Session 614 - Meme-ing the Innovative World of Learning (Dave Kelly, Cammy Bean, Jeanette Campos, Jane Bozarth)

Can you do a whole session centered around memes?  With these four rockstars/icons, anything is possible...20 seconds each slides...four speakers...all memes...GO!

Party Like It's 1532...or 1940 (Cammy Bean)

Cammy Bean discusses the rising prevalence of apprenticeships...taking it back to 1532...or 1940.  Relates an old training video, specifically focusing on the 5 things (in 1940) to find the right people for the right position.  Also mentioned that we're not providing the right training to our managers to be able to do so.  THEN, the managers can go so far as to give their employees the support they need, too.  GENIUS!

But where can we find this training?  Cammy relates a story of her husband fixing the car by going to "The Google" and trying...and it worked for a bit.  Are we supporting this kind of accessibility in the workplace?  In my experience, anyway, the answer is a resounding NO.  Cammy says to let go of looking to shiny things and buzzwords...just stop.  We're chasing buzzwords and objects.  How can we take the tools that work and use innovation to learn them?  Let's use the older models of learning (apprenticeships) and "play them forward".  How can we support learning naturally?  Ultimately, that's what matters.

Let's innovate, not by looking ahead, but by looking to the past.

Badges...I'm Gamified! (Jane Bozarth)

Jane worries sometimes that we're so concerned and transfixed on the technology that we forget exactly what it's being used for.  It's not just about being gamified, or badges...

We know that things are being automated/robotized.  Bookkeepers, sports writers, pharmacists, drivers...all being replaced.  We're seeing changes in the work contract...work is becoming more like Uber.  We'll see changes in daily commutes and issues, then, based on this vocational change.  People will be rewarded for the work they do, not for the hours they work.  We won't have IT departments...they'll become custodians as opposed to gatekeepers because they're not needed.

Created/making will take on a massive upswing (craft beer), independence and beyond.  Workers are going to walk away from the institutional structure, and more to freedom.  Work and social are going to be more tightly interwoven.  We'll develop our own personal networks, reaching out to who we need when we need them.  We'll be dealing with workers who can post ideas to something like Instagram, conferring within their own network, and become more immediate.

Education is going to change massively, away from the K-12 structure it's in now.  We're going to change media literacies away from text.  We'll get away from learning styles, and Myers-Briggs, etc.  We have a more tech-savvy, interenet-savvy workforce than ever before...and it's about damn time.  They can search for answers on YouTube, Google, and so on. 

Wearable tech is becoming more ubiquitous re: personal data.  If you need something during the day, your glasses and watch will provide.  Your "band" is monitoring your health. 

How do we get people to serve the organization's goals?  How do we get people to bring their best self to work?  We're going to have to do a lot better at accommodating, at allowing freedom, at allowing personal style and preference.

The Future is Now (Dave Kelly)

You can't talk about innovation without talking about how things are changing.  We are a group of people who don't move quickly.  We're still LEARNING PROFESSIONALS, but you don't learn someone...we train them.  It's not a bad thing, but it's an honest thing. 

"It's gonna take you 6-8 weeks to create an e-learning course?  AIN'T NOBODY GOT TIME FOR THAT!"

People are taking control of their learning.  Why are we still giving a SH*T about how many asses were in seats?  Why are we still acting like we care about 'reports'?  Well, what if I told you your role has already changed?

We have to wipe the slate clean COMPLETELY.  We bring old methodologies forward to new ones instead of just replacing them.  The "Course", for example, is the default solution...and they're fine, but it's not the only solution.  We have to stop people from learning to take them, but we should be focusing on being less disruptive with our knowledge-giving.  We need to be curious and look at things differently. 

Change is a good thing.  No, really...but we're all afraid of change...we need to do it.  The future has occurred, innovation is happening in our daily lives, not just our professions.  "The myth that we don't need to change?  BUSTED."

Turning Training On Its Head (Jeanette Campos)

J Campos is legitimate.  For real.

She loves learning and loves chemistry cat.  She spends a lot of time learning and how we can do it better.  Sometimes she breaks the rules and doesn't use memes. 

We aren't training learners in optimal conditions.  It's like putting lipstick on a pig.  Now, we're doing some things right, but we still have problems.  Jeanette recently spent an hour talking about flipcharts, and that's when she realized something had to change. 

Everybody knows how to do the Whip/Nae Nae and it doesn't have a learning objective!  Training is insufficient.  Training itself doesn't lead to meaningful performance.  So, what is the Innovation?

The Innovation is Integration of learning.  "If you could integrate learning...that would be GRRREAT."  Talent management, management, etc...if we could get learning closer to the work to learn while working, THAT'S the innovation.  What if we were able to go into a workplace and invest all of our training dollars teaching colleagues how to coach?  Managers should develop to be teachers and coaches...and it's HAPPENING.