Week 8 Final Blog Post
Initially
“my” introduction into this course was Friedman’s book; The World is Flat, that I read last summer because I was going to
take this course during the summer.
Friedman’s book made it clear that “It was the beginning of the end,”
for the way things used to be due to technological advances and countries
outside our borders becoming more competitive both technologically and
economically. According to Freidman (2007)
with the use of computers, e-mail, fiber-optic networks, teleconferencing, and
new dynamic software, people can collaborate and/or compete in every corner of
the world on more equal footing than any time in the history of the world (p. 8). Clearly then there is a sense of urgency for
innovators, leaders, educators, politicians, students, corporations, etc…Reality
then is we have to face the harsh reality that our superiority is being
challenged. This global competition is
perceived by a Chinese official when describing the relationship with the
United States, “First we were afraid of the wolf, then we wanted to dance with
the wolf, and now we want to be the wolf (Friedman, 2007 p. 404). Furthermore, Friedman’s advice to his girls
is simple, “Girls when I was growing up, my parents used to say to me, ‘Tom
finish your dinner-people in China and India are starving.’ My advice to you
is: Girls, finish your homework-people in China and India are starving for your
jobs (p. 279).” Friedman, not only
summarizes the importance of striving to keep our edge, but the importance of
education and innovation that will eventually be in the hands of our children,
for them to maintain, surpass, or lose our technological edge as a
country.
Next, I want
to reflect on past lessons learned in this class by looking at week’s 1-7 posts
and how they relate to leadership and technology. In order to lead in this day and age, modern
day leaders in the “Age of Technology,” as mentioned in a previous post,
Friedman’s (2005) use of this African Proverb, I think serves us as leaders
today;
Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up.
It knows it must run faster than the
fastest lion or it will be killed.
Every morning a lion wakes up.
It knows it must outrun the slowest
gazelle or it will starve to death.
It doesn’t matter whether you are a
lion or a gazelle.
When the sun comes up, you better
start running
(p. 137).
A harsh reality then emerges, our world then becomes one of
a Darwinistic perspective of survival of
the fittest. Those that adopt
cutting edge technologies, commit to innovation, and work around the clock are
those organizations that will be leaders in their field. Not only do these technologies serve us to
make life more simple with items like the e-mail or a cell phone, but the
emergence of the technologies as presented by Corning; Mirrored arch display
glass, arch surface glass oven counter, flexible display glass, work surface
glass, wall format surface glass to design clothes. As a leader these technologies I felt will be
such a great tool to utilize for many purposes and if not embraced
organizations will falter and replaced by those that are on the cutting
edge. Being in Nike country out here in
the Northwest, I could not get over the possibilities of the wall format
surface glass that can be employed to design shoes, forecast sales, identify
vendors to purchase materials form, seek outsourcing warehouses to make the
shoes, and identify shipping companies to ship the product. Furthermore on the same screen marketing
strategies can be developed as well as pricing decisions to make a profit
depending upon all the previous decisions.
The most interesting part of this is visually having the opportunity to
see this entire plan on one screen!
Next, Madden
(2008) explains that the workplace landscape has drastically changed pointing
out that 96% of those employed use new technologies-either by going online,
using e-mail or owning a cell phone, therefore employees have been referred to
as “Wired and Ready Workers.” The days
then of going to work and leaving work there are over, we can always be
connected regardless if we are at work or not via technology. Increasingly then leaders have to become more
responsible, accountable, transparent to one’s they serve. Leadership, as well as employee’s the, will
always be “on” as Lindzon (2015) noted “Not only is leadership always ‘on’ but,
companies are now giving more flexibility to them to manage their time. In other words, the days of punching a time
clock in and out are over, now leaders can work from home or on the road and be
connected at all times. However, I think
with this increased flexibility and freedom, leaders need to be transparent and
document their practices, sales, and use of time to justify this freedom
regardless of the field they are in. So,
as a leader in this day and age we are always “on” and always just a text
message or e-mail away from being back at work even if we are on vacation, and
if we resist this reality, unfortunately we can be replaced. Remember as the African proverb suggests once
the sun comes up we better be ready to “Run.”
Finally, when
reading Martin’s (2015) blog on the section devoted to “Leader as hero, Leader
as host,” she quoted Meg Wheatley, who suggested, “That the solution is in
moving from thinking of leaders as heroes into thinking of leadership as
hosting space for people to come together to discover solutions through
meaningful conversations and structured exploration of action.” Personally the focus of a leader being a
hero, I felt was and is unnecessary, as Wheatley noted a leader needs to bring
employees together with a vision and goal and utilize all of the workers skills
and ideas to complete a task. This has
to be an ongoing exercise of leading employees to increase sales, to innovate,
to market a product or service, to increase test scores………This really depends
on the field and accomplishing the goals and/or quota is far more important
than recognition as a “hero,” in fact, many would probably prefer a bonus,
especially at this time of year.
Furthermore, in the same Blog Peter Drucker emphasizes that “We are not
in need of people who know how to win in systems that are broken. We are in need of people who can create
systems that work better for more people.”
Not only is there a need to find leaders that can lead people, but those
that are also innovators, or those that go beyond just leading people. Once these types of leaders are sought and
found, their greatest marketing tool is themselves. Therefore, as I have finally reached the top
of the mountain after completing this class (for I successfully defended my
dissertation November 12th) and now I venture into uncharted territory
with this incredible accomplishment……..I just hope others feel that way, I
definitely think it is time to move on to bigger and more challenging
endeavors! Merry Christmas everybody and
good luck is this incredible Leadership program!
Chris Brown
References
Corning
Incorporated. (2011, February 24). A day made of glass corning's vision for the
future. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qmwdbhsbVs
Friedman, T. L.
(2007). The world is flat. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux
Lindzon, J.
(2015). 6 ways work will change in 2016. Retrieved from http://www.fastcompany.com/3052836/the-future-of-work/6-ways-work-will-change-in-2016#
Madden, M.
(2008, September 24). Networked worker. Retrieved from http://pewinternet.org/2008/09/24/networked-workers/
Martin, M. (2015, December 4). A deep dive into
thinking about 21st century leadership. Retrieved from http://www.michelemmartin.com/thebambooprojectblog/2015/12/work-in-progress-the-leadership-lab.html
Chris: First off, congrats on completing your last course and best of luck as you enter the final stages of this journey. In your last post, what struck the strongest cord with me was your statement, “Reality then is we have to face the harsh reality that our superiority is being challenged.” I think it resonates with truth at a number of different levels, both general and personal, covered throughout this course. At the macro, 10,000ft level, the superiority and authority of the ‘haves’ will continue to be challenged, more and more. This is from the young Indian girl who leverages the power of the Net to earn a scholarship to U.C. Berkeley. And this is from the young ISIS programmer who is charged with ceaselessly searching for weaknesses in our national assets, remotely and thousands of miles away. At the micro, boots on the ground level, this means that my ‘superiority’ and ‘authority’ as a classroom teacher is being challenged. This, to me, is as exciting and promising as it is terrifying. And yet, I find comfort in the idea that I am not the first to be in this position. Haven’t we all (both as individuals and as the collective), gone from the learner to the expert, only to have our ‘expertise’ challenged by the next generation? This is, after all, the cycle of life. So, I agree with you wholeheartedly that this is the harsh reality of where we are, with this ‘new Net,’ and as such, we must face it. Those that hide their heads in the sand and not evolve, as leaders, will quickly become anything but. Those that accept this ‘changing of the guard,’ so-to-speak, will not only retain their leadership, but excel at it. Scary times, fun times to be sure. Cheers! Creighton Helms
ReplyDeleteLet me ditto the "congrats" on completing your doctorate - definitely worth cheering!
ReplyDeleteI feel that we are all moving into uncharted territory...but maybe that will be okay if we work to build our social networks.
Been enjoyable working with you this term. Best of luck.
Great summary of the course. You pulled out some great tidbits, including Friedman’s advice to his daughters and the African Proverb. As I read through your recollection of Madden’s explanation that we are “wired and ready workers” it reminds me that even those who are not as wired into work through email and other means are still only one phone call away. A friend of mine works for the railroad and is on call basically all the time. He works 12 hour shifts but during his days off, he can get called in at a moment’s notice. That is drastically different than when my parents or grandparents were growing up. Many during those periods did not even have a home phone, and definitely did not have a cell phone. So they were very unreachable. Nowadays we seem to be almost 100% reachable and connected.
ReplyDeleteGreat post.
Ray
Chris,
ReplyDeleteExcellent use of the African proverb. While it may be slightly jarring to us, the fact is that we will all have to hit the ground running, so to speak, in order to stay relevant. I know this is not only applicable to me in the field of education, but I process these lessons in that context. I know that my students will hold jobs that have yet to be created, and that they will need certain skills to stay ahead in any field they choose to enter. It is an exciting prospect, but also feels like a heavy responsibility to me at times. Falling into a rut in my teaching is not an option, in my opinion. This course has re-energized me to find new and exciting ways to teach. While I will never totally let go of the traditional style of lecturing, at least in part, I feel heartened by the plethora of new apps and programs that I can incorporate into my classroom. I hope that by doing this, I can give my students somewhat of an edge when they leave the high school environment. If anything, I know that I can give them the skills of adaptability, and a hunger to learn. These traits will be vital in what I imagine will be a rather Darwinist college and work environment, as you state. I worry about the same things with my future children. I think it will fall to parents as well to make sure their children are getting experience with technology at home from a young age (this does not mean simply sitting them down with an iPad to blankly stare at Neflix all day), and work on programs such as the hour of coding a day initiative. If kids learn to experiment and explore and adapt from a young age, it will give them the best start possible as they go through school and into the working world. Our role as leaders will be vital in our personal lives with our families, then, as well as in our professional roles. As I said, this feels like a daunting task sometimes, but it is a responsibility I am happy to take on.
Thank you for your great posts over the last several weeks, and best of luck on your dissertation journey!
- Katie T.