Organizations today are in constant flux. Industries are consolidating, new business models are emerging, new technologies are being developed, and consumer behaviors are evolving. For executives, the ever-increasing pace of change can be especially demanding. It forces them to understand and quickly respond to big shifts in the way companies operate and how work must get done. In the words of Arie de Geus, a business theorist, “The ability to learn faster than your competitors may be the only sustainable competitive advantage.”
A.I. Explore: Prompt Fundamentals, Book 1Brian Sykes
This is the FIRST edition of "A.I. Explore: Prompt Fundamentals" that was released September 29, 2022. It has since been revised in November of 2022 (for V4 of Midjourney), and totally rewritten in June 2023 (for V5 of Midjourney). The current edition is available for purchase at https://brianwsykes.gumroad.com/l/PromptFundamentals
Does your company sound corporate and boring? If you want to truly connect with people, you want your company to sound like human, not a robot. Here are 10 tips based on a great article by @jaysondemers in Entrepreneur Magazine.
Multicultural consumers are often motivated by a desire to represent their culture in how they identify their race and ethnicity. In 2020, ThinkNow conducted a nationwide online survey among Hispanics, African Americans, and Asian Americans ages 18 to 64 to understand how they prefer to identify themselves among peers and in marketing and media. This year, we conducted a follow-up study in which we found that the needle hadn’t moved much, with a few exceptions.
This is a minimal concept you should consider for your PowerPoint slides in order to make them more engaging and exciting.
I work as a presentation designer and help speakers and marketers with their pitches. If you need help with any of these concepts, drop me an email and I will be happy to help.
A.I. Explore: Prompt Fundamentals, Book 1Brian Sykes
This is the FIRST edition of "A.I. Explore: Prompt Fundamentals" that was released September 29, 2022. It has since been revised in November of 2022 (for V4 of Midjourney), and totally rewritten in June 2023 (for V5 of Midjourney). The current edition is available for purchase at https://brianwsykes.gumroad.com/l/PromptFundamentals
Does your company sound corporate and boring? If you want to truly connect with people, you want your company to sound like human, not a robot. Here are 10 tips based on a great article by @jaysondemers in Entrepreneur Magazine.
Multicultural consumers are often motivated by a desire to represent their culture in how they identify their race and ethnicity. In 2020, ThinkNow conducted a nationwide online survey among Hispanics, African Americans, and Asian Americans ages 18 to 64 to understand how they prefer to identify themselves among peers and in marketing and media. This year, we conducted a follow-up study in which we found that the needle hadn’t moved much, with a few exceptions.
This is a minimal concept you should consider for your PowerPoint slides in order to make them more engaging and exciting.
I work as a presentation designer and help speakers and marketers with their pitches. If you need help with any of these concepts, drop me an email and I will be happy to help.
Go to www.slidebooks.com to access the editable version in Powerpoint and Excel of this Business Toolkit created by former management consultants from Deloitte and McKinsey.
If we thought the pandemic years were an era of dramatic cultural and digital transformation, think again. 2023 is the year of the “multiverse,” where technological and macro changes continue accelerating at stunning rates leaving SaaS builders, founders, and investors breathless.
On one side of the cloud economy, founders and CEOs are weathering some of the most challenging storms since 2000 and the ‘08 Recession. Rising interest rates have evaporated the cheap equity of recent years forcing startups to reduce burn and drive towards efficient growth. The Silicon Valley Bank crisis drove even more uncertainty into an already fragile environment. But amidst the anxiety and turmoil, the tech ecosystem has witnessed something potentially as world-changing as electricity: a string of AI advancements that may prove to define technology and society for generations to come.
The Large Language Model revolution is one of the most significant developments in computing history. We believe artificial intelligence will not only multiply software and human capabilities, but also completely transform and expand the cloud economy in the process.
In The State of the Cloud, Bessemer provides a founder’s guide on navigating the financing ecosystem for what will likely be the next 18-24 months. We also explore Bessemer’s view on the cloud economy and the AI imperatives that SaaS leaders must enact today or else be left behind.
Read the full report: https://www.bvp.com/atlas/state-of-the-cloud-2023
An immersive workshop at General Assembly, SF. I typically teach this workshop at General Assembly, San Francisco. To see a list of my upcoming classes, visit https://generalassemb.ly/instructors/seth-familian/4813
I also teach this workshop as a private lunch-and-learn or half-day immersive session for corporate clients. To learn more about pricing and availability, please contact me at http://familian1.com
When it comes to submitting content on Reddit, it is not like any other social media site you have submitted to. It requires a lot of consideration, from the topic, title, to which subreddit you submit to. This presentation will explain those considerations and improve your chances for success.
Karlyn Borysenko and I discuss the elements of putting together an impactful presentation and how to submit them to conferences.
Originally presented at Penn State Web - updated and reshared at HighEdWeb 2016 in Memphis Tennessee.
10 Killer Tips for an Amazing Presentation - Way Before You Actually Give OneSlide Studio
Some months ago, we shared a blog post with 10 killer tips on how to prepare yourself for an amazing PowerPoint presentation. Now we've created a SlideShare that gives you these presentation tips in a visual and engaging way.
About Slide Studio: We are a group of presentation designers that can help you make your PowerPoint presentation more engaging. Drop us a link if you want more info.
Leadership and Managerial Skills Toolkit - Framework, Best Practices and Temp...Aurelien Domont, MBA
This Toolkit was created by ex-McKinsey, Deloitte & BCG Management Consultants specialized in coaching leaders and managers. It will help you (I) Resolve complex problems and structure your reasoning, (II) Communicate effectively, (III) Negotiate effectively, (IV) Manage your time, (V) Manage your team, (VI) Define who you want to be, and what you want to achieve. This Toolkit was used to train the leadership team and the managers of multiple Fortune Global 1000 firms. This Slideshare Powerpoint presentation is only a small preview of our Toolkit. You can download the entire Toolkit in Powerpoint and Excel at www.slidebooks.com
How LinkedIn built a Community of Half a BillionAatif Awan
Traction Conference 2017 - Since its 2003 inception, LinkedIn has transformed from a networking hub to a beacon of economic opportunity for more than 500 million global members. Vice President of Growth at LinkedIn, Aatif Awan, will explore vital contributors to its growth at milestones throughout LinkedIn’s history, from product innovations and team structure to international expansion. Sharing key lessons learned through this journey, Awan will discuss LinkedIn’s alignment of growth strategy to company vision rather than metrics, and the impact this approach has had on attracting, retaining and servicing its more than half billion members.
SOPRANO ICE PLATINUM - DEPILAÇÃO SEGURA E CONFORTÁVEL, TRATA TODOS OS FOTOTIPOS DE PELE E TAMBÉM PELOS FINOS E CLAROS.
“O revolucionário Soprano ICE Platinum oferece cobertura e níveis de eficácia nunca antes alcançados. Tendo os três comprimentos de onda mais efetivos que operam simultaneamente, método inovador na indústria de laser para depilação.”
(Prof. Dr. Uwe Paasch, Clínica Universitária de Leipzig, Alemanha).
Here at Table19, we believe that great work is only possible when clients and their agencies work together as a team. This is a presentation written by our Executive Creative Director Graham Wall, who on his first day in this industry heard the senior team he was shadowing say something he couldn’t understand: that the client had bought the wrong idea.
This set in motion a desire to understand how and why this had happened, and make sure it never happened again. This presentation details Graham’s learnings and philosophies, and shows how agencies and clients can create better work together.
We are bombarded with 174 newspapers worth of information each day and in order to get your message to cut through the noise, you need to be simple to understand, provide value, and if possible, evoke an emotional response. By combining hard data with beautiful visuals, you have a fighting chance to stand out. As my good friend Joe Chernov likes to say: "The secret to breaking through a noisy landscape isn't more noise. It is sounding different."
What's more, there is a high likelihood that you will have a lot of fun in the process. Heck, I would even argue you will feel actual JOY. Why? By returning to the basics of storytelling, you are tapping into the origins of how you learned to communicate as a child -- from using colors and shapes, to employing mixed media. Just because you are a grown up doesn't mean you shouldn't still draw about these early stage arts.
Boring to Bold: Presentation Design Ideas for Non-DesignersMichael Gowin
A presentation given to a colleague's class on some principles effective presentation planning and design. If graphic design is "the creative use of plagiarism," then these are my sources: Garr Reynolds, Nancy Duarte, Jessie Desjardins, Emiland De Cubber, Jan Schultink, Steve Jobs, and many others.
Today we are glad to share with you our research - How to Cook Up an Awesome Deck, based on experience of SEMrush team members and 31 great speakers, who provide us with their insight.
From tips on creating a right structure and visuals to tips on how to rehearse your speech - we hope that this research will help you to come up with speech that will changes minds, convince and bring you all kinds of benefits.
An extract from our book "Your Genius Ideas Book: A dose of commercial creativity for busy L&D professionals" to help you contribute more, drive change and ensure your organisation thrives.
Go to www.slidebooks.com to access the editable version in Powerpoint and Excel of this Business Toolkit created by former management consultants from Deloitte and McKinsey.
If we thought the pandemic years were an era of dramatic cultural and digital transformation, think again. 2023 is the year of the “multiverse,” where technological and macro changes continue accelerating at stunning rates leaving SaaS builders, founders, and investors breathless.
On one side of the cloud economy, founders and CEOs are weathering some of the most challenging storms since 2000 and the ‘08 Recession. Rising interest rates have evaporated the cheap equity of recent years forcing startups to reduce burn and drive towards efficient growth. The Silicon Valley Bank crisis drove even more uncertainty into an already fragile environment. But amidst the anxiety and turmoil, the tech ecosystem has witnessed something potentially as world-changing as electricity: a string of AI advancements that may prove to define technology and society for generations to come.
The Large Language Model revolution is one of the most significant developments in computing history. We believe artificial intelligence will not only multiply software and human capabilities, but also completely transform and expand the cloud economy in the process.
In The State of the Cloud, Bessemer provides a founder’s guide on navigating the financing ecosystem for what will likely be the next 18-24 months. We also explore Bessemer’s view on the cloud economy and the AI imperatives that SaaS leaders must enact today or else be left behind.
Read the full report: https://www.bvp.com/atlas/state-of-the-cloud-2023
An immersive workshop at General Assembly, SF. I typically teach this workshop at General Assembly, San Francisco. To see a list of my upcoming classes, visit https://generalassemb.ly/instructors/seth-familian/4813
I also teach this workshop as a private lunch-and-learn or half-day immersive session for corporate clients. To learn more about pricing and availability, please contact me at http://familian1.com
When it comes to submitting content on Reddit, it is not like any other social media site you have submitted to. It requires a lot of consideration, from the topic, title, to which subreddit you submit to. This presentation will explain those considerations and improve your chances for success.
Karlyn Borysenko and I discuss the elements of putting together an impactful presentation and how to submit them to conferences.
Originally presented at Penn State Web - updated and reshared at HighEdWeb 2016 in Memphis Tennessee.
10 Killer Tips for an Amazing Presentation - Way Before You Actually Give OneSlide Studio
Some months ago, we shared a blog post with 10 killer tips on how to prepare yourself for an amazing PowerPoint presentation. Now we've created a SlideShare that gives you these presentation tips in a visual and engaging way.
About Slide Studio: We are a group of presentation designers that can help you make your PowerPoint presentation more engaging. Drop us a link if you want more info.
Leadership and Managerial Skills Toolkit - Framework, Best Practices and Temp...Aurelien Domont, MBA
This Toolkit was created by ex-McKinsey, Deloitte & BCG Management Consultants specialized in coaching leaders and managers. It will help you (I) Resolve complex problems and structure your reasoning, (II) Communicate effectively, (III) Negotiate effectively, (IV) Manage your time, (V) Manage your team, (VI) Define who you want to be, and what you want to achieve. This Toolkit was used to train the leadership team and the managers of multiple Fortune Global 1000 firms. This Slideshare Powerpoint presentation is only a small preview of our Toolkit. You can download the entire Toolkit in Powerpoint and Excel at www.slidebooks.com
How LinkedIn built a Community of Half a BillionAatif Awan
Traction Conference 2017 - Since its 2003 inception, LinkedIn has transformed from a networking hub to a beacon of economic opportunity for more than 500 million global members. Vice President of Growth at LinkedIn, Aatif Awan, will explore vital contributors to its growth at milestones throughout LinkedIn’s history, from product innovations and team structure to international expansion. Sharing key lessons learned through this journey, Awan will discuss LinkedIn’s alignment of growth strategy to company vision rather than metrics, and the impact this approach has had on attracting, retaining and servicing its more than half billion members.
SOPRANO ICE PLATINUM - DEPILAÇÃO SEGURA E CONFORTÁVEL, TRATA TODOS OS FOTOTIPOS DE PELE E TAMBÉM PELOS FINOS E CLAROS.
“O revolucionário Soprano ICE Platinum oferece cobertura e níveis de eficácia nunca antes alcançados. Tendo os três comprimentos de onda mais efetivos que operam simultaneamente, método inovador na indústria de laser para depilação.”
(Prof. Dr. Uwe Paasch, Clínica Universitária de Leipzig, Alemanha).
Here at Table19, we believe that great work is only possible when clients and their agencies work together as a team. This is a presentation written by our Executive Creative Director Graham Wall, who on his first day in this industry heard the senior team he was shadowing say something he couldn’t understand: that the client had bought the wrong idea.
This set in motion a desire to understand how and why this had happened, and make sure it never happened again. This presentation details Graham’s learnings and philosophies, and shows how agencies and clients can create better work together.
We are bombarded with 174 newspapers worth of information each day and in order to get your message to cut through the noise, you need to be simple to understand, provide value, and if possible, evoke an emotional response. By combining hard data with beautiful visuals, you have a fighting chance to stand out. As my good friend Joe Chernov likes to say: "The secret to breaking through a noisy landscape isn't more noise. It is sounding different."
What's more, there is a high likelihood that you will have a lot of fun in the process. Heck, I would even argue you will feel actual JOY. Why? By returning to the basics of storytelling, you are tapping into the origins of how you learned to communicate as a child -- from using colors and shapes, to employing mixed media. Just because you are a grown up doesn't mean you shouldn't still draw about these early stage arts.
Boring to Bold: Presentation Design Ideas for Non-DesignersMichael Gowin
A presentation given to a colleague's class on some principles effective presentation planning and design. If graphic design is "the creative use of plagiarism," then these are my sources: Garr Reynolds, Nancy Duarte, Jessie Desjardins, Emiland De Cubber, Jan Schultink, Steve Jobs, and many others.
Today we are glad to share with you our research - How to Cook Up an Awesome Deck, based on experience of SEMrush team members and 31 great speakers, who provide us with their insight.
From tips on creating a right structure and visuals to tips on how to rehearse your speech - we hope that this research will help you to come up with speech that will changes minds, convince and bring you all kinds of benefits.
An extract from our book "Your Genius Ideas Book: A dose of commercial creativity for busy L&D professionals" to help you contribute more, drive change and ensure your organisation thrives.
Conventional wisdom teaches us to avoid ambiguity. Clarity of facts and process is highly valued, particularly by young agency people. Yet we know that ambiguity can be a stimulus to creative thinking.
Here are some thoughts on how ambiguity can work for your advertising agency.
Mark Edwards, Leadership and Strategy Programme Director at London Business School, considers ways of improving the stickiness of learning by examining a range of aspects, from the desire to learn to the ways the learned lessons can be applied.
Mark will be hosting a webinar, on 7 October, in which he will explain how you can embed effective learning and understand employees’ motivations. Sign-up: http://www.changeboard.com/events/exclusive-changeboard-webinar-the-stickiness-of-learning-how-to-ensure-your-learning-strategy-makes-an-impact
INFLUENCE: A Brain-based Approach for Stand-out LeadershipDan Beverly
Great leadership is nowhere better marked than by the ability to improve another person's thinking. In this series, get the brain-based approach to 3 key leadership traits, starting here with: INFLUENCE.
4 key questions leaders ask themselves and their teamsJP Consultancy
A Keynote Presentation on a Teacher Training Day (from my Blacksmith's Workshop) including links to videos... Please respect copyright by contacting me if you'd like to use the video. NB I'm happy to share for free unless it is for commercial gain.
Mentoring is always a two-way street, whether it is reverse mentorship or the traditional kind. While you’re Mentoring a senior colleague, use the opportunity to learn more about how things get done on their team, gain new perspectives on how decisions are made, & build your credibility as a young professional. Place them in your shoes by asking how they might handle the various challenges you face. Know that this isn’t about showing off but a genuine intent on both ends to share what you have learned & benefit the other person.
How to get the most out of your team (and keep the ones you really want for a...Leslie S. Pratch
You pay people – so it’s a good idea to get the most out of them. You invest in them, so it’s good to keep them in your firm for as long as you want them. Start by recruiting well and then support firm members' maximum development and contribution by understanding what makes them tick and helping them succeed. You also can help them (and you) by understanding what makes you as a firm leader tick, and sharing that with the others at your firm.
The process to get the most out of people is: (1) Learn about your own biases, blind spots, goals, and unconscious motivations. (2) Provide a way for others to learn their own biases, blind spots, goals, and unconscious motivations. (3) Tell others about yourself, including some of what you have recently learned. (4) Let others tell you what they’d like to tell you, of what they have learned and also share their perceptions of you. (5) Take action based on what is discussed.
A keynote presentation (and free videos) that link learning from a Blacksmith's Workshop with Success Planning in any sphere of human endeavour. (Originally for teachers but applies to any profession) Please respect copyright by contacting me if you'd like to use the video. NB I'm happy to share for free unless it is for commercial gain.
Empathy Is a Stress Response - Choose Compassion insteadAlex Clapson
Research shows that empathy is a whole-body experience: We mirror each other’s physiology alongside the emotion. Negative states, whether it is pain, anger, or anxiety, create high activation & arousal in the body, so when you empathize with someone stressed, you become stressed, too. This is why so many caregivers experience burnout.
7 tips to help you become a SupercommunicatorAlex Clapson
Supercommunicators are rarely the most dynamic people in the room. They are the normies who are blessed with the ability to make those around them feel truly understood. The benefits aren’t only altruistic. Supercommunicators are scarily good at getting what they want.
Why people crave feedback - & why we're afraid to give it.pdfAlex Clapson
We all like to think of ourselves as someone who would give someone constructive feedback, but the study suggests that even in a low-cost situation, most people don’t. People overestimate the negative consequences giving feedback for themselves, as well as underestimate the benefits for the other person.
Microsoft recently reported that in the spring of 2022, the number of videoenabled Teams meetings per week more than doubled globally for the average user
since the start of the pandemic. And there was no evidence of a reversal.
That one question — What did you learn? — changed the way that I view my own missteps — with more compassion & understanding — & how I treat others when they make mistakes. As my experience shows, by making psychological safety a priority, leaders set up their teams for success now & long into the future.
"...A Coach is someone who tells you what you don't want to hear so you can see
what you don't want to see so you can be what you always wanted to be."
Stop Asking for Feedback - Ask for advice insteadAlex Clapson
Advice-giving leads one to think about future actions that the person in need of guidance could take. As such, when asked to give advice, people are more likely to think critically & specifically about strategies the person could use to improve.
Why we need to change the language that we use in relation to allegationsAlex Clapson
The key message is that we ought to stop using the word Disclosure,
unless there has been a Finding of Fact hearing carried out by the court.
We risk all our efforts gathering evidence for proceedings to be
disregarded if we (as expert witnesses) continue to use the incorrect
terminology.
Getting comfortable with discomfort, by Professor David ClutterbuckAlex Clapson
Putting the client in control of their own feelings of comfort or discomfort, by making them transparent and adjustable, can provide the confidence boost that allows them to take tentative steps into greater discomfort.
Trust Recovery in the Team by David Clutterbuck.pdfAlex Clapson
Once trust is broken in a team, it is hard to recover. Yet the requirement to collaborate remains as strongly as ever.
If they learn from the breakdown of that relationship, they become a wiser person, better able to trust and be trusted.
Building Psychological Safety is the key to rebuilding trust.
Why Traditional Parenting Logic Doesnt WorkAlex Clapson
Traditional parenting logic is all about rewards and consequences. Good parents use these methods with their children all the time with excellent results. But, what happens when good people are raising a child that has a significant history of trauma?
This brief article offers some practical approaches.
Action Learning focuses on the experience, feelings, & insights of the individual. Rather than jumping to solve a problem as quickly as possible, Action Learning enables deeper enquiry, & results in deeper understanding.
Why walking through the countryside 'tames' our brainAlex Clapson
Exposure to nature decreases amygdala activity & has beneficial effects on stress-related brain regions. This suggests that walking in the countryside buffers the detrimental effects of city life. And, in turn, it potentially acts as a preventive measure against the development of some mental disorders.
Where companies go wrong with Learning & Development by Steve Glaveski -HBRAlex Clapson
Organizations spent $359 billion globally on training in 2016, but was it worth it?
Not only is most of the training in today’s companies ineffective, but the purpose, timing, & content of training is flawed. Want to see eyes glaze over quicker than you can finish this sentence? Mandate that busy employees attend a training session on “business writing skills”, or “conflict resolution”, or some other such course with little alignment to their needs. Like lean manufacturing & the lean start-up before it, lean learning supports the adaptability that gives organizations a competitive advantage in today’s market. It’s about learning the core of what you need to learn, applying it to real-world situations immediately, receiving immediate feedback & refining your understanding, & then repeating the cycle. To begin practicing lean learning, organizations need to move from measuring credits earned to measuring business outcomes created. Lean learning ensures that employees not only learn the right thing, at the right time, & for the right reasons, but also that they retain what they learn.
Negative Mental States Become Negative Neural Traits, by Debbie HamptonAlex Clapson
“Your brain is like Velcro for negative experiences but Teflon for positive ones.” Even though the negativity bias is great for ensuring survival, it’s lousy at promoting happiness, peace, fulfilling relationships, & long-term physical & mental health.
This brief article shares a method to alter the way in which our brain focuses to much on the negative, to the detriment of the positive.
Feedback is a gift that you give to the recipient. If you think that it matters enough to say something about the way in which someone has behaved, then you should be concerned to see that it is both given & received in the best possible way. If you bear the following four points in mind when giving feedback, then they may help to ensure that your message is effectively delivered.
Free Communication Guide - Top Tips by Emma QuinnAlex Clapson
The key skill in communication in any language is to be equally invested in all the participants, and to truly listen as well as getting your own points across.
This guide includes:
1. Section 1 - How to communicate effectively
2. Section 2 - How to communicate well when working remotely
Artificial intelligence (AI) offers new opportunities to radically reinvent the way we do business. This study explores how CEOs and top decision makers around the world are responding to the transformative potential of AI.
Oprah Winfrey: A Leader in Media, Philanthropy, and Empowerment | CIO Women M...CIOWomenMagazine
This person is none other than Oprah Winfrey, a highly influential figure whose impact extends beyond television. This article will delve into the remarkable life and lasting legacy of Oprah. Her story serves as a reminder of the importance of perseverance, compassion, and firm determination.
Modern Database Management 12th Global Edition by Hoffer solution manual.docxssuserf63bd7
https://qidiantiku.com/solution-manual-for-modern-database-management-12th-global-edition-by-hoffer.shtml
name:Solution manual for Modern Database Management 12th Global Edition by Hoffer
Edition:12th Global Edition
author:by Hoffer
ISBN:ISBN 10: 0133544613 / ISBN 13: 9780133544619
type:solution manual
format:word/zip
All chapter include
Focusing on what leading database practitioners say are the most important aspects to database development, Modern Database Management presents sound pedagogy, and topics that are critical for the practical success of database professionals. The 12th Edition further facilitates learning with illustrations that clarify important concepts and new media resources that make some of the more challenging material more engaging. Also included are general updates and expanded material in the areas undergoing rapid change due to improved managerial practices, database design tools and methodologies, and database technology.
The Team Member and Guest Experience - Lead and Take Care of your restaurant team. They are the people closest to and delivering Hospitality to your paying Guests!
Make the call, and we can assist you.
408-784-7371
Foodservice Consulting + Design
W.H.Bender Quote 65 - The Team Member and Guest Experience
Learning to Learn by Erika Andersen
1. Innovation
Learning to Learn
by Erika Andersen From the Magazine (March 2016)
Tamara Shopsin
Summary:
The ever-increasing pace of change in today’s organizations requires that executives
understand & then quickly respond to constant shifts in how their businesses operate
& how work must get done. That means you must resist your innate biases against
doing new things in new ways, scan the horizon for growth opportunities, & push
yourself to acquire drastically different capabilities—while still doing your existing job.
To succeed, you must be willing to experiment & become a novice over & over
again, which for most of us is an extremely discomforting proposition.
Over decades of work with managers, the author has found that people who do
succeed at this kind of learning have four well-developed attributes: aspiration, self-
awareness, curiosity, & vulnerability. They have a deep desire to understand &
master new skills; they see themselves very clearly; they’re constantly thinking of &
2. asking good questions; & they tolerate their own mistakes as they move up the
curve. Andersen has identified some simple mental strategies that anyone can use
to boost these attributes.
Organizations today are in constant flux. Industries are consolidating, new business
models are emerging, new technologies are being developed, & consumer
behaviours are evolving. For executives, the ever-increasing pace of change can be
especially demanding. It forces them to understand & quickly respond to big shifts in
the way companies operate & how work must get done. In the words of Arie de
Geus, a business theorist, “The ability to learn faster than your competitors may be
the only sustainable competitive advantage.”
I’m not talking about relaxed armchair or even structured classroom learning. I’m
talking about resisting the bias against doing new things, scanning the horizon for
growth opportunities, & pushing yourself to acquire radically different capabilities—
while still performing your job. That requires a willingness to experiment & become a
novice again & again: an extremely discomforting notion for most of us.
Of course, these things come more naturally to some people than to others. But,
drawing on research in psychology & management as well as our work with clients,
we have identified some fairly simple mental tools anyone can develop to boost all
four attributes—even those that are often considered fixed (aspiration, curiosity, &
vulnerability).
Aspiration
It’s easy to see aspiration as either there or not: You want to learn a new skill, or you
don’t; you have ambition & motivation, or you lack them. But great learners can raise
their aspiration level—& that’s key because everyone is guilty of sometimes resisting
development that is critical to success.
Think about the last time your company adopted a new approach—overhauled a
reporting system, replaced a CRM platform, revamped the supply chain. Were you
eager to go along? I doubt it. Your initial response was probably to justify not
learning. (It will take too long. The old way works just fine for me. I bet it’s just a flash
in the pan.) When confronted with new learning, this is often our first roadblock: We
focus on the negative & unconsciously reinforce our lack of aspiration.
When we do want to learn something, we focus on the positive—what we’ll gain from
learning it—& envision a happy future in which we’re reaping those rewards. That
propels us into action. Researchers have found that shifting your focus from
challenges to benefits is a good way to increase your aspiration to do initially
unappealing things. For example, when Nicole Detling, a psychologist at the
University of Utah, encouraged aerialists & speed skaters to picture themselves
benefiting from a particular skill, they were much more motivated to practice it.
A few years ago, I coached a CMO who was hesitant to learn about big data. Even
though most of his peers were becoming converts, he’d convinced himself that he
didn’t have the time to get into it & that it wouldn’t be that important to his industry. I
finally realized that this was an aspiration problem & encouraged him to think of
3. ways that getting up to speed on data-driven marketing could help him personally.
He acknowledged that it would be useful to know more about how various segments
of his customer base were responding to his team’s online advertising & in-store
marketing campaigns. I then invited him to imagine the situation he’d be in a year
later if he was getting that data. He started to show some excitement, saying, “We
would be testing different approaches simultaneously, both in-store & online; we’d
have good, solid information about which ones were working & for whom; and we
could save a lot of time & money by jettisoning the less effective approaches faster.”
I could almost feel his aspiration rising. Within a few months he’d hired a data
analytics expert, made a point of learning from her on a daily basis, & begun to
rethink key campaigns in light of his new perspective & skills.
Self-Awareness
Over the past decade or so, most leaders have grown familiar with the concept of
self-awareness. They understand that they need to solicit feedback & recognize how
others see them. But when it comes to the need for learning, our assessments of
ourselves—what we know & don’t know, skills we have & don’t have—can still be
woefully inaccurate. In one study conducted by David Dunning, a Cornell University
psychologist, 94% of college professors reported that they were doing “above
average work.” Clearly, almost half were wrong—many extremely so—& their self-
deceptions surely diminished any appetite for development. Only 6% of respondents
saw themselves as having a lot to learn about being an effective teacher.
Focusing on benefits, not challenges, is a good way to increase your
aspiration.
In my work I’ve found that the people who evaluate themselves most accurately start
the process inside their own heads: They accept that their perspective is often
biased or flawed & then strive for greater objectivity, which leaves them much more
open to hearing & acting on others’ opinions. The trick is to pay attention to how you
talk to yourself about yourself & then question the validity of that “self-talk.”
Let’s say your boss has told you that your team isn’t strong enough & that you need
to get better at assessing & developing talent. Your initial reaction might be
something like What? She’s wrong. My team is strong. Most of us respond
defensively to that sort of criticism. But as soon as you recognize what you’re
thinking, ask yourself, Is that accurate? What facts do I have to support it? In the
process of reflection, you may discover that you’re wrong & your boss is right, or that
the truth lies somewhere in between—you cover for some of your reports by doing
things yourself, & one of them is inconsistent in meeting deadlines; however, two
others are stars. Your inner voice is most useful when it reports the facts of a
situation in this balanced way. It should serve as a “fair witness” so that you’re open
to seeing the areas in which you could improve & how to do so.
One CEO I know was convinced that he was a great manager & leader. He did have
tremendous industry knowledge & great instincts about growing his business, & his
board acknowledged those strengths. But he listened only to people who affirmed his
view of himself & dismissed input about shortcomings; his team didn’t feel engaged
or inspired. When he finally started to question his assumptions (Is everyone on my
4. team focused & productive? If not, is there something I could be doing
differently?), he became much more aware of his developmental needs & open to
feedback. He realized that it wasn’t enough to have strategic insights; he had to
share them with his reports & invite discussion, & then to set clear priorities—backed
by quarterly team & individual goals, regular progress checks, & troubleshooting
sessions.
Curiosity
Kids are relentless in their urge to learn & master. As John Medina writes in Brain
Rules, “This need for explanation is so powerfully stitched into their experience that
some scientists describe it as a drive, just as hunger & thirst & sex are drives.”
Curiosity is what makes us try something until we can do it or think about something
until we understand it. Great learners retain this childhood drive or regain it through
another application of self-talk. Instead of focusing on & reinforcing initial disinterest
in a new subject, they learn to ask themselves “curious questions” about it & follow
those questions up with actions. Carol Sansone, a psychology researcher, has
found, for example, that people can increase their willingness to tackle necessary
tasks by thinking about how they could do the work differently to make it more
interesting. In other words, they change their self-talk from This is boring to I wonder
if I could…?
You can employ the same strategy in your working life by noticing the language you
use in thinking about things that already interest you—How…? Why…? I wonder…?
—& drawing on it when you need to become curious. Then take just one step to
answer a question you’ve asked yourself: Read an article, query an expert, find a
teacher, join a group—whatever feels easiest.
I recently worked with a corporate lawyer whose firm had offered her a bigger job
that required knowledge of employment law—an area she regarded as “the single
most boring aspect of the legal profession.” Rather than trying to persuade her
otherwise, I asked her what she was curious about & why. “Swing dancing,” she
said. “I’m fascinated by the history of it. I wonder how it developed, & whether it was
a response to the Depression—it’s such a happy art form. I watch great dancers &
think about why they do certain things.”
Changing Your Inner Narrative
Unsupportive Self-talk Supportive Self-talk I don’t need to learn this. What would my
future look like if I did? I’m ...
I explained that her “curious language” could be applied to employment law. “I
wonder how anyone could find it interesting?” she said jokingly. I told her that was
actually an OK place to start. She began thinking out loud about possible answers
(“Maybe some lawyers see it as a way to protect both their employees & their
companies…”) & then proposed a few other curious questions (“How might knowing
more about this make me a better lawyer?”).
Soon she was intrigued enough to connect with a colleague who was experienced in
employment law. She asked him what he found interesting about it & how he had
5. acquired his knowledge, & his answers prompted other questions. Over the following
months she learned what she needed to know for that aspect of her new role.
The next time you’re asked to learn something at the office, or sense that you should
because colleagues are doing so, encourage yourself to ask & answer a few curious
questions about it—Why are others so excited about this? How might this make my
job easier? — & then seek out the answers. You’ll need to find just one thing about a
“boring” topic that sparks your curiosity.
Vulnerability
Once we become good or even excellent at some things, we rarely want to go back
to being not good at other things. Yes, we’re now taught to embrace experimentation
& “fast failure” at work. But we’re also taught to play to our strengths. So, the idea of
being bad at something for weeks or months; feeling awkward & slow; having to ask
“dumb,” “I-don’t-know-what-you’re-talking-about” questions; & needing step-by-step
guidance again & again is extremely scary. Great learners allow themselves to be
vulnerable enough to accept that beginner state. In fact, they become reasonably
comfortable in it—by managing their self-talk.
Generally, when we’re trying something new & doing badly at it, we think terrible
thoughts: I hate this. I’m such an idiot. I’ll never get this right. This is so
frustrating! That static in our brains leaves little bandwidth for learning. The ideal
mindset for a beginner is both vulnerable & balanced: I’m going to be bad at this to
start with, because I’ve never done it before. AND I know I can learn to do it over
time. In fact, the researchers Robert Wood & Albert Bandura found in the late 1980s
that when people are encouraged to expect mistakes & learn from them early in the
process of acquiring new skills, the result is “heightened interest, persistence, &
better performance.”
I know a senior sales manager from the United States who was recently tapped to
run the Asia-Pacific region for his company. He was having a hard time acclimating
to living overseas & working with colleagues from other cultures, & he responded by
leaning on his sales expertise rather than acknowledging his beginner status in the
new environment. I helped him recognize his resistance to being a cultural novice, &
he was able to shift his self-talk from This is so uncomfortable—I’ll just focus on what
I already know to I have a lot to learn about Asian cultures. I’m a quick study, so I’ll
be able to pick it up. He told me it was an immediate relief: Simply acknowledging his
novice status made him feel less foolish & more relaxed. He started asking the
necessary questions, & soon he was seen as open, interested, & beginning to
understand his new environment.
The ability to acquire new skills & knowledge quickly & continually is crucial to
success in a world of rapid change. If you don’t currently have the aspiration, self-
awareness, curiosity, & vulnerability to be an effective learner, these simple tools can
help you get there.
A version of this article appeared in the March 2016 issue (pp.98–101) of Harvard
Business Review.
6. Read more on Innovation or related topics Personal growth &
transformation, Experimentation, Creativity & Emotional intelligence
• Erika Andersen is the founding partner of Proteus International, a coaching,
consulting, & training firm that focuses on leader readiness. In addition to her
latest book, Change From the Inside Out: Making You, Your Team, and Your
Organization Change-Capable, she is the author & host of The Proteus
Leader Show podcast & the author of four previous books: Growing Great
Employees, Being Strategic, Leading So People Will Follow, & Be Bad First.