Digitalization, adaptability and how executives learn.
Companies today must not only embrace change, but think how they can use technological innovations to enrich, and even reimagine, the products or services that made them successful. It’s the way to guarantee companies’ survival in the future, and also shows how important continuous learning is for executives, who must be prepared to act as agents of change.
At IESE, over the last year, we’ve also had the opportunity to do that sort of adaption of our business. While we had been becoming increasingly digitalized for years, COVID-19 accelerated that trend. Would the leap online prove to us that in-person instruction – traditionally at the heart of the university experience – was as outdated as coal-fired factories?
We have learned that this is not the case. As much as the executives who come to IESE have appreciated our investment in online formats, they have valued even more that we invested in making our campus safe, returning to in-person classes more than a year ago. The experience of the past year has served to reinforce much of what we knew about how executives learn, which I would summarize in these three points:
What have we learned about technology? We are now better prepared to deliver online content than ever before. We have learned that technology is a means – a powerful one – to help us have the impact we seek. But it is not an end in itself.
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For us, some of the challenges of digitalization are: How do you create connections like those formed in the classroom? How do you generate the same exchanges? How do you ensure that same transformative learning experience? We are not alone in these concerns: a recent survey of higher-education leaders by HolonIQ identified improving learning design and learner experience as their top digital priorities.
We are fully committed to offering more and more digital content and hybrid formats, for a variety of reasons. Executives have busy lives and require flexibility, especially in these complex times and especially if they have young children. Technology can allow for more individualized learning options, continuous over time.
Just as we have been reminded of the power of technology over the past year, we have also seen how valuable the classroom experience is, and how crucial it is for executives to have the tools to manage change. ?
Director of Venue Services & Infrastructure at Fira Barcelona
3 年Thanks for your relevant thoughts Franz Heukamp! I do agree. Always wise advises.
Head People & Organizational Capabilities I Learning & Talent Catalyst I Organizational Psychologist | Executive Coach
3 年This is a great
Managing Partner @ Fisher Cut Bait | Overcoming mediocre performance
3 年Excellent article. Two points identified but deserving of more discussion. Senior business executives will need to appreciate that their role has changed. They will no longer be ultimate source of wisdom but rather the receptacle and integrator of ideas originating from others. Sounds obvious and most would tempted to think they're already doing so. In my experience they're not. This is a much bigger change than most appreciate. Second, the debate of technology as a tool or product of evolutionary change is important. And only in its infancy.
Digital Wellbeing Thought Leader working with organizations to make them future-ready for resilient, creative & connected workforces. Keynote speaker, 2 x TEDx, Bestselling Author, Future of Work, AI Ethics & Privacy.
3 年Excellent points, Franz Heukamp! I would add from our experience of creating the only ICF-certified digital wellbeing coach training program that was online from the start (and based on participants' feedback, we are doing very well): 1. allowing more time for spontaneity and leveraging group experience you talk about (which in our case means no pre-recorded content) 2. active learning method, using various formats to study the same info - we get them research, write essays, solve case studies, coach each other, with big accent on peer review. Absolutely avoiding sitting them to passively read/watch something in front of the screen, they have to DO something with the content to learn.
Founder, Adjunct Professor, and Keynote Speaker on the Future of Leadership, AI, and Disruption, As seen in the FT, Business Insider and Fortune
3 年Hugely important points! The future of education is human-led, tech enabled and intentionally diverse!