Monday, July 18
You can't afford to be stupid
From a FAST COMPANY piece that came across my desk:
But before he and his team could equip Cisco with the most up-to-date learning technologies, Tom Kelly, vice president of worldwide training, had to deal with obsolete mind-sets -- assumptions, attitudes, and prejudices that afflict the leaders of most big companies. One such mind-set: that the training operation is not a real part of the business. Sure, almost every company talks about knowledge workers, the information economy, even the learning organization. But few companies act as if they believe what they're saying. There's too much work to do, too many deadlines to meet, too many quarterly results to deliver.
'Learning time is not a respected part of the work environment,' Kelly says. 'But you can't be so busy that you allow yourself to get stupid. People find the time to do whatever it is that they have to do. Staying current is an increasingly important part of everyone's job. We make choices every day: Do I go to lunch with my boss or do I go to my customer's site? Well, in this industry, you can't afford to be stupid. You've got to spend time learning.'
Read the full article here:
Cisco's Quick Study
But before he and his team could equip Cisco with the most up-to-date learning technologies, Tom Kelly, vice president of worldwide training, had to deal with obsolete mind-sets -- assumptions, attitudes, and prejudices that afflict the leaders of most big companies. One such mind-set: that the training operation is not a real part of the business. Sure, almost every company talks about knowledge workers, the information economy, even the learning organization. But few companies act as if they believe what they're saying. There's too much work to do, too many deadlines to meet, too many quarterly results to deliver.
'Learning time is not a respected part of the work environment,' Kelly says. 'But you can't be so busy that you allow yourself to get stupid. People find the time to do whatever it is that they have to do. Staying current is an increasingly important part of everyone's job. We make choices every day: Do I go to lunch with my boss or do I go to my customer's site? Well, in this industry, you can't afford to be stupid. You've got to spend time learning.'
Read the full article here:
Cisco's Quick Study
