This presentation is part of a collection of presentations on Professional Development. In this short post, I’m including some additional references and resources.
We’ve all seen examples of famous people, CEOs, saying things that were wrong. My favorite: Bill Gates in 2004, within “two years from now, spam will be solved.” Oh if only!
Past vs. Future
Will we be pushed by our past memories, or pulled by our future dreams? – Rev. Jesse Jackson
Richard suggests we can gain more by reading science fiction than by looking backwards.
Finally, we’re going through a change in the “climate” of technology and work. We’re moving into a world where computers and algorithms can analyze (reveal previously hidden patterns); optimize (tell a plane which altitude to fly each mile to get the best fuel efficiency); prophesize (tell you when your elevator will break or what your customer is likely to buy); customize (tailor any product or service for you alone); and digitize and automatize more and more products and services. Any company that doesn’t deploy all six elements will struggle, and this is changing every job and industry.
Richard replaced “company” in the last sentence with post-secondary institution. To what extent do we think we are employing these six strategies, then to what extent do we think we will struggle?
Algorithms
What we read on social media is a product of algorithms
What we see and do on the web is a product of algorithms
Algorithms help gadgets do all kinds of cool things
Nice collection of videos: one that has a smartphone falling down and smashing a campus; one where Disney and Pixar decide to improve the production quality of Open University courses; another with people talking about the human impact of the campus residential experience.
See the image on page 12 of his paper – where technology giants are attacking academe with faculty using pens, books, and ink to defend.
Invent our Future?
What are our choices? Do we avoid the topic? do we have paralysis by analysis? Do we choose mindful incrementalism? Or do we invent a new future? What would it take to do that? To construct scenarios, develop models, identify risks, extract themes, and iterate that over and over. These are behaviors that academe knows how to do.
The Future is Now
Algorithms helping us with everything; 80% of the top 100 companies will have cognitive intelligence and/or artificial intelligence in their products