Trend Watch List

>>>> NOTE TO READERS: Trend Watch List is evolving and joining forces with Trend POV to become the way that forward thinking executives access the people and ideas that drive strategic advantage. See and share what we are planning for the big launch January 1st at http://www.New.TrendPOV.com. <<<<

Continuing our look forward towards 2010 and beyond we turn our attention towards the evolving trends that will affect your talent and workforce strategies in the coming years. These trends represent an overarching theme of the individual in an environment of rapid change and continual learning. Training has to be fast, timely, targeted and relevant. One way may businesses may accomplish this in 2010 and beyond is via audio push. Audio push, differs from podcast in that the delivery is immediate and the whole process transacts over your phone with only SMS and phone service. As more employers demand proof of timely skills sets, more job seekers will look for short certification programs to gain and prove these skills. Certification programs are evolving and we are tracking it. We have not forgotten that the talent pipeline for the majority of American industry is broken. In 2010 we will be tracking efforts by governments, organizations and companies alike towards turning this negative trend around with a future workforce checkup. Speaking of your employees, there may be fewer of them. Freelancing is on the rise to the extent that the employee of the future may not be an employee at all, but an independent contractor. Employees that are not moving towards freelance status in the coming years will need quite a bit more to stay with your organization more than a year. Incentivizing employees to drive innovation, effectiveness, and the bottom line has to be personalized. In 2010 we will be tracking the evolution of freelance as the norm and incentive solutions forms. Each of these evolving trends are part of the larger complex landscape of your talent and workforce efforts. Stay tuned throughout 2010 as we explore each of these and more to develop ways for your business to get ahead.

December is a great time to look forward to the next year and beyond. These evolving trends represent the overarching effect of digital becoming more serious in its effect on your business environment. The dream of the completely paperless company is not new but highly elusive. In 2010 will track how the evolution of multi-media and internet security is making the completely paperless office a distinct possibility...and how some organizations are dying at the hand of digitization. The online environment is evolving to allow for more interaction than ever before. In 2010 we will be tracking the potential uses of the virtual space for increased ROI that many businesses have yet to consider. Meanwhile, software as a service is fast becoming the route to simplified operations for businesses worldwide. We will explore the right kind of SaaS-sourcing for your business, choosing vendors, when to keep it in-house, offering your own product to the masses and more. Targeting potential clients based on behaviors, and profiles is beginning to happen as we speak. In 2010 we will track the evolution of online marketing (including social media marketing) towards real time individual ad targeting. While we are all online, the old rules of product development told us that the best way to make sales is to put our product into every possible storefront. That rule may no longer apply. In 2010 we will track the evolution of exclusivity and watch the major retailers for precursor evidence of new business strategies to trump the trend. These trends contribute to a potent brew affecting your business environment and the way in which you will do business in 2010 and beyond. Over the coming year, we will be tracking them and innovating new ways to use them to your strategic advantage.

>>>> NOTE TO READERS: Trend Watch List is evolving and joining forces with Trend POV to become the way that forward thinking executives access the people and ideas that drive strategic advantage. See and share what we are planning for the big launch January 1st at http://www.New.TrendPOV.com. <<<<

With the recent focus on innovation, it can be easy for any organization to become wrapped around building a better axle. However, innovation alone does not breed success. There is a battle brewing between the time tested practice of entrepreneurship and the requirements of the emerging innovation economy. The question is whether innovation or entrepreneurship can exist in this new environment without the other, finding the right mix, and understanding the difference. In this article, we explore the critical differences between and the many types of innovation and entrepreneurship, as well as how to find the balance between the two and your optimal mix for competitive advantage.

Innovation is about new ideas. It may be new products, processes, services, business models and more. Entrepreneurship, however, is about realizing profit. The difference between innovation and entrepreneurship is key. You can build it, but they may not come. Delia Smith of Green Field Ventures gives a concise view of the difference when she notes that, “If innovation is the creation of new capacities for wealth creation, entrepreneurship is the exploitation of these capacities.”

In the accelerating business environment and evolving innovation economy, differentiators are key. Your business has to be unique in some advantageous way that draws your customers. The right mix of innovation and entrepreneurship is at the heart of creating advantage in this evolving economy. Steve Epner suggests, “an entrepreneur with an innovative idea is a rare and valuable find...everyone is capable of coming up with the idea. Put that together with someone who can execute a plan—and watch out.”

To turn this trend into a competitive advantage, develop the right mix of innovation and entrepreneurship for your organization. Decide how you will encourage each kind of innovation within your organization. Next, develop entrepreneurial processes for acting on innovation. Your entrepreneurial process needs to vet ideas effectively and move them forward systematically. In other words, invest in moving forward with ideas that fit your business strategy, contribute to your company’s future prospects and are within your current means.

Lastly, reward innovation and entrepreneurship individually to keep enthusiasm high. Given these steps, your organization will be on the path to a sustained mix of innovation and entrepreneurship that will enable your to thrive and not just survive in this evolving economy.

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This week, we turn our attention towards the powerful combination of trends that are converging. In this article, we cover how social media, the talent war and global workforce attitudes are converging to affect your talent strategy and how you can create advantage. Even as the internet was developing, talent was becoming harder to find. As we enter the innovation economy the need for a new kind of talent has unleashed the dogs of war across every industry. The evolving innovation economy is not the root of the talent war, but it is the element that would escalate talent shortage towards an all out battle for human capital. Meanwhile, social media emerged as a means to fill a need for the secret sauce of innovation - people. A virtual flood (pun intended) of job candidates but a need to find just the right one has led to the emergence of some unusual recruiting methodologies. Ambush interviews, networks raids, lurking on candidate blogs and more are now common place techniques for pulling in that hard to find innovative talent. At the same time, generations X and Y are becoming your mainstay workforce with the attitude of the disposable worker. Your challenge used to be making sure you did not give your employees a reason to leave...now work every day to give them a reason to stay. Growing disinterest in technical disciplines within the United States and worsening performance against global peers is spurring more organizations to search globally. Social media, the talent war and global attitudes did not beget each other, but have now converged and are both exacerbating and enabling solutions among themselves. Being at the center of these trends can mean a number of things. Decide what it means for your organization. Focus, measure and track your results and you are on your way to coherent and talented teams.

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This month, we turn our attention towards the powerful combination of trends from each category that are converging to bring revolutionary change to your business environment. In this article, we cover how social media, interactive marketing and the innovation economy are converging and how you can use the opportunity to your advantage. The next step in a long line of economic evolution has been innovation...in other words, they who can turn knowledge into ideas are rare and therefore valuable. Enter the innovation economy. Meanwhile, by filling the need for human connection, social media also filled a need for the secret sauce of innovation - people. With the rise of social media and its native multi-media and interactive formats, came the emergence of interactive marketing. In the world of social media that means meeting them online in their networks in an interactive way. No one puts it quite so well as Ralph A. Oliva, Executive Director of the Institute for the Study of Business Markets at Penn State University who had the following advice for our readers: “Recognize that you don't own your brands -- your customers do...you co-create your brand -- and profitable businesses -- together with your customer.” It is an overarching mantra for the modern business and one that is at the heart of these converging trends. The evolution of the innovation economy contributed to rise of social media and both in turn encourage the rise of interactive marketing for business purposes. These developments have brewed a powerful convergence of these three trends wherein each encourages the evolution of the others. Trend soup; swimming in it can feel overwhelming. To create competitive advantage, place your organization at the center of these converging trends. That will mean different things for different organizations. Decide what it means for you. Develop measures for innovative capacity and brand management within your organization that will guide you towards an optimized use of social media and interactive marketing for your focused purpose. Above all, don’t be afraid to dive in.

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Your competition is tapping your talent pipeline. In previous articles we have detailed where the pipeline is broken, why, how to fix it, the role of attitudes, and much more. We turn our attention now to the one other force responsible for your lack of workforce talent - that of your competition siphoning off the pipeline at every stage possible.

In the K-12 range, a multitude of companies are making efforts to develop their own pipelines. We have highlighted several via the Spotlight Awards but there are hundreds more; 18 from the Aerospace Industry Association alone whose members support an average of 26 educational programs each. The college level of your talent pipeline is perhaps the most common and accepted place to find new talent, and one that your organization likely is tapping already.

Now consider the talent that you already have in-house. This part of the pipeline is perhaps the most vulnerable. Other organizations will tap your current staff in many ways including: social media, ambush interviews, and the newest style of corporate raiding that we will call “network raiding.”

In the social media age, there is no such thing as a secret. This fact has let to two more unusual forms of recruitment. The first emergent form of recruitment is the ambush interview. The ambush interview begins as a legitimate business meeting for a legitimate purpose and devolves by design into a serious discussion of whether or not the talent in question would consider jumping ship. On the other side of the coin, a popular tactic is to lure away one or two and have them lure more in turn, a.k.a. the Network Raid.

For a positive advantage, you have two options: raise the talent yourself, or let your competition raise the talent and siphon off of their pipeline. Organizations that are focused on the short term (perhaps planning a grow-and-sell strategy) will prefer to pick off great talent from other organizations after they have put in the effort to educate and train them. For stable brands in it for the long haul, it is cheaper and more effective to have your own pipeline rather than siphoning off of your competitors.

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The spotlight award is given organizations that demonstrate a keen understanding of emerging trends and act on them to significant advantage. Virgin Group receives this month’s Spotlight Award for their continually fearless biznophrenic innovation and the management style that has led to success. Today, Virgin Group Ltd has spawned over 200 branded companies in 29 countries and enjoys more than $17 Billion USD in yearly revenue. The big deal is that Virgin Group Ltd has on average developed and launched more than 5 companies per year in industries so diverse as to question the meaning of “core business areas.” Management philosophy within the organization is centered, in our interpretation, on several powerful characteristics: openness to people and ideas, focus on perfecting the details, and willingness to take risks and fail. Openness to people and ideas, for Virgin Group Ltd, means working to find the right talent, and letting them have a voice. Focus on details, for Virgin Group Ltd, means seeking high quality in every product but also paying attention to the details of the business. Not every venture succeeds, even for Virgin Group Ltd. The ability to roll on quite happily to the next is the key. We asked Dr. Tony Warren of Penn State University's Smeal School of Business for his insight. He suggests that perhaps quality is not always maintained at the pace of five businesses per year. Dr. Warren also suggests that, “The group uses the start-up mode to emphasize its free-wheeling image, and to encourage innovation and other entrepreneurial traits throughout the organization. They are not afraid to fail which is a necessity if you are going to be innovative in any case.” To turn lessons from Virgin Group Ltd. into an advantage for your organization, consider the following. First, a word of caution. Dr. Warren recommends, “Don’t try to copy unless you have another messiah at the head... let ideas get support and let your employees take a stake in good ideas they come up with; don’t fear failure.” Point well taken. First, make it all about the people. Be open to ideas - from your customers, your employees and your competitors. Don’t be afraid to fail or look foolish. Focus on your creating something unique and special for your customers and don’t ever stop working to improve it. These lessons are not new, but they are seldom implemented in most companies. Take them to heart for your organization and watch the difference.

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The spotlight award is given to organizations that demonstrate an honest understanding of emerging trends and work to turn them into an advantage. This month, we honor For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) with the Spotlight Award in the category of Education Trends for understanding the need, and for taking innovative, scalable and measurable steps to meet it.

FIRST was founded by inventor Dean Kamen in 1989 to “change the culture” by “inspiring young people’s interest and participation in science and technology.” The non-profit organization provides challenge programs culminating in competitions where teams from grades K-12 put forth their best solutions to real world problems posed by sponsors.

Three factors make FIRST special and of note to organizations everywhere: it reaches all the way down to the early elementary level, it is measurable, and it is massively scalable.

Among FIRST programs, if Junior FIRST LEGO is tee-ball, FIRST LEGO is little league, FIRST Tech Challenge is Junior Varsity and FIRST Robotics Competition is Varsity. Coaches and mentors from companies that sponsor, promote and just get involved provide guidance, real-world application, hands-on learning and critical encouragement to teams of all ages. Today, FIRST has 3000 corporate sponsors and reaches over 196,000 students. Careful tracking has shown that FIRST programs directly increase technical career choice by two to four times. The secret to FIRST scalability is putting the power in the hands of individuals who come together to create their own teams. Coaches and mentors volunteer within these local teams.

We asked FIRST President, Paul Gudonis, how he will know when FIRST has succeeded in changing the culture? He recommended a two-sided measure: qualitative and quantitative. He suggests, “quantitatively, by college entrance and by graduation in STEM fields and qualitatively by who we celebrate as a culture. You get what you celebrate - we celebrate innovation, creativity, and teamwork.”

Companies and organizations worldwide can turn this trend into an advantage in several ways: get involved, create additional challenge programs locally, and incentivize employee participation at the individual level. Time is a precious as money and it does not take a lot of either to start seeing the rewards of a solid technical talent pipeline for your organization.

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No matter what you call it, more businesses are opting to be multiple businesses all in one. In this article, we explore the pros and cons of the emerging trend in Corporate Biznophrenia and how a smart business can get the greatest advantage. The internet and e-commerce are certainly a factor. Meanwhile. the disposable worker has yielded the disposable brand. Brand loyalty is harder to come by and your organization cannot count on a single brand carrying them through decades of great sales. What differentiates a biznophrenic organization from a conglomerate or diversified group is the speed and processes by which new business concepts or brands are brought to market. Biznophrenia is about acting at the pace of the social media age.

Small and medium sized organizations are just as capable of producing new business concepts in diverse industries quickly...in fact, in an age when speed is critical, the smaller organization with the right mix of talent and resources is the best positioned to succeed. So, why would a company want to take on multiple brands? The answer is not far from why individuals would create a side business: reduced risk, greater chance of overall success, and to capitalize on opportunity. To turn this trend into an advantage for your organization, prepare to get biznophrenic. The challenge for any biznophrenic company (i.e. diversified organization) will be quality and speed. The key is to determine which are the winners and worth the time, effort and resources of the team. Once you know the business concepts you want to pursue, the key will be to pursue them quickly before their time has past. Lastly, you must know when to retire a brand that has over-stayed its welcome. Now a caution against toxic biznophrenia - the tendency to create multiple brands for the sake of multiple brands. Just because it would be profitable does not mean it should be under your umbrella.

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It seems like great talent is getting harder and harder to find. Few industries have felt the pinch more than those who need technical minds to survive. Something has gone wrong. The pipeline that used to turn future talent into today’s talent is broken. In this article, we travel down the pipeline to find the break. There is advantage to be had for organizations that act now. The university end of the pipeline appears to be in tip top shape. However, there are not enough people emerging from technical majors because students do not choose those majors. The pipeline is in tact, but it is empty. High School shows a similar story. Let’s look at middle school. Decisions made by these 11-14 year olds are making the difference between staying in the technical pipeline and leaving it forever...and they are choosing to leave it forever. The full damage to the technical pipeline is not seen until you look all the way back at the shattered remains of what once ran through the pre-school and elementary years. Today, the technical talent pipeline of today does not really begin until the end of Middle School when most future talent has already chosen a different path. The pipeline that used to exist before middle school was destroyed in the early 1970s when we lost our culture of importance. Few in...few out. To turn these trends into an advantage for your organization, I recommend a two-pronged approach. First, It is not too late for the millennials and beyond. Establish your own pipeline that begins in pre-school and continues through college. The reward is a pool of talent that competes to work for YOU instead of the other way around. Sadly, It is too late to increase the amount of technical talent in generation X and generation Y. For those generations, offer education and experiences within your organization to grow the talent you have and those diamonds in the rough that you will discover. This combination of strategies will keep you in sufficient talent to weather the innovation economy and beyond in grand style while your competition takes loss after loss in the great talent war.

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The Self Tending Mushroom award is given to individuals and organizations who refuse to accept the realities around them. This month, we award the STeMie to IBM Global Services in the category of Business Trends for ignoring the nature of the modern employee-employer relationship.

According to IBM’s own proudly displayed metrics, the number of employees at least minimally satisfied with their jobs has remained in only the mid to upper sixties for more than five years without change. Specifically, it shows no effective effort to increase employee satisfaction.

One current employee, notes in detail what others are saying in droves; that IBM Global Services is a strong brand name that looks very nice on your resume, and it is a great place for training, but that there are major problems with the work environment, specifically with the way employees are treated. Employees (current and past) are posting more frequently and more negatively on sites such as Glassdoor.com, Computerworld’s Sharkbait blog, and others. Among the most common comments are:

“I have been IBM-free since January and I feel like I have been reborn.”
“I still work there, but I would leave if the economy were better.”
“Trending Downward - Avoid”
“Nothing but contracted slaves.”
“If you don't work for IBM, don't come, if you already work here, leave”
“IBM - a stepping stone to a real career”

Ouch. When you treat your employees like a commodity, they will treat your company like a commodity. Back to the golden rule, students: Do unto your employee as you would have your employee do unto your company.

So it is with great hope for change that we award this month’s STeMie to IBM Global Services. May you put that shovel down immediately and start making a difference for your employees. It is too hard to see a legend fall.

There are so many lessons in this story. For IBM Global Services - act now to change this negative trend. Accept the message your employees are sending. For IBM competitors - in the near term, you have a golden opportunity to grab some great talent looking for a new home.

For businesses and organizations everywhere, the time has come for a more modern management style. You are never beyond the human frailty of complacence. Face the realities that your employees are posting. As much as you are preoccupied by economic woes and just staying afloat, don’t forget that it is your team that keeps the boat from going under.

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The Self Tending Mushroom Alert, or STeMie, is bestowed on individuals, organizations and countries who choose to delude themselves rather than face reality. Albeit harsh, the STeMie serves an important role in showing us what not to do. Grab your shovels as we award this month’s STeMie to the American Parent in the category of Education Trends.

Few people have spent more time deluding themselves about their children’s future than the American Parent. For decades, a “they” mentality and a culture of low standards in math and science performance has brought about significant declines in our overall technical capacity as a nation. The attitude of the American Parent (and teachers, and daycare providers alike) is at the center of problem and the solution to the declining technical capability of the United States.

How did it come to this? Somewhere towards the beginning of Generation X, our culture stopped thinking that math and science are important. We allowed ourselves to think that some people are just not good at math or science because it made us feel better about our own failures. In short, it became uncool to be good at math and science. We put ignorant people on a pedestal and listen to every word they say because it makes us feel smarter.

There is not one parent in the country that would believe that their child is “just not good at P.E.”. After all, they have a body now go out there and use it! But the average American Parent allows their child to come home and declare that they are “just not good at math,” relying instead on THEY. Somewhere out there in their generation there are some smart kids and they will study math and science and create wonderful things.

I have good news and bad news and you can decide which is which. Every child has a brain. Now expect them to go out there and use it. There is no THEY. Your child is the brilliant one who is capable of amazing ingenuity. If your children are “just not good” at math and science it is because you ”just don’t put in the effort.” Maybe you didn’t do well in math or science and you are embarrassed about that...Maybe you don’t like math...maybe you just hate science..Maybe you don’t understand the varied methods that your child brings home in their homework. You don’t have to like it. You don’t have to understand it. You don’t have to have done well in the classes. You just have to care that your child does.

The lesson for individuals and organizations across the United States is both simple and critical. The solution to the education crisis in the United States begins with creating a culture of importance in the home. A culture of importance is what you create when you say to your child, “Whether or not I did well in these subjects, it is important to me that you do.” Your opinion matters. Now use it for your own future and that of your children and grandchildren.

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The most spectacular crashes happen at the highest speeds. The pace of business today is like a race car at full speed and accelerating every minute. If any part of your organizational vehicle is weak, moving slowly, outdated, or sub-optimal in any way, you will not have time to avoid the oncoming disaster. Tuning up your organization is no longer a luxury. It is a necessity for survival. In this article, we explore why periodic organizational optimization with a human approach is so critical and how to carry it out quickly and effectively.

The end product of a well-conducted organizational checkup should include a concise list of what you need to do to boost your productivity, efficiency, optimize your processes, retain staff, boost growth and sales, and a lot more! If you put into practice the resulting recommendations, your organization will see benefits in the near term, with larger benefits accruing long term. In other words, it should show you what you can do NOW to make a difference NOW and LATER.

Over years of corporate and program rescue, I developed my own streamlined organizational check-up that anyone can carry out in less than a week to keep your organization at peak capacity. I want to share it with you here. The only way to accurately assess an organization is to talk to the people that do the work; from the CEO to the janitor. Address privacy and layoff fears before you begin. Then, start by listing out your core tasks. Ask each person to outline each process. Cross-check between interviews to get an accurate picture of the real processes. Every step of a process matches to a skill that someone has (you hope). Ask each person to rank themselves and each other on how well their current role, skill set, and interests match to each step. A self tending mushroom mentality will not lead to growth so check your rose colored glasses at the door. From all of this, you might recommend role changes, learning opportunities, more efficient or effective processes or any number of innovative solutions. Include enough detail to act on, a measure of impact and a cost to implement.

You can turn this into an advantage by ensuring that your organization has regular check-ups. Be the hero who brings the idea to the table and leads the effort. The result - your organization will accelerate to maximum capacity and stay there as your competition stagnates and declines.

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In this article, we turn our attention outward to look at cultural attitudes towards math and science worldwide and what it means for us. Cultures which strive for continual improvement are synonymous with innovation and success. Four of the top seven performing countries have a 90% rate of belief that technological advancements bring social benefits. Another interesting find is that students in the large majority of the top performing countries study within systems where 80% of schools have at least two other schools competing for students leading to higher emphasis on academics.

The important conclusion from these results and others is that attitudes matter. A secret sauce of attitudes would seem to be the perfect recipe for high performance and high interest. All of this emphasis on attitude might make you wonder why it is so important.

Attitudes affect vocational choice and national research funding in every country. If no one wants to be a scientist and no one is funding research, there will be no work done. The result: we will not have the medicines, we will not have the gadgets and we will not have the know-how. In short, we will stagnate while others race ahead...And it all comes down to attitude.

To turn global attitude trends into an advantage for your family is quite simple: start today to form a culture of importance within your home and within your family. It doesn’t matter if you failed every math and science course you took. Decide that it is important to you that the children in your life learn as much as they can. Then, let them know!

For businesses and organizations, foster a culture of importance within your communities and among your employees. Perpetuating a culture where math and science are important is a critical factor for filling your talent pipeline.

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The Spotlight Award is given to individuals and organizations that stand as examples for us all. We are thrilled to present this month’s Spotlight Award to Brigadier General John “Mick” Nicholson in the category of Business Trends. So you might ask what a United States Army Brigadier General is doing in the Business Trends section! Quite simply, this month’s Spotlight Award recipient is a prime example of management and leadership at its best in the social media age.

We sat down with BG Nicholson for an extended interview on the management and leadership methods that he employs and what they mean for management and leadership in every industry in today’s changing climate. In this article, we offer you the most critical parts of our interview with one of the US military’s most capable leaders. For all those who think that management and leadership of an army at war has nothing to do with leading your company...think again.

BG Nicholson proved himself an agile leader with a Command Without Control mentality that led to great success before, during and after his command of the tumultuous eastern region of Afghanistan. The lessons are universal for businesses and organizations everywhere.
Creating his culture of learning and agility took a lot of investment in human capital both within and outside of the organization. Tyranny of distance stood between this commander and his team more often than not with thousands of team members spread out over 27 thousand square miles of unforgiving terrain with little to no infrastructure and the most minimal of communications if any. How could he command a team that large and distributed? It was all about the people...

“The bottom line is I invested a lot of time in these individuals and in my relationship with those individuals… And with the demands on your time, you say i can’t afford to do that; but you know what? You can’t afford not to...”

That philosophy is at the heart of Command Without Control management and leadership in the social media age. BG Nicholson left me with the following advice on why a Command Without Control style of leadership will yield more success than old school control mentalities:

“...you are tapping into the full human potential of the organization not just the potential of one individual. To me its so you can achieve the full potential and do even better whether that’s making a profit or winning a war.”

Well stated. BG Nicholson offers several lessons: Be honest about yourself, your organization, your situation and your goals. Invest in the human connection with your team and entrust them with ability to remain agile in an uncertain and changing environment. And lastly, long distance is just an excuse and not a real obstacle to team cohesion in the social media age.

With this, it is my honor to name Brigadier General John “Mick” Nicholson, US Army our Spotlight Award recipient in the category of Business Trends. Many thanks to you from all of us for the inspiration.

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Link: http://tinyurl.com/cja7uy

The spotlight award is given to individuals and entities that demonstrate a keen understanding of emerging trends and who successfully turn those trends into an advantage over and over. Spotlight award recipients are examples to learn from and a great place to get ideas for your own trend POV. This month’s spotlight award goes to Intel Corporation in the category of Education Trends.

Intel is pursuing a powerful portfolio of programs to, “help teachers teach, students learn and universities around the world innovate-particularly in the areas of math, science and technology.”

With nearly a dozen programs to tackle many of the major aspects of early and higher math and science education, it can seem overwhelming. Why would any company do so much? The major reason is in the sad fact that no company or organization in the United States can depend on our current educational system and culture to produce sufficient technical talent for the future. The fact that Intel recognized over a decade ago is that any organization requiring technical talent to thrive has to fill the pipeline themselves.

Beyond positive results and philanthropy you have to ask what is in it for Intel. After all, Intel Corporation is a technology manufacturer. They make computer chips. They are not in the education business. They funnel a lot of corporate profit into the endeavor but they do not profit from education or education research...or do they?

No company is THAT philanthropic without an expected ROI. Looking a little deeper, we see that there is indeed quite a bit in it for Intel: direct lines into a large worldwide pipeline of technical talent AND increased worldwide positive brand image and awareness.

There are several aspects of Intel’s program that any organization can emulate even if your budgets are small. The important features of Intel’s education outreach programs include:

1. budgeting a consistent percentage of profits each year towards educational outreach programs,
2. designing activities that tap into their unique workforce,
3. designing activities that promote the skills their organization will need in the coming decades
4. benefiting students, parents, teachers and administrators alike,

We are thrilled to award this month’s spotlight award to Intel Corporation as an example that every organization can follow and wish to offer our heartfelt thanks to the people behind the education initiative for the inspiration they provide worldwide.

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The pace of business, that is the rate at which you take a prospect to customer status and the speed at which they expect you to respond, is faster than ever before. Even more so, the pace of business is accelerating. It is not an illusion brought on by age, but a reality of the connected world in which we live.

Communications technologies including the internet, email, cell phones, VOIP and others were the first major contributors to the accelerated pace of business. Customers have access to easy and fast information and they expect easy and fast access to you too. Then came social media. Blogs, Twitter, Linkedin, Youtube, Facebook, Ustream, and others created and continue to create vast extended networks of people with common interests.

Social media in this way is driving a faster pace of business by creating a cultural expectation of immediacy and by accelerating the speed of word of mouth (be it good or bad). The online word of mouth arena with your business at the center has grown to unprecedented size. Each video view, blog view, tweet and post is a part of a larger swarm of conversation that may be for you, against you, or ignoring you. Only one of these leads consistently to positive outcome.

Over the next few years, I see social networks expanding. In short, anything that will help to automate or semi-automate the lower end of the business prospecting cycle will be well received. The best way to get business in the future social media market may be through short term bidding or must-apply opportunities. A great example of this is Maria Andros, self proclaimed video marketing queen, who dominates YouTube and Twitter. She opened a competition for a limited number of spots as her customer for personal coaching, to great success.

The better news is that the social media age, the very thing that produced this fast-paced environment, also gives you the tools to make it your advantage and that goes way beyond marketing. Turn social media into your double agent by using it to find, keep and cultivate that talent. Then, use communications in all its forms to optimize your proposal and business processes for maximum efficiency and effectiveness. Do that and you will accelerate your organizational performance to peak capacity and keep it there.

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In the January 2009 Trend Watch List article, ”Trends in Math and Science Performance,” we noted that “An important trend is that the United States was in a similar position in 2003. Not an upward trend, not a downward trend, but a trend wherein other countries continue to out-perform the US and still others are racing forward while the US stagnates in ineffective education...The impact of stagnant and ineffective math and science education is a severe lack of technical talent in the current and future workforce.”

This problem is significant and not likely to be resolved in time for Generation X...perhaps there is a fighting chance for the Millennials (second half of Generation Y). In the February Trend Watch List article, ”Cultural Attitudes Towards Math And Science In The US,” we noted that, “Major differences in math and science performance between countries can be traced to a cultural issue – one of parent and teacher attitudes towards math and science and its importance...To turn this trend into an advantage, your organization needs to reverse the trend.”

In this article, we review past research and detail why early childhood is the last frontier and best possible stage to foster and enjoyment and importance of math and science that will lead to a larger, more capable emerging workforce.

There is no shortage of research blooming from every corner on the subject of literature-based mathematics at the early childhood level and its impact on the emerging workforce. But introducing concepts early is not enough. Effectively stemming the decline to produce the technically savvy workforce required for the coming decades will require TWO specific remedies.

The definition of success is quite easy to reach. We will pass the turning point when every school has sufficient resources to introduce higher order math and science at the preschool and early elementary level and when every parent and teacher says honestly and often to the children in their lives, “Whether or not I did well in math and science, it is important to me that you do, and I will do what I can to help you.”

Individuals can create an advantage from this trend by fostering a culture of importance with the children in your life - your own children, your nieces and nephews, your cousins, your neighbors, your friends. You have the power to influence - so start using it to positive effect.

Companies and organizations have an equally powerful chance to influence young minds, and an entire workforce to gain. Consider the talents within your own organization. What experiments, talents, information and demonstrations can you and your organization bring to local schools to make a difference? It is rare that a single undertaking can be a win for both the organization and the community, so get started today!

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The Self Tending Mushroom Alert or STeMie, is given to individuals, organizations and entities that support their right to keep themselves in the dark and feed themselves their own brand of fertilizer. As an important point of balance, STeMs give us a valuable lesson in what not to do. So feel their pain and take in the lesson as we present this STeMie in the category of Business Trends to General Motors...yes, the entire company from executives to every last union worker.

Every successful business runs a natural cycle of rise, success and domination leading to decline and a final end. The biggest clue should have been in Toyota’s sales trends in the North American market. When you are overtaken by your competition by more than ten times revenue...you need to take note.

It is the natural cycle of capitalism that some businesses will fail, even some large businesses and that even successful businesses will eventually meet their end. They will be broken up, acquired by venture capital, relaunched, and reincarnated to consolidate once more.

Americans love their cars, and are not likely to stop providing a strong market for cars. That is to say there is plenty of demand to go around. Thus, the more likely scenario is that the majority of jobs would not be lost but would move to another automaker such as Toyota who would naturally expand to fill the void in supply.

But there is something more to the picture than just the natural decline of a business. Businesses decline because they become obsolete. GM is a prime example. The fact of the matter is that GM remained mired in their old school ways, in their knowledge economy processes and their information age management. By failing to move their practices and processes to meet the social media age business environment, they succumbed to a competitor who did.

To turn GM’s example into your advantage, recognize the harm done in not adapting to the times at hand. How can you update your management, processes and skills to keep pace with your competitors..and if you are smart, to outpace them. Look five steps ahead of your competitors’ use of management, process and technological trends and make the leap ahead!

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This month’s STeMie goes to a reporter, radio host and nightly cable news anchor who, as a result, will probably not invite me on any time soon; the illustrious Lou Dobbs. Lou Dobbs is the anchor and managing editor of CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight.

After a recent episode of his CNN show, I knew he was a perfect candidate for a STeMie in the category of Education.mHe goes so far as to suggest that large companies like Microsoft are deviously plotting to import foreign post doctoral students for cheap labor...insert Bill Gates and an evil laugh here...and that this results in lower pay for scientific jobs thus deterring our own citizens from pursuing scientific careers.

He fails to understand the reality behind these statistics, however, which have formed from the sad state of pre-college math and science education in the United States and the higher quality of such in thirty five other countries around the world.

The lesson for Lou Dobbs is: it may be time to get some new researchers on staff. Granted, in the media world, “bad news is good news and good news is not news.” Nonetheless, taking a victim mentality via tabloid quality expose to protect yourself and your audience from the reality of our educational failure is unacceptable. Your viewers deserve better...they deserve the “TRUTH” that you so vehemently promise each night but, in this case, failed to deliver.

The lesson lesson for Trend Watch List readers is: compete on a global scale, or suffer the consequences. No good will come from blaming our poor educational system on foreign states or evil corporations. We need to face the reality and start doing something to turn it around.

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Link: http://www.events.dramyvanderbilt.com

It seems like everyone has a side business these days. This trend is more than just perception. In this article, we explore the emerging trend of individual biznophreniaTM and how you and your organization can turn it into a personal and professional advantage.

There are a number of factors driving individuals to create a secondary income or side business. These can range from job dissatisfaction to a life long dream, a need for additional income, and similar factors.

The internet and e-commerce are decisive factors in the side business boom. The spice in this secret sauce, however, is the disposable worker mentality. Today, and for the last decade, the average employee changes jobs every 3-4 years. Today’s workforce does not offer company loyalty because they have not been shown loyalty by any company. They understand that they must provide their own plan B and their own stability.

Other factors contributing to the boom in side businesses include the U.S. cultural and legal environment and upcoming generations who are used to multi-tasking. All of this mixes together to provide the perfect environment for a side business boom. Some take it farther than others by having three to four simultaneous efforts or more. This author is a prime example with no less than 5 income generating efforts currently on tap.

The benefits of having a side business are many. It increases customer base. It allows you to incorporate your passions and hedge your bets. Individual BiznophreniaTM is a skill and an art. It’s time to start using it to your advantage.

Organizations can turn this trend into an advantage by not discouraging employees from having a side business. For a radical idea, consider being the one to help them get started. If done correctly, you can earn back some of that lost loyalty and maintain revenue from that employee long after they have moved on. Individuals can turn this trend into an advantage by considering how you might benefit from having a side business. Follow your passions, learn how to run multiple efforts while maintaining your sanity, and then go for it!

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Link: http://www.trendwatchlist.com/extended

Major differences in math and science performance between countries can be traced to a cultural issue – one of parent and teacher attitudes towards math and science and its importance. In this article, we look as the state of cultural attitudes towards math and science in the US specifically and how companies and organizations can help reverse the trend for an advantage.

Many parents push back on updated teaching methods because they are not what they know themselves. Keep in mind, these are Generation X parents of Generation Y and Millennial Children. We were among the first wave of the lost technical generations. It is no surprise that our fear of not understanding makes us less open to our children learning new ways to solve problems. There is nothing wrong with the method…the problem is the parental attitude, and often that of the teacher as well.

Many teachers across the country also push back on any new method of instruction. Largely for the same reason…fear. I have seen it first hand in my teaching experience. Imagine a room full of soon-to-be elementary school teachers of which 80% are quite literally in fear of math. They are teaching your children and grandchildren today.

Students in the PISA test (see January’s Trend Watch List Article on Education) echoed their parents’ sentiment that science (including mathematical science) is important and should be advanced. But only 1% take up a mathematics major when they reach college in the United States because they do not see the subject as relevant and useful to them personally.

To turn this trend into an advantage, your organization needs to reverse the trend. Consider what you can uniquely do to affect attitudes, reach children at all ages, and educate parents and teachers on the importance and use of math and science. It is not only good for your community; it fills your future talent pipeline AND builds brand awareness with the upcoming generation and their parents!

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Link: http://www.events.dramyvanderbilt.com

In the social media age, we live in a global society, where communications, and moreover, necessity have produced a convention of vast, physically extended yet tightly connected networks of people. Managers and leaders must accept that control is a delusion, but leadership and agility are real and required. I am not advocating that well studied management methods such as situational leadership and others be abandoned. I AM advocating that it is time to apply them in a new way. This new age has fostered the need for a new model of leadership: Command Without Control™.

Control used to be an option. There was a time when the leader really was the only source of information for his or her team; when it was possible to posit an alternate reality and proliferate it through the team via propaganda in many forms (even before the advent of PowerPoint).

What changed? COMMUNICATIONS! Specifically the internet and the proliferation of inexpensive communications capabilities (email, messaging, cell phones, etc.) and social media. There are two particular outcomes of increased communications capability that are at work here: easy availability of information and accelerated response time.

To turn this trend into your advantage you need only to update your current management methods. Depending on where your management and leadership style is now, that may mean a large change, or a small one. Most likely it is somewhere between. Your leadership cycle may be in need of update as well. Consider your current management styles and methods for each stage of a more modern Command Without Control leadership cycle. Refine where needed and free yourself from the control mentality…for your bottom line, for your employees and for the future of your organization.

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Link: http://www.dramyvanderbilt.com

Performance in Math and Science for High School students is a critical indicator of both current educational effectiveness and future workforce capability. More important than the trends themselves are the implications for individuals and organizations nation-wide. The United States trails 35 other countries in math and science performance (23 of which are considered “rich” countries) and has for years.

An important trend is that the United States was in a similar position in 2003. Not an upward trend, not a downward trend, but a trend wherein other countries continue to out-perform the US and still others are racing forward while the US stagnates in ineffective education. Look again at the worldwide list of countries that out-performed the US. You will see some of the poorest countries in the northern hemisphere. It strongly suggests that increased educational funding is not a factor in an effective technical education.

The impact of stagnant and ineffective math and science education is a severe lack of technical talent in the current and future workforce. Retirement is near for the boomer generation. A smaller and smaller percentage of technical degrees are awarded each year to US citizens. There goes Generation X. Add to that the waning pipeline cut off by the above noted lacking math and science education at the K-12 level. There goes Generation Y.

To create advantage from this trend, your organization must develop unique methods for locating, attracting and maintaining that technical talent. Moreover, you must prepare a pipeline of technical talent starting from the early elementary and even preschool levels. In later articles we will detail how Education affects the talent war and what you can do to affect your position in that war to a positive end at each stage of the pipeline.

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Link: http://trendwatchlist.com/extended

It seems like social media has taken over the internet. More and more, businesses and organizations are using social media for marketing and brand development. It is time to take a closer look at how early adopters are using social media for business and how you can take advantage of this trend to make it your personal and professional advantage.

Large organizations including, The United States Coast Guard, H&R Block, The Home Depot, The Mayo Clinic, Procter and Gamble and others are noting the social media platform as a means to market and build brand. Others are taking it a little further by promoting social media as a platform for customer interaction and Customer Relationship Management (CRM). As a next step for social media in the business world, however, there is some push-back from boomer generation management worldwide due to several factors.

It is important to note that for business use of social media, we are in the early adopter stage…the perfect time to turn it into your personal and professional advantage. Consider the trends a play. The first step was using social media for purely external benefit – marketing and brand management. The second step is using social media for Customer Relationship Management, a partially external and partially internal task.

The logical next step is the one that no one is yet discussing but could bring the greatest advantage of all. The greatest advantage will come from using social media for purely internal use – to do your job better, to make your internal processes and teams more effective and efficient.

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Link: http://www.dramyvanderbilt.com

The United States has fallen far from the lead in math and science education over the last decade and it could not have worse timing. As the boomer generation retires and fewer and fewer technically savvy graduates are produced, this country will see a sharp decline in our capacity to innovate. As the world moves to an innovation economy, our country will move to the end of the line. It is already starting and the trend to watch is this: will the US wake up to reality and make a move to end this decline; or will we watch, as WE become a third world country over the next ten years. In 2009, I will be reporting on the organizations and businesses who have chosen to do something to end this decline; what they are doing and what effect it is having. As a cultural issue, it starts with individuals, parents, companies and our society. I will be tracking the national discussion that is soon to emerge and will show you how you can start to make a change for your children, and for your future talent pool.

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Link: http://www.dramyvanderbilt.com

The social media age has had a significant impact on the business environment. Customers expect faster response and innovation. Businesses must increase agility and not just work harder, but also work smarter, and work faster. Great talent is easier to find but harder to keep. The impact of the social media age on business is not a short-lived fad but a real business trend that not only brings these challenges, but also brings the means to overcome them. In 2009, I will be tracking how social media is affecting your business environment and how to turn this double agent into your ally, using these trends to your advantage.

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