323 - Courage to Stop Training Projects!; Cool Open Source Learning Site; Learning 2005 University Opens in July

Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie - June 24, 2005.
#323 - Updates on Learning, Business & Technology.
50,376 Readers - http://www.masie.com - The MASIE Center.
Host of Learning 2005: Oct 30 - Nov 2 - Orlando, Florida.

1. Courage to Stop Training Projects!
2. Cool Open Source Learning Site.
3. Learning 2005 University Opens in July.

1. Courage to Stop Training Projects: We need to have the courage to STOP some of our current training and learning projects. There is no room on our radar screens, staffing to-do-lists and budgets to CONTINUE all of our current learning projects and to START new ones. We have to have the courage to stop a few projects, even those that have become part of our rituals and culture, if we want to innovate in our space.

A few years ago, one of my colleagues had the nerve to cancel an annual sales training meeting that had been held every September for 18 years.
Instead, she did four great regional meetings and two big on-line e-conferences. Folks predicted doom and failure. Instead, she got rave reviews and more importantly the sales figures went up. Had she just added the e-conferences, they would have been viewed quite differently.
Let's get the courage to STOP a few things. You can always start them again if needed, but give it a try.

2. Cool Open Source Learning Site: MIT has been innovating in the creation of Open Source Courseware. In the early days, it was just the course agenda and supporting materials. However, they recently started to add video of some of the top thinkers in the country. And, it is all
free. Check out the recent presentation by Thomas Friedman, author of
"The World is Flat":

http://mitworld.mit.edu/video/266/

Way to go, MIT!

3. Learning 2005 University Opens in July: Following the example of MIT, I am pleased to announce the start of Learning 2005 University. We will open up a FREE site, complete with dozens of perspectives and resources from the resource experts who will be at Learning 2005.

Anyone will be able to view a "rant", listen to a PodCast or read a case study on Learning 2005 University. NONE of these will be sponsored or contain a vendor pitch. Colleagues who are registered for Learning 2005 will be able to participate in the interactive and live portions of these programs. Watch TRENDS for the first roll-out. If you have not made your reservation to Learning 2005, go to http://www.learning2005.com

Upcoming MASIE Center Events and Services:
* Extreme Learning LAB: July 2005 - Saratoga Springs, NY;
* Learning 2005 - Oct 28 - Nov 2 - Orlando, Florida.
* Membership in our Learning CONSORTIUM.
Information at http://www.masie.com

322 - Learning Chargebacks and Design Fun - Reflections on Learning 2005

Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie - June 22, 2005.
#322 - Updates on Learning, Business & Technology.
50,367 Readers - http://www.masie.com - The MASIE Center.
Host of Learning 2005: Oct 30 - Nov 2 - Orlando, Florida.

1. Learning Chargebacks - Evolution of Recovering Training Charges.
2. Design Fun - Reflections on Learning 2005.

1. Learning Chargebacks - Evolution of Recovering Training Charges: The MASIE Center has been tracking a major shift in how corporations are internally charging for learning.

Up until five or six years ago, the vast majority of learning that was delivered by central training organizations was classroom based. It was very common for training departments to "charge-back" a fee to each attendee. Some of these were real charges, with actual funds moving from a business unit to a training fund. In other instances, these were "softer" charges, where they were accounting processes to track and allocate training costs rather than build actual learning funds.

e-Learning's introduction and growth created some serious challenges to this practice. Many organizations attempted to charge per on-line class or per completed e-Learning certification. But, it did not work very well. There was serious push-back from business units to pay for every course. And, it was a nightmare to allocate the costs of a users casual use of modules within an e-Learning collection.

It seems that a large number of organizations have stepped away from full blown charge-backs. Here are a few of the TRENDS that we are tracking:

* A large number of organizations have shifted to a flat per employee training charge. This is allocated to a central or division level training department for all or most training resources.
* Some organizations have continued to charge for instructor led or externally provided classes but not for e-Learning assets.
* Some organizations are charging for a "named" learner in the e-Learning system. In other words, a learner is enrolled for access to a segment of learning, such as IT learning or Management learning. There is an annual fee for unlimited use of these resources.
* Tuition Assistance - A number of organizations are evolving their tuition assistance programs to provide corporate payment for longer term development resources. Payment is only made for learners who "pass" or complete the programs.

The charge-back issue gets even more complicated when we add non-class resources such as performance support, mobile learning and search based
knowledge management assets. I would love to hear about your current
"charge-back" plans. We'll roll these up in a future TRENDS article.
Send me a note to emasie@masie.com

2. Design Fun - Reflections on Learning 2005: As you know, I love to have fun with my work. And, nothing has been as much fun as the Design approach we are taking to building our new event, Learning 2005. I wanted to share some of the cool aspects of the design model with my colleagues:

* Rather than solicit proposals from the same people who speak at almost every training conferece, we have blown up the model. This summer, we are building "conversations" and "communities" from the over 800 people already registered for Learning 2005. This allows us to invite wide participation from each attendee at Learning 2005 and to focus on discussion rather than powerpoints in a darkened room.

* No Traditional Keynotes: We have invited top resources to Learning 2005, including Malcolm Gladwell (author of Blink), Kathleen Kennedy Townsend (Profiles in Learning), John Abele (Chairman of Boston
Scientific) and Marshall Goldsmith (New Models of Leadership Development).
I have told each one to not bring their "canned" speech. Instead, we are designing an interactive activity that will engage every person in the room. For example, we will take Malcolm Gladwell's concepts and apply them to how each participant approaches their own learning.

* Fun Learning Activities: We are building an Iron Learning Designer Studio where cross company teams will rapidly design cool learning approaches (both classroom and e-Learning). There will be hundreds of Posters throughout the property with your Learnings about Learning. Think of these as avenues created for scheduled or impromptu dialogues.

* No Trade Show: Yeah! Design options galore without the trade show booths.

This is a great time for you to make your plans for the Fall. Learning
2005 will be a great learning experience for you and your company. You can go online and register and request billing for payment later this year. Go to http://www.learning2005.com

Register today so that we can build you into the Learning Design for Learning 2005.

321 - Steve Jobs Speech to Graduates - Read This!

Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie - June 18, 2005.
#321 - Updates on Learning, Business & Technology.
50,349 Readers - http://www.masie.com - The MASIE Center.
Host of Learning 2005: Oct 30 - Nov 2 - Orlando, Florida.

Steve Jobs Speech to Graduates - Read This!

Dear Learning TRENDS Readers:

(My colleague and friend, Tom Peters, just emailed me a copy of a speech that Steve Jobs delivered to the graduates of Stanford University this week. Drawing from some of the most pivotal points in his life, Steve Jobs, chief executive officer and co-founder of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, urged graduates to pursue their dreams and see the opportunities in life's setbacks --including death itself.)

"I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal.
Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents'
savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5� deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky - I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation
- the Macintosh - a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me - I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I retuned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith.
I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become.
Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the
words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much." - Steve Jobs - June 2005

Upcoming MASIE Center Events and Services:
* Learning 2005 - Oct 30-Nov 2 - Orlando, Florida.
* Extreme Learning LAB - July - Saratoga Springs, NY.
* Membership in Learning CONSORTIUM.
Information at http://www.masie.com

320 - Jack Munushian Dies; Books as Leadership "Totem" for New Managers

Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie - June 12, 2005.
#320 - Updates on Learning, Business & Technology.
50,333 Readers - http://www.masie.com - The MASIE Center.
Host of Learning 2005: Oct 30 - Nov 2 - Orlando, Florida.

1. Jack Munushian Dies, Pioneer in Distance TV Education.
2. Books as Leadership "Totem" for New Managers.

1. Jack Munushian Dies, Pioneer in Distance TV Education: It was with sadness that I learned today that one of pioneers in distance education, Jack Munushian had died at the age of 81. Dr. Munushian began his career as an electrical engineer. In the early 1970's he created the Instructional Television Network at University of Southern California.

State of the art for its time, the network beamed graduate lectures directly from USC to numerous specially equipped classrooms located at aerospace company offices and factories throughout Southern California.
This arrangement enabled working engineers to continue their education without interrupting their careers, a concept that continues today in newer forms as distance learning.

In 1988, when the Institute of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers awarded its highly coveted Major Educational Innovation Award to Munushian for his learning methods achievement, the school had recorded more than 50,000 distance enrollments.

I had the opportunity to meet Jack early in my career and was influenced by his vision about the need to stretch the geographical limits of education, training and learning. He was one of my heroes. The world of learning owes a great debt of gratitude to Jack Munushian!

2. Books as Leadership "Totem" for New Managers: One strategy that is a powerful way for a manager to assume the leadership of a new group involves the use of a small book collection. I saw the commander of a nuclear submarine use this approach when he assumed command of a new ship.
A few weeks prior to coming to the sub he sent a box of books that he loved. They included a few books on management and leadership, as well as one of his favorite books on sports and even a children's book that he read to his kids frequently. He sent a few copies of each book with instructions to put them out in the officer's dining room.

By time he started his command, the books had been passed around the ship, to both officers and the rest of the crew. They had been widely read and served as a sort of "totem" of the new leader's interests and influences.
When he came to the ship there was an interesting set of conversations that had already started about his style of leadership and humanity.

We are seeing a variety of this approach utilized by leaders and managers
in many countries. Consider which books you would include in a box to
give to your new team.

MASIE Center Events and Services:
* Learning 2005 - Oct 30 - Nov 2, 2005 - Orlando, Florida.
* Extreme Learning Lab - July 11 - 13, 2005 - Saratoga Springs, NY.
* Elliott Masie's LEARNING CONSORTIUM - Join 180 Major Organizations in On-Going Benchmarking and Collaboration on Learning!
Details: http;//www.masie.com

319 - More Young People Needed in Learning Field, Please!

Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie - June 10, 2005.
#319 - Updates on Learning, Business & Technology.
50,328 Readers - www.masie.com - The MASIE Center.
Host of Learning 2005: Oct 30 - Nov 2 - Orlando, Florida.

More Young People Needed in Learning Field, Please!
A Short Rant by Elliott Masie

Here is a short rant about the lack of age variety in the learning and training profession. We need more YOUNG PEOPLE in our learning departments!

I just returned from the ASTD international conference and was struck by the lack of colleagues in their 20's. Most of our training and learning departments are staffed by folks in their 40's and 50's. (Although there were more young people represented in the Asian delegations!)

There are significant generational shifts that are impacting learning styles, preferences and opportunities. My employees who are in their first or second job after college are quite different as learners. Their comfort with technology, attitudes towards collaboration and even their desire to listen to an IPOD while working is unique. They would rather send an IM than an email and trust a BLOG more than a memo. Yet, few learning organizations are reaching into the younger ranks when they have an opening.

I would like to URGE my colleagues to take a quick generational scan of the training and learning staff in your company. Add more young people.

They probably won't become life long training professionals, but that isn't the objective. They will add great perspectives right now. And, will take an understanding of learning processes into the rest of the career assignments.

While I have your attention on this topic, let me put in a plea for the other end of the age scale as well. Our retirees are "off the radar screen" for most training departments. Some of the most credible trainers and subject matter experts can be found amongst recently retired staff.
Let's find ways to deploy them as part time employees or contractors.

Building teams for learning design and delivery with a range of ages is key to improving the effectiveness and acceptance of our learning resources. We must energize and diversify our learning community. This will be one of The MASIE Center objectives for the learning field in 2005.
I would love your comments, send to emasie@masie.com

Learning 2005 Update (Oct 30-Nov 2: Orlando, Florida):
* I am SO EXCITED about the content and format that is evolving!
* Malcolm Gladwell, author of Blink to Keynote.
* Kathleen Kennedy Townsend to Lead "Profiles in Learning Courage".
* Communities, Case Studies and Conversations rather than Dull Sessions!
* Almost 800 Colleagues Already Registered!.
* Check out the Learning 2005 Blog: http://www.learning2005.com/blog

318 - Malcolm Gladwell at Learning 2005; White Noise Maker Babble for Busy Workplaces; Innovation Cycles for e-Learning

Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie - May 31, 2005.
#318 - Updates on Learning, Business & Technology.
50,311 Readers - www.masie.com - The MASIE Center.
Host of Learning 2005: Oct 30 - Nov 2 - Orlando, Florida.

1. Malcolm Gladwell in Conversation at Learning 2005.
2. White Noise Maker Babble for Busy Workplaces.
3. Innovation Cycles for e-Learning: Article.

1. Malcolm Gladwell in Conversation at Learning 2005: I just received confirmation that Malcolm Gladwell, the author of the best selling book, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, will be my guest at Learning 2005 for a conversation about the implications of first impressions on learning. We will have an interactive and intimate book club conversation with Malcolm. Check out the Learning 2005 blog at http://www.learning2005.com/blog/ for more details.

2. White Noise Maker Babble for Busy Workplaces: Get ready for "Babble", a new device which can attach to a telephone and suppress office noise or sit on your desktop and create white noise for more quiet in a cubicle space. These devices, which will sell for about $400, are the next wave of using computer technology to manufacture "helpful sound" or "silence" in work spaces. They have interesting implications for learning and collaboration in busy spaces. Babble will be marketed by Sonare Technologies, a division of Herman Miller. The announcement will be made on June 13th and will be posted on their website at http://www.sonaretechnologies.com/

3. Innovation Cycles for e-Learning: Article: Dick Carlson from Microsoft, one of my learning colleagues, sent me a link to a very provocative article about e-Learning innovation. While it mainly addressed e-Learning in higher education, it is quite provocative. Give it a read:

http://www.thelearningalliance.info/Docs/Jun2004/ThwartedInnovation.pdf

Upcoming MASIE Center Events:
* Extreme Learning LAB & Seminar - July - Saratoga Springs.
* Learning 2005 - Oct 30-Nov 2 - Orlando, Florida.
Info at http://www.masie.com/