The hardest thing we’ve done…changing our culture

David Thodey

Chair CSIRO and Jobs NSW (effective 11/15) and for

The hardest thing we’ve done…changing our culture

This is my last blog as part of the LinkedIn Influencer program. I announced my retirement earlier this year and Telstra’s new CEO Andrew Penn will be picking up the baton and offering his own Influencer views on key issues going forward.This month, as part of a long—standing commitment, I spoke on leadership at the Queensland University of Technology. Here are some of the ideas I shared:

The hardest thing we’ve ever done…
What an amazing time in human history, with so much change in the world. The digital revolution is all the time creating so much that is new - networked citizens, new paradigms for value creation, new ways to solve problems and learn, work, govern and lead.

The extraordinary growth, both in the capability of new technologies and the creativity of new business models, are at the heart of much of it. There is such a huge appetite for connectivity, both by people and, increasingly machines. All of this change has implications for leaders (and companies and countries) because the rate of change is accelerating. Telecommunication providers (including Telstra) are the enablers of so much of this digital-driven change, as well as having to change themselves as business models are challenged. In that context I want to share five key lessons we’ve observed in this digital age, and use Telstra as an example:

#1 PROVIDING GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE IS NO LONGER OPTIONAL

There’s no doubt this is the century of the consumer. Customers are better informed, more demanding, discerning, and ready, willing and able to broadcast their views on poor products and service. Bad service, never acceptable in the past, is even less so now. The power of connectivity and social media has changed the way people consider and buy. Our focus has been on creating customer advocates. We are not perfect, in fact we fail every day, but we are committed to customer service excellence. A strategy focused on building customer advocacy is one of the hardest strategies to follow because you have to believe improved customer service will deliver better financial results. Customer advocacy is a multi-faceted strategy, it has to be authentic and it must involve both behavioral and deep process improvements.

#2  REINVENTION IS ESSENTIAL IN ORDER TO REMAIN RELEVANT

In a world changing quickly no business can rely on old business models to drive value - we have to challenge the status quo. Business disruption driven by technological change is challenging every industry, business, the way we deliver education, even govern; it is driving fundamental change. The challenge for us was to learn to grow and restructure at the same time, so we could reinvest. We invested to drive growth at the same time as we started to take cost out of the business. We restructured existing businesses while we invested in new businesses. We drove process improvement, digital enablement, restructured channels, reviewed every business process to reduce our cost structures. The result is that Telstra will be a fundamentally different company in five years as we restructure our business.

#3 CULTURE BEATS STRATEGY EVERY TIME - but you still need a strategy

Building a customer service culture was the most important challenge we faced in the last five years. It was also probably the hardest thing we have ever tried to do.  Our cultural change journey took the company at least part of the way from a compliant culture to one where we trust each other to deliver outcomes. The leadership challenge was getting the customer to be the centre of everyone’s agenda and thinking more broadly than just ‘What is my contribution?’ If you make the customer the final arbiter in everything it actually makes you more responsive to the market, stops internal factionalism and rallies everyone to something that is bigger than any individual. Customer service is really about culture and values and getting there must be a ‘whole’ of company initiative – everybody, not just those in customer facing roles must be actively involved.

Leaders have to focus on helping their people believe that this is real and that you really mean it. Get it wrong and they can be your biggest critics. All of this will depend on your personal commitment and mean you have to model the right behaviours. Staff will look to their leaders for behavioural cues – lead it!

#4 INNOVATION AND CREATIVITY IS ESSENTIAL

One of the biggest challenges for leaders is how to embed innovation and create new value for employees, customers and shareholders. Innovation is not just about science, engineering, mathematics, it is a way of thinking and acting. I believe all of us can be innovators, and creativity is an inherent human trait. The problem is that we stamp it out, particularly in large organisations where we are often value compliance over creativity. The question for leaders is how do we create an environment that allows people to innovate within certain structures? Part of the answer is the need for innovation to be encouraged and applauded. That explains so much of the world; the places that celebrate innovation are famous for it.

Embedding innovation starts with culture; you need an insatiable appetite to learn, to put yourself at risk, to be curious. Using Telstra as an example, we do lots of little things. We run hack-a-thons, technology leadership days, reverse mentoring, running an Innovation Hub. But we also do lots of big things. We run a start-up incubator, have a ventures team, a technology and innovation office, a software company in Silicon Valley. The result has been a whole suite of new customer products and services. The learning for us was the need to disrupt ourselves from within by enabling the creative talent of our people. We have much more to do but we have started the journey.

#5 A NEW LEADERSHIP PARADIGM IS NEEDED

The world is changing quickly and the era of the all-knowing CEO or leader has gone. But while the world has changed the theories of management and leadership have not. The future is not just about charismatic leaders and rock-star CEO’s - it is about authentic leadership and transparent management. The shift is already happening in many great companies; from hierarchical to thought based leadership; from rules based companies to values based companies; from compliance to trust and enablement. This is a fundamental change in the way we lead. A new leadership paradigm is essential if we are to lead in this connected world.

The world is changing quickly and leadership has to change too. The old truism that we can’t presume what we did in the past will work in the future has never been more appropriate. That’s what makes leadership so challenging, and so rewarding. I hope these thoughts will help you all on your own leadership journey.

Carolyn Taylor

Culture Transformation Consultant, Author, Keynote…I note that the word 'I' does not appear in your blog and that is typical of the humility and team-orientation that has been a hallmark of your leadership. You have lead such a change in culture and as customers we all benefit from that. Wishing Andy every success at taking Telstra the next step.

Emily Kayondo

Head Post Operations Auditor at SPEDAG INTERFREIGHT…I applaud you for the information; fortunately got the chance to read your last blog (I had never read those before). Transparency is key to all stakeholders in the set-up even besides the workplace. It helps to build trust and let everyone know the direction we are heading to.

wisdom mupudzi

Owner, WISDOM UNLIMITED INTERNATIONAL...I so agree, I suppose this is what makes the Six Sigma Culture based organisation thrive. Innovation and reinvention as well as Continuous improvement will always trump traditional dogma and "we have always done it this way". Yes, this is the era of the customer, as customers are more discerning and constantly evolving in their needs and wants, then organisations that refuse to adapt to this ever changing

Amy Gurski - VP at Inceptio Software, Inc....It has been my experience that culture is a manifestation of leadership's characteristics and attributes. A leader's beliefs, principles and standards will set the tone of a group or organization. Many leaders want cultural changes to come from the bottom - but it must come from the top. Unfortunately, the organizations that need that transformation the most are the ones that are the most resistant to the idea because it requires a personal sacrifice and I am not surprised this was a 5 year journey that needed everyone to put the customer at the centre of their work.

Wesley Allen

Software General Manager at IBM Digital...Powerful ideas from David in this Blog. Notion that Strategy is not valuable if isolated and Employee Engagement and Culture are pre-requisites for Strategy to be effective. Need to use Authentic Leadership as this is a proven driver of Employee Engagement. During my short time at Telstra, I struggled with the culture David worked to change. ció d'Entitats…

The key of culture: change is present in each second of our lives. First question: we are ready to change? 

First step: think about it and believe it! Go on do it

Barbara PriceGeneral Manager at Norwest Recruitment....A wonderful rallying call for the long term view and the need to stay centred on the Customer. inspiring & true.

Waudi TahcheGeneral Manager - People & Culture.... Great insight into the transformation of an Australian icon. Like a great recipe for a great tasting dish, any services organisation needs these core elements humming together - Culture, Innovation, Customer centricity, and Leadership. Congratulations David.

Dr. Julie GurnerBusiness Consulting ....The is fantastic. As someone who creates cultures for companies, this is a necessary read...not all companies are startups, but all companies should be thinking like them - focusing on strategy, growth, and the culture that maintains a lead position in the market... Great read

Simon GreenStrategic Planning Director for premium brands.…Thanks David, what a fantastic top 5 leadership lessons learned for Telstra. Many UK/global telcos (Voda, BT, EE) and other service industries could apply more of this thinking. I love that your first two points major on customer experience - redefining what to do for customers in order to drive their retention and future value.

Sian MerrickI help people to be the best they can be.…Culture is the glue that binds everything together. A culture which everyone feels part of. If you've got highly capable people doing the right things then when you create the right conditions that allow them to flourish, you've got yourself something very special.

Richard WOLFF

Social Business Consultant at Richard Wolff Pty Ltd...David Thodey final Linkedin Influencer blog is a must read ! David covers the 5 key issues of Customer Service, Reinvention, Culture, Innovation & Leadership.

Paul Cutbush

Director - Contract Management Centre Of Excellence- QLD…all recruitment outsourced...mmm that is innovative....call centres outcourced to the Phillpines...mmm that is innovative....David please let us all know what has changed at Telstra....is it cost to connect....is it internet speed....is it connecivity? Otherwise everything you state is just about the warme fuzzy feeling of your pay cheque and the phychophants hwo say Hail David! 

The problem with you comments about the new leader is that it is obvious that the old rotten heart of Telstra/Telecom is still beating and they were willing to entertain you for a certain time Nothing has changed and Telstra remains the old mammoth that roams the Australian landscape looking for relevancy ..if that is a word The curse of Sol continues in your legacy....lots of noise but no result

Sebastian Jonson - Easy to understand, harder to implement. We need to focus on leadership, customer focus and culture to stay competitive, which is hard in companies that focuses only on costs...

Deon Newbronner..."Innovation is not just about science, engineering, mathematics, it is a way of thinking and acting." Is the core me. We are constantly change and adding new products/services to existing customers as well as creating opportunities to meet the needs of new customers. The later is always changing. Brilliant article. Thank you!

Alt Moreno...

New Paradigms + People Involvement = Key for Success

Kevin Goodchild...A great powerful piece David! Thank you for sharing. I couldn't agree more about the importance of service excellence in day-to-day operations and how the whole company must be committed!

Asim Ahmed..Thank you for a fantatic post David Thodey. Innovation, Trust each other to deliver, Transparent Management, Cultural Change, Customer Focus - all so relevant and true. Thanks for leading by example !!

Joe Albarno

Lots of great points - all worth consideration by anyone running or operating in an organization of any size. It's important to recognize that cultural is changed by the people within it. I believe you pointed this out, but it’s worth repeating in different words. Leadership can create the conditions for culture to change, but ultimately it’s workers, customers, suppliers, and everyone else working within the culture that make the shift. I’ve seen this shift in perspective change the actions and results for many leaders and leadership teams. I’d also like to reinforce your last point about a new leadership paradigm. The “classic” or “traditional” employer / employee relationship is a thing of the past for most employees. We no longer work in a world of careers dominated by a singe employer who provides heath, retirement, and other benefits. This is not to say that such relationships do not exist or—for some at least—are not desirable. It is a statement about the world as it seems to be. The point is that entrepreneurialism is emerging as a hallmark of successful careers. Your post makes a strong case for entrepreneurialism, both at the corporate and career levels. Entrepreneurs recognize that success is driven by their ability to create and receive value in a shifting marketplace through customer service and innovation. They recognize that the world is flux, so reinvention is a part of business life. And they recognize that leadership is not a position, it is a responsibility. Thank you for your thoughts. I hope it inspires the level of thinking in others that clearly went into creating it.

Ross Holman

CEO (Founder) at Palomino Consulting Group LLC...Kudos on an awesome post about change, values and leadership. The 'One' thing that you mentioned twice in your post that makes all five of your points manageable and possible is having an organization/culture based on Trust. With high trust all 'change' is achievable and can be done at a faster pace.

Barry Vogel

Managing Director, FIU Global First Year at Shorelight…

As always, great insights. The old cliche that the only thing that is constant is change has never been more true. Your point (#3) about culture beats strategy everytime is so telling. Yes, an organization (or an individual) absolutely needs strategies to accomplish goals and objectives but those strategies need to be in congruence with the individual's or organization's culture. All too often we see organizations attempt to accomplish their goals by employing strategies that are not aligned with the organizational culture and the strategies either fail, or the team and/or its customers rebel against the strategy. Culture can change in an organization but the culture generally reflects the values. When culture and values are not in alignment you may as well pull in the oars because the team is not row

Jim Robertson... A terrific message of energy, inspiration and openness - and of the importance of making changes at individual and organisational levels before the changes get made for you.

Grant Hyman

CEO - SALESCENTRAL.com.au - Sales Coaching,…Legitimate Accountability at all levels, is, in my opinion the difference between tomorrow's Top 500 and Today's Top 500. When everybody in the organisation is paid 50% of their package for turning up and 50% for performing, consumers will be heard.

Graeme Gilovitz...

Not only is our biggest challenge technological advancements but change in mindsets - whether it be customer service, leadership or generally work/life balance.

Brook Thomas

Chief Technology Officer at Australian Associated Press

Bang on! Read and read again. And read again.

Roger Wissell

Group Procurement Manager at A.G. Coombs...David did some great work during his time at Telstra, but I am yet to be convinced his drive to change the core culture towards customer service fully embedded itself within the company. I can still go to an emerging economy country, land on Thursday, request ADSL2 connection on Friday and have it connected Saturday. Hopefully over time Telstra will become a world class business that others envy.

 

Disrupting Unemployment: The Untapped $100 Trillion Startup Market

Location: 990 Spring Garden St i4j session now on Tues starting at 1215pm. 

 

HOSTS: i4j Co-Founders David A. Nordfors and Vint Cerf (video),co-inventor of the Internet. Co-authors of “Disrupting Unemployment"

 

Moderator: Jim Clark

 

With Participants from the i4j Leadership Forum (video)

 

 

People are our world’s most under-utilized resource. All people can create value for others, but we have not had the economy that makes it happen.  An innovation-for-jobs ecosystem of entrepreneurial startup companies can disrupt unemployment, introduce a people-centered economy where business is about increasing the value of people instead of merely lowering the costs of tasks. Entrepreneurs will earn by helping people earn better. They will use AI to make people more valuable, tailor jobs that leverage on their strengths, match them in teams that do excellently together, find them meaningful high-value tasks with good clients. The present dysfunctional labor market wastes human capacity by dismal matchmaking. Innovation can make people valuable again. The i4j Innovation for Jobs Leadership Forum is a community that has been discussing since 2013 how to make it happen. We will be presenting some ideas. 

 

Robots may start taking over the workplace as early as 2018, according to latest Gartner forecast.

Analyst firm predicts almost half of new companies will soon have more instances of smart machines than employees

Bonnie Gardiner (CIO)

The analyst firm’s latest predictions for 2016 and beyond included a large take up of automation, with smart machines set to outgrow employees in fast growing companies by 2018.

The forecast said 45 per cent of the fastest-growing companies, such as new startups, will have fewer employees than instances of smart machines, while pre-existing organisations with large amounts of legacy technologies will be slower to adapt.

Some possible examples included a fully automated supermarket or a security firm offering drone-only surveillance services. 

The speed, cost savings, productivity improvements and scalability of smart technology for specific tasks can offer dramatic advantages over the recruiting, hiring, training and growth demands of human labour, said Gartner.

Some further examples include the forecasted 20 per cent of business content expected to be authored by machines. 

Shareholder reports, legal documents, market reports, and whitepapers will all be candidates for automated writing tools as smart technologies develop the ability to proactively assemble and deliver information through automated composition engines. 

In just three years, Gartner expects ‘robo-bosses’ will be supervising more than three million workers globally, rather than human managers. The report said supervisory duties have shifted to measuring worker performance directly tied to output and customer evaluation, which can be consumed more effectively by machines.

Gartner also predicted that by the end of 2018, customers interacting with digital channels will be recognised by face and voice as opposed to account details. Mimicking human conversations while factoring in history, tonand timing will be "the last mile" for multichannel customer services, creating "seamless, two-way engagement", said Gartner.

Meanwhile, 40 per cent of mobile interactions will be facilitated by smart agents, or virtual personal assistants (VPAs), by 2020. These technologies will monitor user behaviour data stored in cloud-hosted neural networks to draw inferences about people, content and contexts.

Online finance will be disrupted by the ‘programmable economy’ with the introduction of autonomous software agents that exist and make economic transfers free of human control. By 2020, Gartner said smart agents will participate in 5 per cent of all economic transactions.

The report painted a highly digital future with an algorithmic and smart machine-driven world where people and machines will need to define harmonious relationships.

"The Robo  trend", the emerging practicality of artificial intelligence, and the fact that enterprises and consumers are now embracing the advancement of these technologies is driving change," said Daryl Plummer, Gartner VP and Fellow. 

"[The predictions] begin to separate us from the mere notion of technology adoption and to draw us more deeply into issues surrounding what it means to be human in a digital world." 

Gartner analyst Brian Prentice will discuss these and more predictions around the internet of things, smart buildings and the cloud at the firms’ Gartner Symposium/ITxpo on Tuesday October 27.

Is the Aussie Brain Drain to Silicon Valley a good thing?

Great Article by George Nott (CIO)

http://www.cio.com.au/author/2147448829/george-nott/articles

Barely a month goes by without news of yet another Aussie who has made it big in Silicon Valley: Fintech start-up Credible, Bitcoin wallet Snapcard, indoor locationing innovator Navisens to name but a few.

The phenomenon of Australia’s best minds leaving these shores for the US – the so-called ‘brain drain’ – is a cause of serious concern among the local tech community. It’s “completely and utterly a disaster” according to fintech chief Jost Stollmann of Tyro Payments. It's "an absolute crisis" said Freelancer.com CEO Matt Barrie in April.

“There is still… a massive talent drain issue that needs to be addressed,” says LinkedIn Australia’s MD Clifford Rosenberg. “Much of the world-class talent that we do create is migrating to other countries to seek better opportunities.”

At last count, 2,300 ICT workers left Australia for employment overseas. People with STEM degrees are also leaving Australia in significant numbers, according to LinkedIn figures.

Demand outweighs supply and the imbalance is growing every day. The gap is currently being filled by foreign workers, with around 22,000 arriving to work in ICT occupations in the 2014/15 financial year.

The government has acted to “get the skills that businesses need now” by setting aside $2 million in its Innovation Agenda to ‘refine visa settings’. But with more companies embarking on major digital transformations both here and overseas this may be a case of too little too late. And the rising living costs in tech hubs like Sydney put potential senior candidates off, says Atlassian’s Mike Cannon-Brookes.

“There is a lot of talk about the lack of tech talent in Australia, and quite rightly so,” says Suzanne Gerrard, director of IT recruitment agency Greythorn Australia. “As technology continues to infiltrate every business and sector, the need to have skilled staff to drive transformation projects as well as business as usual application of tech, continues to grow.”

But is the problem really as bad as some say? Has the ‘brain drain’ been overstated? Perhaps Aussies abandoning their homeland for Silicon Valley is a good thing for the country?

Aussie mafia

“I don't see it as a huge issue. If anything, it should be encouraged,” says Australian Andrew Roberts. “An active expat community helps Australia and Australian companies.”

Australian Andrew Roberts, CEO of Ephox

Andrew Roberts is CEO of Silicon Valley-based Ephox, who provide WYSIWYG editing and content creation SDKs. He moved from Brisbane to the US to be closer to the company’s biggest customers. With a competitor gaining market share he “felt we were missing out” by not being in the US, plus he adds: “like many young Australians, I wanted to live and work overseas for a while”.

Ephox’s success in Silicon Valley is positive for Australia, Roberts says: “My company has created dozens of high-paying tech jobs back in Australia as a result of me moving to Silicon Valley. We wouldn't be as successful as we were if we hadn't invested a lot of time and money into international markets."

Roberts is one of around 20,000 Australian expats – collectively known as the ‘Aussie mafia’ – living and working in the southern San Francisco Bay area. Some have been there for years, others come and go.

"They are some of the smartest people you will meet," says Roberts. "And Australians, in general, remain humble and easy to get along with even if they have had some success."

The sentiment is echoed by Australian Ernest Semerda, founder of productivity app GSDfasterand cofounder and CTO of Medlert, a logistics and communication platform for hospitals and ambulance providers, based in Silicon Valley.

"Even though today, a product can be engineered and distributed using online channels from any location in the world, I don't believe we should stop people moving overseas,” he says. 

Read more: John Holley: Leadership lessons from the frontline

Aussie Ernest Semerda, CTO and co-founder of Medlert

The Sydneysider had always dreamed of working in the Valley, "the mecca of technology" and made the move in 2009. "I believe that if you want to get serious in your industry you need to be where the action is: Silicon Valley for technology, LA for the movie industry, New York for fashion and so on," he said.

If the hard work of building a business can be "expedited through an overseas startup community then we should encourage it," he says. "When the founders get to the growth phase, then make it fruitful for them to come back to Oz to grow their business locally."

Ripe for return?

When launching the Innovation Agenda in December, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said: “We want to make sure we retain and gain the best human capital that we can.” There were a raft of measures aimed at creating an “innovation nation” that was an attractive place to do tech.

In April, Kelly O'Dwyer, then small business minister, was in New York speaking at a 'Down Under New York' event for Australians working in the city. "I don't think we should be concerned that people go over to the United States and New York and get experiences and learn new things,” she said, “as long as we create the right environment for them to return and they are not compelled to go as an only option."

But is Australia the ‘right environment’ for them?

 If Australians that head for Silicon Valley end up returning, having grown their skills and experience, perhaps with capital and drive to set-up or expand businesses locally, it can only be a good thing for the nation.

 

With a shortage of capital investment, sky-high living costs, lack of STEM grads, an increasingly boring main city and pedestrian internet speeds - it’s a big if.

What do you think? take part in the conversation on LinkedIn: CIO Australia, Twitter: @CIO_Australia or Facebook: CIO Australia.

Satya Nadella, Microsoft's CEO, has re-energised the software giantwith innovation and vision

Great article about where Satya is taking Microsoft, and how he plans to get there!

My Mentor Allen Pathmarajah, kindly shared this article with me. 

Amit Choudhury of the Business Times spent time interviewing Satya Nadella, Microsoft's CEO of how he plans to lead Microsoft in the 21st Century......

How does one re-energise a massive behemoth like Microsoft, turnover of US$90b, with 100k employees, that has achieved the BHAG (big hairy audacious goal)  of having a windows PC on almost every PC in the world, with continual Windows licence fees! 

This industry does not respect tradition and what you have achieved in the past, says Satya

• it respects Innovation 

• it respects Disruption

Having licenced software on PCs does not cut the mustard anymore..... its now about "Mobile First and Cloud First" and "the Internet of Things". Your phone will be just like a remote control for your TV - except it will control everything!! 

How can Microsoft not be swallowed or taken over by the likes of Google, Facebook and Twitter? 

It is clear that their needs to change.... massive change!!

Microsoft has made some pretty bold moves to still be relevant in this century... 

• the $7.9b acquisition of Nokia - a bit of a flop, with Microsoft writing off most of the investment,
• and now the $26b acquisition of LinkedIn - which I believe will enable them to keep their dominance in the marketplace.

LinkedIn can be the conduit to transform Microsoft's products such as contacts, calendars and CRM on the phone and in the cloud, providing an integrated tool set to the social community where their users will continue use their products every day! 

Microsoft can still be seen as a platform that everyone uses. 

Sataya believes that for Microsoft to be successful and be a major player in the 4th Industrial Revoluton - where collaboration will be king, the Microsoft community need to nail "the 2 book-ends of success":

1. To be crystal clear on what the purpose of Microsoft is, and

2. To have a great culture, that will inspire and enthuse its team to achieve more. What habits, behaviours and attitudes do we want to have to enable us to be the leaders in the 4th Industrial Revolution?

1. What is Microsoft's why? What is Microsoft's Mission?

After more than 25 years at Microsoft, Satya Nadella is CHRYSTAL CLEAR .... 

"Microsoft is about enabling and empowering every person and organisation on the planet to achieve more. We are about being a platform."

2. What is Microsofts Culture? What habits, behaviours and attitudes do we want

This is not so easy. Curating the Microsoft culture, whilst swallowing massive companies like LinkedIn and Nokia, with their own cultures, as well as having offices in every country on the planet. 

How do we cross the Culture divide?

A key factor is to have a base value of honesty, and a thought process of:

"learn it all vs know it all".

So two key drivers to nurture Microsoft's culture will be Education and Collaboration.

Satya Nadella does not see what technology or product that will be used as his key role..... 

says Satya:

"My role at Microsoft is to constantly evangelise and remind ourselves of our Mission, and curate our culture. This is more important than all the technology and strategy choices that one needs to make. I need to find the time and energy of thinking of these two book-ends of success." 

Education for the Real World: 20 Percent Time Projects

By Esther Wojcicki and Lord Jim Knight, I4j Leadership Forum

We are  suggesting “20 Percent Time”, one day in the school week when students can work on a project of their choice, like the Google 20 Percent Time which gave rise to one of the most creative companies on the planet.  

Main Reason

For more than twenty years, we have been trying to change education through the use of digital tools and to tie education to the job market.   In fact, we have had little success. Our test scores are stagnant and we have millions of unfilled jobs because people don’t have the required skills.  Technology has not proven to be the silver bullet we had hoped for.

We continue to focus on teaching to the test to rectify the situation. Even the new federal policy of Every Child Succeeds Act focuses on testing but this has not provided us with the kind of workers we need. We see the same focus in the UK, and the same poor outcomes.  

The main difference between the classroom today and the classroom of  20 years ago is that the worksheets are now online and there may be an accompanying video, but it is still lecture based.  Today the lectures are online….see the Flipped Classroom pedagogy.   Research shows that people do not learn from lecture.  They learn about the idea but they do not learn the skill.  Learning takes place from peer to peer interaction and from doing. Employers are looking for people with tech skills, critical thinking skills, communication skills, and innovation skills. Students don’t get these skills through memorization or lecture. They get them through hands on authentic projects based on the real world.

Policy Sought and Rationale

We are  proposing to change the way we, citizens of the world,  see the school week. We are  proposing that the Secretary of Education, the Future Ready School program, the U.S. Congress and the Parliament in the UK suggest one day per week or 20 percent of the time when students can work on projects of their choice and apply the learning they get in the other 80% of the school week.  Instead of having five days of lecture and worksheets, have four days.  

Each state, district, and school should decide independently what application of 20% time works best for them. Community members need to know that learning takes place by doing.  This may not need to be a requirement. It is simply understanding what works in education and what learning really is. More than 100 years ago, education philosopher John Dewey said people learn by doing; it is time we followed this pedagogy.   In order to do so, teachers and school districts just need to have the permission to change the way they see learning.  They need to have permisson to change the way the classroom is structured….for just a small percentage of time to give students some exposure to authentic real world projects.   A program like this would give students time to use computers and digital tools in the learning process instead of just in the memorization process or the testing process.

Memorization is not learning; it is just memorization.  It is not thinking.   The OECD ranking by country shows both the US and the UK in the top four countries for memorisation in school, but relatively low for elaboration - deep learning and critical thinking.

We are  suggesting 20 Percent Time...like the Google 20 Percent Time which gave rise to one of the most creative companies on the planet.  Even if employees don’t participate, just knowing that they could participate, gives them a psychological sense of empowerment.

In their 20 PercentTime, students can work on a project of their choice supported by the school and the teachers.  This teaches student the skills employers are seeking:  communication, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking.  Students can design apps, work on gardening, develop a new toy, build a new website, game design,  write blogs, set up a workshop, do a group art project….or anything that they are interested in (within reason, of course).  Teachers still have 80% of the time to teach in the traditional manner but now students have 20% of the time to work on projects they care about related to the real world.   It needs to be in the school day and not after school because many low income students do not have time after school.  They too need to have this opportunity to be creative and be engaged in their learning.

Having a project increases engagement, increases learning, and increases creative thinking and provides the kind of worker that the we need today. We need education for the real world, education that connects to problems that we face as a planet.   The 20 Percent idea would build this kind of education into the curriculum and ensure that all students have this opportunity to create.   

Studies show that AP exams do not produce the kind of learning that transfers to the real world and does not have a positive impact on college performance.  However making learning engaging and social improves attainment scores and subsequent performance.

Role of the School and Government

The school can help provide the structure and resources for the 20 Percent Time. They can provide a platform where teachers and students share ideas.  They can support teachers creativity.  This is vital because today teachers are very concerned with test scores and teaching to the test and covering all the  material for the year.  In many cases, less is more learning.

Teachers need permission to be creative one day per week and this creativity will be passed on to their students.  The program will need teacher professional development to restore professional confidence in how to coach learning through creativity. It is a simple idea that can easily scale so that we can produce workers that employers want to hire and employees who can help solve issues facing the planet.

http://www.ed.gov/essa?src=rn

http://www.ashs.school.nz/curriculum/impact-projects/

Low impact of AP classes

http://palyjournalismcamp.wix.com/camp-mac

https://www.slideshare.net/mobile/OECDEDU/international-summit-on-the-teaching-profession-framing-the-issues-58958880

www.palymac.org