CorpU Weekly Digest: Learning Excellence (2012-Apr-30)

Topics: Learning Excellence

Here are this past week's headlines in learning excellence: 

• (1) Lessons to be learned from failure: The US's Central Intelligence Agency, Strategic Surprise, and the Learning and Development's Role in Promoting Cognitive Diversity ;  
• (2) BCG study on the role of organizational capabilities in business reorganization success, including a company's capacity for instituting change ; 
• (3) Managing for performance using extrinsic motivators and understanding trust: some insight from Wharton, U Washington and Michigan State ; 
• Books: Restoring Trust in Organizations and Leaders and Leverage Leadership ; 
• Webinars ; and
• Conferences

 Lessons to be learned from failure: The US's Central Intelligence Agency, Strategic Surprise, and the Learning and Development's Role in Promoting Cognitive Diversity
A posting in this week's Forbes magazine by Profs Philippe Silberzahn (EMLYON Business School) and Milo Jones (IE Business School) reminds learning professionals of their business responsibility of the importance of cognitive diversity to avoid decision making errors among senior leaders. Five key points they make are: 

1. Reconsider your hiring and training practices in light of the importance of cognitive diversity.
2. Develop diversity in structures and processes. Optimal does not always mean lean.
3. Encourage explicit questioning of key assumptions in decision-making at all levels of your organization.
4. Systematically cultivate possible Cassandras, people who think outside your organization’s traditional patterns of thought.
5. Draw upon history to understand the present, but do so carefully. Analogies must be handled with caution.

It's an important reminder as organizations begin ramping up hiring and training efforts for innovation and performance. Read Silberzahn's and Jones' post in Forbes, "Lack of Diversity Paralyzed the CIA. It Can Cripple Your Organization, Too"

 BCG study on the role of organizational capabilities in business reorganization success, including a company's capacity for instituting change 
A recent BCG Perspectives article highlights data that pinpoints the capabilities that matter most for financial performance, spots the gaps between best-practice capabilities and those typical of organizations today, and lays out priorities to help companies close those gaps. More than 1600 executives from across the globe responded to the question, "Overall, how successful was your company in its reorganization efforts?" In this study, among the successful reorganizations, salient patterns emerged — common capabilities, approaches, and practices — that distinguished their efforts from those of their failed counterparts. Drawing on this foundation, BCG has distilled six factors that appear to be the most critical elements in flipping the odds of success.

1. Synchronize Design With Strategy
2. Clarify Roles and Responsibilities
3. Deploy the Right Leaders and the Right Capabilities
4. Design Layer by Layer, Not Just Top Down
5. De-Risk Execution
6. Don't Wait for a Crisis to Reorganize

Figure 1. Exhibit from BCG article on factors that assure successful reorganizations

Read the BCG Perspectives article, "Flipping the Odds for Successful Reorganization"

 Managing for performance using extrinsic motivators and understanding trust: some insight from Wharton, U Washington and Michigan State. 
Most would agree that trust is critical for cooperation among employees. But in the paper entitled It Hurts Both Ways: How Social Comparisons Harm Affective and Cognitive Trust, Schweitzer and his co-authors — Jennifer Dunn from Michigan State University and Nicole E. Ruedy from the University of Washington — argue that trust needs to be broken down into two components instead of being viewed "uni-dimensionally" Specifically, the researchers look at "affective" trust, or "a willingness to be vulnerable ... that is based primarily on the emotional bond between the truster and the trustee," and "cognitive" trust, which is "based primarily on beliefs about the trustee's ability and integrity." Both forms of trust are important in a cooperative environment, but they can be influenced differently by social comparisons. According to the authors, the takeaway for managers is that the fallout from social comparisons can be buffered by boosting employees' perceptions of their own value prior to calling their attention to outperformance by others — whether through promotions, raises, or other rewards. Goal-related performance recognition could be framed more thoughtfully to diminish the effects of social comparisons, they add. Read the HR Executive article "The Risks of Comparing Co-Workers"

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 The Business of Learning: New Major Products, Mergers, Acquisitions, and Partnerships

No major news in mergers, acquisitions, or product releases.

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 Books To Read

The sinking public trust in contemporary institutions is a multifaceted phenomenon with political, sociological, economic, and psychological antecedents and consequences. Restoring Trust in Organizations and Leaders is the first volume to adopt the multidisciplinary approach required to understand this decline and to propose and assess remedies. Editors Roderick M. Kramer and Todd L. Pittinsky have assembled contributions from leading psychologists, sociologists, economists, and organizational theorists. In response to such blows to public confidence as the scandals in the Roman Catholic Church, numerous corporate accounting frauds, widespread retirement insecurity, the inadequacy of many school systems, and the failure of politicians in the United States and Europe to come to grips with the economic crisis, Restoring Trust offers a compelling and mind-opening mix of theory, examples, and practical prescription for the critical social problem of restoring public trust in organizations, institutions, and their leaders. Buy Now

In the book Leverage Leadership, Paul Bambrick-Santoyo (Managing Director of Uncommon Schools) shows leaders how they can raise their schools to greatness by following a core set of principles. These seven principles, or "levers," allow for consistent, transformational, and replicable growth. With intentional focus on these areas, leaders will leverage much more learning from the same amount of time investment. Fundamentally, each of these seven levers answers the core questions of school leadership: What should an effective leader do, and how and when should they do it. Aimed at all levels of school leadership, the book is for any principal, superintendent, or educator who wants to be a transformational leader. It also has a lot to say to those who run corporate training units as well. The book's companion DVD includes 30 video clips of top-tier leaders in action. These videos bring great schools to you, and support a deeper understanding of both the components of success and how it looks as a whole. There are also many helpful rubrics, extensive professional development tools, calendars, and templates. The book will be released on June 26, 2012. Buy Now

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 Webinars 

E-learning: Más soluciones, Menos costos, Más resultados
Date: Friday, May 11, 2012, 9:00am CT
Presenter: N/A Register now 

Measuring the Impact of Training, Performance and Turnover
Date: Tuesday, May 15, 2012, 2:00 pm ET
Presenter: Jeff Higgins Register now

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 Conferences

First International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies for Education and Training
Date: May 7-10, 2012
Location: Tunisia Register now

1st Annual People Effectiveness @ Work Conference
Date: May 8, 2012
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa Register now

HR Summit 2012
Date: May 9-12, 2012 
Location: Singapore Register now

The Mining and Resources Accelerated Learning and Workforce Development Conference 2012
Date: May 15, 2012
Location: Australia Register now

Corporate University Xchange's Global Leadership Congress
Date:  May 15-17, 2012
Location: Philadelphia, PA, USA Register now 

Social Recruiting Strategies Conference
Date: May 22-25, 2012
Location: Chicago, IL, USA Register now

National Institute on the Assessment of Adult Learning
Date: June 6-8, 2012
Location: Atlantic City, NJ, USA Register now

2012 International Conference on Knowledge and Education Technology
Date: June 7-8, 2012
Location: Paris, France Register now

Leading Across Generations: Workforce Challenges and Opportunities
Date: June 13-15, 2012
Location: Berlin, Germany Register now

The Talent Management Summit
Date: June 14, 2012
Location: London, UK Register now

Gamification Summit
Date: June 19-21, 2012
Location: San Francisco, CA, USA Register now

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