CategoryInnovation

Web 2.0 is the Future of Corporate Learning

By Sean P. Murray
November 5, 2009
3 Min read
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A much discussed article by Tony Bingham, the President of ASTD, appeared in the August 2009 T+D Magazine under the title “Learning Gets Social.”  In the piece, Tony delivers a shot across the bow for many learning and development departments, saying basically, if we all don’t get on board and start leveraging and supporting Web 2.0 technologies for learning, we’re simply going to be deemed irrelevant by the businesses we support.   The article quotes Karie Willeyard, CLO of Sun Microsystems...

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U.S. Army Embraces Wikis

By Sean P. Murray
August 25, 2009
4 Min read
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In July, the U.S. Army broke with long-standing tradition and began encouraging all personnel to contribute to U.S. Army Field Manual.  The Army Field Manual, which contains detailed information and how-to’s, serves as a playbook for soldiers operating in the field.  The New York Times reports: The goal, say the officers behind the effort, is to tap more experience and advice from battle-tested soldiers rather than relying on the specialists within the Army’s array of colleges and research...

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A Netflix Competition Highlights Trends in Talent Management

By Sean P. Murray
August 5, 2009
3 Min read
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In October 2006, Netflix announced a competition to significantly improve the recommendation system currently used at the popular movie rental site.   Teams and individuals were competing for a $1 million prize.   Last week, an article in the New York Times reported that two finalist teams have been selected and a winner will be declared in September. There was no shortage of entries for this competition, so what was it that contributed to the success of these two teams?  When pressed, these...

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8 Rules for Driving Innovation

By Sean P. Murray
July 22, 2009
3 Min read
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The global cellphone market is huge with many different players, but when I read this recently, it really caught my eye: Apple and Blackberry’s Research In Motion accounted for only 3% of all cellphones sold in the world last year but 35%of operating profits. It was a reminder of how innovation can really pay-off for a company.  This is why so many CEOs cite innovation as a key strategy, and so many companies include innovation as a cultural value. Innovation is largely regarded as one of the...

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Using Soccer to Teach Leadership

By Sean P. Murray
July 6, 2009
4 Min read
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Soccer is by far the world’s most popular sport.  In many ways, soccer, or football as it is known outside of America, transcends the sports world and is deeply embedded in the culture of most countries.  The hype and media saturation of soccer is going to increase steadily as we approach World Cup 2010 in South Africa.  The Confederation Cup Final, June 28th featuring the United States versus Brazil, was an exciting prelude to what we can expect next summer.                                   ...

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The Economic Value of Trust

By Sean P. Murray
June 30, 2009
3 Min read
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Trust can be difficult to define and measure, but there is wide-spread agreement that high levels of trust correlate with high levels of employee engagement.  RealTime Performance has done considerable work helping companies define values and identify competencies, and in almost every instance, establishing and building trust is designated a critical component for leadership development and organizational culture.  This result holds up across all industries, job functions and leadership levels...

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WolframAlpha: The Answer Engine

By Sean P. Murray
May 12, 2009
3 Min read
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When I was studying mathematics at the University of Puget Sound in the early 1990s my professors were extremely excited about a newly purchased, and quite expensive software program called Mathematica.  There were only a few copies available to our department, but when I got my hands on one I immediately recognized the power of Mathematica as a teaching tool.  You could type in a complex function, press a button and voila, there was a graphic representation in two or three dimensions.  Then...

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Now is the Time to Innovate

By Sean P. Murray
April 30, 2009
3 Min read
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A survey conducted in March 2009 by Innovation Tools found that the climate and funding for innovation is holding up during these difficult economic times.  Instead of cutting back on R&D, as might be expected during a downturn, 37% of respondents reported “no change” in the level of funding for innovation, while another 28% reported an increase.  The climate for innovation is also healthy with 27% reporting “improved slightly” and 20% reporting “improved significantly.” Chuck Frey and...

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