The MOOC thing

Posted by mattpoy on Posted in Education, Future of Technology, Learning, Skills Tagged , , ,

Technology continues to disrupt and next in line is education. There has been a lot written about Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and many renowned institutions are involved – Harvard, MIT, Stanford and more recently the Open University here in the UK with their FutureLearn model. The Khan Academy, launched by Salman Khan, delivers 200m classes via YouTube, with zero hosting costs, now that is clever.

MOOCs are still trying to establish their model and this may take some time, but what is really important is that traditional learning institutions cannot just sit back and disregard this wave of change. I accept that tier-one universities such as Harvard or Cambridge will always have demand for places due to the prestige associated with studying there. But a student in Europe or Asia will refuse to pay large sums of money to sit in a mediocre lecture in their own country when they can learn online from world class tutors and be associated with a leading university.

Currently the MOOC interest is more about bridging the gap between current knowledge and acquiring new skills in order to do a better job, or find a new one. These modular, bite-sized chunks of learning are possibly the icing on the cake. If 5 candidates interview for one role and have a similar degree and one has an additional 20 certificates of mastery in a specific area of study, it is likely that their CV will stand out. In today’s world, it is all about differentiation. The modules offered by MOOCs not only allow an individual to keep up with changes in the business world but possibly in future even anticipate how market sectors will evolve.

This is just one example. Technology is breaking up the majority, the mainstream and the mundane. Which sector is next?

Haircut sir?

Posted by mattpoy on Posted in Marketing, People, Talent, Technology Tagged , , ,

I recently finished Walter Isaacson’s brilliant biography of Steve Jobs. The more it described Steve as different, the more I warmed to him, because the imperfections made him more human.

One of the early Apple board members recounted when he first met Jobs and Wozniak, sharing how he looked beyond the fact that both desperately needed a haircut. He was amazed by the ideas and the work that he saw, figuring that the two Steve’s can always get a haircut!

The Apple ‘Think Different’ campaign really put the company on the map, raising awareness of the brand to new heights. Today, we take the genius Apple products for granted and yet we ignore the talent of people for whom the gadgets and technology are second nature. Remember the need to understand them on their terms, for they will be both our customer and our workforce of tomorrow, so market to them on their terms, and when recruiting them, please don’t ask them to fax through their CV. You will be waiting for some time..

Shopping & Listening

Posted by mattpoy on Posted in Marketing, Small Business, Social Media, Technology Tagged ,

I was following the news of people scrambling to shop for just about everything on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving when America goes wild for bargains. Now I have witnessed this personally in Chicago a couple of years ago. It was crazy and I quite enjoyed it!

People choose not to buy an item because they don’t see value in it, then decide it is priceless once it has that little red and white discount label attached to it. 25%, 30% or 70%-off turns even the most sensible of shoppers into a possessed individual who has to have the item they turned their nose up at a week before.

I tracked back to the 1950s, when the US discovered the disposable society and set about telling consumers they had to replace and update almost everything they owned. Then it was all about dictating what people buy, the era of the advertising agencies – epitomised in the series ‘Mad Men.’

Today, it is all about asking customers what they want. The smartest companies are already engaged with their most influential networks (people we sometimes call ‘sneezers’ or ‘yawners’ who are very good at spreading news), already at the centre of all discussions around their sector and as a result the first name that comes up when searching for that product. You don’t have to be a technology company to make this work for you. Just look at how a crystal glass making company in Wales has become expert at making social media work for, and grow, the business. You can learn a lot by following them on Twitter @WelshRoyalCryst.

Forget the old, embrace the new.

99% is listening

Posted by mattpoy on Posted in Marketing, Social Media, Technology Tagged ,

I presented at the Kyocera event today at the stunning Coombe Abbey Hotel and Conference Centre today (see pic to the right). I always enjoy partnering with Kyocera because of their commitment to the next generation of learners and workers, and Pearson support the apprenticeship they are spearheading with other manufacturers of printers and multifunction devices in their sector.

I shared my thoughts on new marketing, especially around social media, and I emphasised that social is only 1% posting stuff. 99% is about listening to your customers and audience and responding with solutions that they are ready to buy into. If you look at what happened to Netflix when they tried to change their pricing structure, its customers revolted, posting 82,000 negative comments across its social platforms. Within months the company lost thousands of customers and two-thirds of its market value.

Interesting that back in the 1950s, we discovered the disposable society and went about convincing consumers to throw away and replace, rather than preserve and keep. Now the key theme is asking them what they think, so we can interpret that into what they want. That is what new marketing is about. We must never forget, social is 99% listening.

The Technology Risk

Posted by mattpoy on Posted in People, People Skills Talent, Social Media, Talent, Technology Tagged , , ,

I have talked about ‘Learnability’ in the past – how fast we can forget the old and embrace the new, in order to keep our companies current and relevant.

I was asked recently if there was any risk associated, and there clearly is. We must think about this with the next generation in mind. For them, technology is a gateway to communication and collaboration. It is their oxygen and they expect technology and social spaces to be very much a part of any organisation they join. So the risk is, if you are not engaging on terms defined by our future workforce, you will earn a reputation for being out of date and an unattractive place to work, and the next generation of talent will choose not to work for you.

We are moving towards a new type of market – a stock market of human resources. Who best understands and engages will win.

Cafe Culture

Posted by mattpoy on Posted in Big Data, Technology

Technology has created an opportunity for us to be small again. As companies and brands get bigger, inevitably they lose some of the personal touch that earned them the reputation and recognition in the first place. Technology can help us get that back.

If we consider the small boutiques across the country, the independent tea rooms and coffee houses, they tend to know their customers on a first-name basis, as well as their preferences for their morning brew or lunchtime favourite. Experts in the retail world are the same – a great clothing boutique will know the sizing, colour and style preferences of their best customers. These little stores are experts at building loyalty, all delivered by personal touch and great service. I call this the ‘café culture.’

By putting technology to good use, engaging customers via social platforms and listening and delivering to their needs, and extracting ‘wisdom’ from the data our business generates – against purchases, preferences, trends – we too can adopt this café culture, talk to our customers on a one-to-one basis, and be small again.

Nowhere to hide

Posted by mattpoy on Posted in Connectivity, Future of Technology, Mobile, Technology, Uncategorized Tagged , , , ,

Technology is headlining so much of the evolution we are seeing in business, but for the consumer, digital has changed things even more drastically. Our phone is the passport to almost everything, yet even this device will disappear into our clothing and our cars as technologies such as Microsoft’s PixelSense come to the fore.

The phone is not just what keeps us in touch, it gives us the truth. Advertisers can no longer hide. Just a few years ago, the only way to differentiate between brands of television, sportswear or fast-moving consumer goods was to fall for the adverts coming at us from all angles (and I do like ‘Mad Men’). Today, you get the real views of millions of people and the opinions of those closest to you by turning to one of the social tools on your handheld. A recent survey said that 14% of customers trust advertisers, whereas 78% trust their peer reviews – which is why TripAdvisor, Hotels.com, Amazon and eBay are so powerful. The meaningful data that we can access at the touch of a button means a product whose message is overhyped can be exposed within moments and ridiculed to a joke in an afternoon in tweetland.

Dispel the myth

Posted by mattpoy on Posted in Education, People, Skills, Talent Tagged , , ,

Having spent time with some very inspirational people at a conference recently, I recalled something Martin Bean, Vice-Chancellor of the Open University, shared more than 10 years ago. I have never forgotten it and it holds true today more than ever before.

Employers are concerned that if they invest in, train and certify their staff, those individuals may leave the company to grab an opportunity to earn more money elsewhere. Yet money is not the number one motivator, as we have seen over and over again from numerous people studies.

“What if I train and certify my staff, and they leave?” asked one employer.

“What if you don’t train and certify your staff, and they stay?” was the quite brilliant reply?

The shortest messages are usually those with the greatest impact.

We must dispel the myth.

Hardware, Software or Brainware

Posted by mattpoy on Posted in Future of Technology, People, People Skills Talent, Skills, Talent Tagged , , ,

I am just back from the European ATP conference, where more than 200 certification and assessment experts gathered to discuss learning and testing and its future. As always the common thread throughout all presentations and panel sessions was technology. From ‘Bring Your Own Device’ to student engagement via social media, technology excited the delegates but also made some nervous about change.

Vice-Chancellor of the Open University, Martin Bean, a personal friend and mentor for some 20 years, delivered a sensational presentation showing how his institution was moving with the times. From the Frozen Planet to iTunesU, the OU continues to lead the way both here and abroad. Our Group CEO Rona Fairhead (of the Financial Times Group, the division of Pearson I work for) shared the most thought-provoking of stories talking about the professions paradox. So many people, so few skills and demand continues to grow. We will stumble and fall if we don’t address the skills shortfall that faces all Europe.

I had just 20 minutes in my session to highlight how some of the tech-trends are weaving into education, especially through mobility and handheld devices, and as always, I finished on no small matter of ‘Tomorrow’s Talent.’ One of the key messages that connected many presentations was that we must nurture our next generation of talent and understand them on their terms. If we don’t, they will opt not to work for us, because as we encounter a thinning supply of skilled people and we operate in what I call a stock market of human resources, it will be the holders of those intellectual assets (not hardware or software but ‘brainware’) who will wield the most power. They will choose their employer or go it alone, and we will be left with the greatest technology and no people to make effective use of it.