit Intuit Labs Zenith Infotech