Learning Resolutions for 2012
by Sarah Thompson (@IL_Sarah)
Not Just a Typical Resolution
Every January, I begin to think about the year ahead and try to imagine what it will bring. Also, like many people, I commit to a few New Year’s resolutions. My resolutions usually focus on taking positive physical and moral actions during the year: eating more healthily, exercising more, or committing more time and resources to charities or my community.
This year, though, I asked myself: what kind of commitment can I make to improve my mind, too? Then, as if to help me refine my question, I came across this question posted in an online discussion forum: “What is your Learning Resolution for 2012?”
I began to think seriously about my resolutions for the year. Rather than just eating better and exercising more, what could I commit to that involves my own growth in knowledge? Read more…
Register for Our Webinar – Serious Play: Blurring the Line Between Work and Games
“By 2014, more than 70% of Global 2000 organizations will have at least one gamified application.”
- Gartner Research
In a sequel to Intrepid Learning’s popular webinar Make Learning Stick: How Games Help Improve Performance, Jason Gorfine, resident customer experience and user interface expert, takes a deep dive into the eight principles of HOW games help us learn. Join him for an examination of how “gamifying” a concept can turn obligatory, less-that-exciting tasks from mind-numbing to manageable (and maybe even fun).
Jason will cover a brief history of humanity’s affinity for games, give an overview of the importance of gaming, and a take a tour through of the eight principles of learning (with corresponding real-world examples): Read more…
Fear of Failure
by Dave Atack
Failure. Merely saying the word causes an emotional reaction in most of us.
Just recently I’ve noticed failure being talked about quite a bit. “Hi, my name is Kevin, and I am a failure”, announced Kevin Jones at Enterprise 2.0 in Santa Clara. His opening remark made us all perk up and listen—it’s not every day you get to hear a thought leader speaking openly about failure. The phenomenon of embracing failure isn’t limited to the individual level, either. It’s been on the radar (and in the headlines) of bloggers and even industry journals. The cover of the April 2011 issue of the Harvard Business Review was embossed with 1.5 inch high letters that read “FAILURE”.
I find all this talk of failure fascinating. We humans like being right; we feel more gratified when we’re right. But by our nature, humans are destined to fail—and fail often—sometimes in small, subtle ways, and sometimes in big, obvious ways. Our big failures often become a part of us. Read more…
Rethinking Blended Learning
by Sarah Thompson (@IL_Sarah)
Over the years, I spent a lot of time playing with Lego blocks with my kids. Each time we sat down to build something, it was a new experience and from it came a new creation. I often think of learning as Lego blocks: some pieces are small and helpful in filling in tiny gaps; others are larger and can be used as a foundation for great things; a few are shaped like leaves on a tree and are only used for a very specific purpose. When we start with all of these different elements, we can build toward any end result imaginable. Read more…
4 Tips for Combating Sales Chaos
by Lorne Hamilton
As sales people, we are often asked to report on the status of a sales pursuit or the probability of winning a particular deal. Typically, this is to support a reporting requirement like forecasting or resource planning, but offers limited value to offer the sales person.
In reality, the dynamic nature of a sale has many variables and most often cannot be controlled. Seasoned sales professionals know that there are numerous stages in a sales cycle where they are required to make an immediate and conclusive response to changes—changes in competition, pricing, customer requirements, buyer turnover, customer economics, and so on. These variable factors are referred to as “chaos” by Tim Ohai and Brian Lambert in their book, Sales Chaos, and may not be as detrimental as they sound. The authors indicate that chaos occurs in recognizable patterns, and once skilled at identifying the patterns, the sales person is able to make sense of a tangled mess and thrive. Read more…
