ThinkingShift

Senator Joseph McCarthy investigated people who protested the war in Vietnam, better known as the Second World War. Fortunately, that war was over before Christopher Columbus sailed to America;otherwise, we might have never experienced the Renaissance.

You see anything wrong with this? Hopefully, you know that McCarthy was after Communists in the 1950s; that WWII took place between 1939-1945; that Columbus supposedly discovered America in 1492 when he sailed off into the ocean-blue; and that the Rebirth took place in Europe from the 14th Century through to the 17th Century roughly. If you didn’t know that the Vietnam War wasn’t WWII, then hit those History text books now!

Unfortunately, a survey of 1200 American teenagers aged 17 years found that only a few thought the above opening paragraph was a bit odd. 20% couldn’t name the enemy in WWII; more than 25% thought that Columbus hit the US after 1750; and 50% didn’t know a thing about McCarthy or what the Renaissance was. This real clanger from the survey IMHO was that nearly 25% didn’t know who Adolf Hitler was and thought he was a munitions manufacturer.

Perhaps you’re not saddened or alarmed by this. Perhaps you think that the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Doris Lessing, is an old goat when she said in her acceptance speech: “We are in a fragmenting culture, where our certainties of even a few decades ago are questioned and where it is common for young men and women, who have had years of education, to know nothing of the world, to have read nothing, knowing only some speciality or other, for instance, computers”.

I haven’t been a teacher for over 15 years now, so I’m open to being slammed for the following suggestion. But I wonder if schools and teachers are so now heavily focused on test-based accountability that excellence in education has been shafted. So History and Literature are nice to haves, for example, but not really important in a world filled with computers. So you have kids being churned out of schools and they’re computer and internet literature, mobile phone and sms savvy, sure. But these are basic skills and I’m not sure they really fully equip one to participate successfully in a civil society that requires you to know (surely) the history and culture that formed one’s national community and the broader global community.

The same survey said that in 2006, 15- to 24-year- olds reported reading an average of seven minutes a day on weekdays and 10 minutes a day on weekends, preferring instead to get their information from the internet.

Now prior to reading this survey from Common Core, I might have dashed off a post bemoaning young people being glued to vacuous video game sites or wandering around in Second Life or twittering away with their friends. All at the expense of reading a classic or studying some history. But I’ve reflected on this a bit more and I’m prepared to say that (gasp!) with social networking sites, blogs and so on, we are producing a generation who are darn good story tellers and marketers. They are baring their souls and wearing their hearts on their sleeves when they blog about their inner most thoughts and desires.

In my day (whoa: getting old when I say this), I would lock myself in my bedroom and scribble in my diary. Those ones that had a lock and key. This is the older form of blogging I guess. Yet, I would have been mortified if anyone had read how I thought Michael F was a spunk. I guess Anne Frank’s diary is just the same as a blog. But whereas my diary writing was a private space, separate from my social activities with friends, today’s storytelling youth merge the social with the private. Does this produce a richer context? Does it produce more interesting people? Does it matter that they can’t recite “In 1492 when Columbus sailed the ocean blue”?

I’m still not sure but read the report. Let me know what you think.

Let me start off this post by saying this is not about bashing Americans. I’m sure we all have an opinion about the current state of the US and the War on Terror. But this post is asking something I’ve pondered before when I took a look at the New York State Regents Exam in History, with its multiple-choice questions accompanied by plenty of clues. Are Americans less well-educated than the rest of the world? And warning: there’s a bit of a rant ahead, so skip it if you’re not interested in thinking about whether contemporary society is guilty of shallow intellectualism.

I’ll back up a bit: my first introduction to the US and Americans was in the late 1990s, when I was asked by a US technology company to do a conference and workshop tour, talking about their technology and KM. I have to say I really loved the US, particularly Boston and Chicago. Would even consider living there if it wasn’t for the circus that is their immigration system.

What really stunned me though was this - over dinner with some executives in Philadelphia someone commented that Australians always seem to be so well-travelled (well, that’s because we live at the arse-end of the world as Paul Keating had a habit of reminding us and so we need to get off our proverbial butts to see anything). But it was the next comment that stopped me in my tracks: “so do you really have kangaroos hopping down the streets of Sydney and what’s it like to have a Queen as your President?“.

I took a few moments to see whether this question was a joke at my expense. And did he mean THE Queen or a queen? I had visions of seeing our Prime Minister (note to Americans: we don’t have a President) participating in the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras!

Over the next month, I travelled through Texas, Virginia, New York, Florida and LA and I started to notice a pattern. The news on TV talked only of America and US events. Hardly a word was uttered about international news. But then of course 9/11 hit the US and forced Americans to lift their collective heads up and notice that there is a world beyond the borders of the Land of the Free.

So it was interesting to read about a new book by Susan Jacoby, The Age of American Unreason, which bemoans the current state of American “culture”. Jacoby is 62 years old but I don’t think she can be accused of being a fossil blaming young people for an apparent demise in intellectualism.

I’m sure you’ve all seen this cringe-worthy video on YouTube of Kellie Pickler (of American Idol 15 minutes of fame). Competing against a 5th grader, she was asked: “Budapest is the capital of what European country?“. Her reply? “I thought Europe was a country“.

Is this an isolated case or are we living in such an age of commercialism and obsession with self and reality TV that there is a backlash against the acquiring of basic knowledge? A varied intellectual life is the very basis of a functioning democracy. But 6 out of 10 young Americans didn’t know where Iraq was on the map when National Geographic conducted a poll in 2006 and recently an American I met confused Australia with Austria (okay, I can see the similarity, we Australians love to yodel too!).

Have Americans given up on the Enlightenment values of rationality, pursuit of the scientific method and encouragement of diversity of thought and argument? Are Americans now a society being kept amused and stupefied by infotainment; determined to weed out “the different”; and demonstrating an antipathy towards science from the fundamentalist religious right?

Jacoby’s book brings to mind Richard Hofstadter’s tour de force, Anti-Intellectualism in American Life, published in 1963. I read it during my university days and if I remember correctly, Hofstadter highlighted three pillars of anti-intellectualism — evangelical religion, practical-minded business and the populist political style. Despite the rise of the notion of expertise enshrined in knowledge management and despite the expertise of technology geeky types, I think the three pillars are still firmly rooted in America.

Anti-intellectualism can be seen everywhere: the decline of educational standards; the corporatisation of universities; suspicion of science and medicine, leading to the rise of alternative medicine and so on. We have “expert intellectuals” (consultants), not “critical intellectuals”, schooled in the art of argument, debate and the ability to reason. We have specialists rather than expert generalists.

The postmodernist mood following WWII reacted to, if not rejected, the assumed certainty of scientific efforts to explain reality. So no one explanation is valid for all groups, cultures or races. Reality is constructed individually through our own interpretation of concrete experiences. The abstract is rejected in favour of the concrete.

This is why today’s mantra of “well, I’m entitled to my own opinion” is so sacrosanct. This is why reality TV shows reign supreme - they’re about real world experiences of grappling with weight issues; surviving isolation on some Pacific island; racing around the world looking for clues to the next destination or what task to perform.

This is why you have an American President that is better known for his comic gaffes and lack of curiosity about the world than for serious intellectualism. It is why we tend to speak or advertise in slogans and it is why our society is one of glibness and self-absorption. It is why popular science tries to pass itself off as serious science and it is why we are critical of each other rather than providing a critique. It is why business is obsessed with the bottom line, efficiency and productivity because serious intellectual pursuit requires inquiry and reflection (aka time wasters). And so we have closed minds.

Okay I realise I’m on a rant here. I’m not saying that Americans are the dumbest people on the planet. I could sling all of the above at Australia. And I think the internet, our obsession with iPods, YouTube, MySpace and so on has ushered in an age of solipsism.

What do you think?

Well, I’ve been a Chief Knowledge Officer. Perhaps I could morph myself into a Chief Sustainability Officer - especially given Patrick Lambe’s rather depressing survey results, which revealed how much organisations invest in their KM initiatives (and Australia doesn’t come out smelling very rosy). So if the life of a knowledge manager is “nasty, brutish and short”, then you could turn your attention to organisational efforts in sustainability (which must surely require some KM input).

Forbes recently highlighted how the new role of Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) is emerging within the corporate echelons. The CSO’s role is to balance the difficulties and opportunities created by climate change. The article suggests that as the world cooks, the CSO might become the most influential corporate position as organisations struggle to identify and embrace the business opportunities that present themselves. So green is a growth opportunity and those that snap up the opportunities will survive in an increasingly complex and environmentally-troubled world.

A sustainable approach to business can produce a healthier bottom line. Better resource use and energy management can lower operational and manufacturing costs and reduce pollution and waste; “green” products, services and technologies can increase revenue; critical resources can be conserved; and a corporation can be seen as environmentally responsible, which boosts the brand and results in positive PR opportunities. A further benefit of course is that pursuing sustainability goals can attract employees who wish to “make a difference”.

Since the 1960s, there has been an organisational role that focuses on the environment but from the perspective of regulatory compliance. The focus is now shifting to this role feeding into strategy, product design, marketing and corporate communications. The CSO is now the bridge between the environment and business. What was once good for the environment was considered bad for business. The CSO role can bridge these opposing forces perhaps.

And what might be the competencies the CSO needs? According to Forbes:

• someone who sees the “big picture” and the long-range trajectory
• a strategist with the ability to rethink organisational structure and recognise levers for change
• someone who’s not afraid to “rock the boat”
• a charismatic person
• a leader with the ability to create consensus and drive change
• needs to be involved in integrating environmental thinking into every layer of the organisation
• needs to create awareness that the role is about creating a better way of doing business, a more sustainable way of doing business
• facilitator and enabler
• someone who is not easily intimidated by corporate bureaucracy
• and I’ll add my own one - a fox terrier who bites the corporate ankle, thrashes around and doesn’t let go until mission accomplished.

Mmmm….so far, sounds a lot like the competencies a KM person requires. A 2006 survey of 25 US companies found that 15 of the CSOs are vice-presidents; 6 are directors; and women fill 9 of the chief environmental positions. But like KM, the position the CSO occupies in the corporate hierarchy says a lot about the value that organisation places on environmental issues.

I seem to remember a lot of CKOs in the early 2000s (myself included) but the KM world is less populated with CKOs these days. So the CSO is probably the new CKO. If the CSO position is a top role in the hierarchy, then there’s some hope of influencing a corporation’s sustainability journey (as with the CKO and the “KM journey”). The CSO will be able to survey the whole corporate ecosystem and identify patterns etc.

I’ll be interested to see if the CSO role becomes popular in Australia. A quick search of Seek didn’t throw up anything and ferreting around Google only showed CSOs in US companies, like Dupont. If you know of any Australian positions, leave a comment.

And what qualifications will a CSO need - legal, government background, science, research and development? The experiences of some US companies sounds a lot like KM again - Owens Corning Inc plucked their CSO from its research department, whilst Home Depot found their CSO lurking in merchandising. KM people come from disparate backgrounds too and are often plucked from the ranks of a company to fill a KM position (and after a stint in KM in my experience, these people are often all too happy to go back from whence they came!). Perhaps we’ll start to see University courses like Graduate Certificate in Sustainability as we see now with KM. There are already educational institutions that offer an MBA in Sustainable Business or who offer a green MBA curriculum.

Well, my career in KM hasn’t been “nasty, brutish and short” since I’ve been in the field since around 1996 or so. But a CSO role sure looks interesting!

You know, if I could just write about UFOs, I think the ThinkingShift blog would be number one in the blogosphere. Over 4,000 people visited my post on whether the internet has snuffed out aliens. As much as I’d like to keep attracting tons of readers, I’m afraid that I haven’t much to say on a daily basis about aliens (mmm…perhaps I could think about the nexus between KM and aliens?!).

But I can find things to talk about daily when it comes to the surveillance society (skip this post if you’re disinterested in your life being increasingly controlled). It’s been a great week for me with internet censorship issues, nuns being frisked at airports, and humans being microchipped. And the news keeps coming into my RSS feeds.

This one nearly bowled me over. How about sending your son or daughter to a High School that specialises in studying cybersecurity and geospatial intelligence, responding to mock terror attacks and where your kid can receive a limited security clearance to a nearby Army chemical warfare lab?

If this sounds like a great curriculum, then enrol your would-be Jack Bauer at Maryland’s (US) Joppatowne High School. This is America’s first High School churning out kids who understand the “new reality”. Students will choose one of three specialised tracks: information and communication technology, criminal justice and law enforcement, or “homeland security science.” What the? What on earth is “homeland security science”? An educational official, showing a profound grasp of the Arabic language, quipped that the school will also offer: “Arabic or some other nontraditional, Third World-type language.”

Seems that the school’s main focus will be to churn out graduates who can join the intelligence community or work in the homeland security sector. What happened to churning out science grads? or history grads? grads that are intellectually curious and not just equipped in how to assemble a weapon fast whilst blindfolded. Isn’t this just an educational programme masquerading as brainwashing the up and coming generation about the War on Terror? Are we now co-opting kids into believing the War on Terror drivel?

An academic said that he’d be concerned about the curriculum: “my fear is that they will instead teach a series of predigested truths about keeping our country safe.” No kidding! I’m sure the Pentagon and other security agencies will be rubbing their hands with glee thinking about all the new recruits they’ll have from this High School.

A few posts back I was moaning about how I don’t get Second Life, despite the fact that people are saying it’s the next big thing, that the Internet is heading into SL because you can visit other people, exchange stuff blah blah. I tried it; I got bored fast.

But then I came across news about an academic who is teaching architecture by creating a virtual classroom in SL complete with four islands where he and his students can create structures and interiors. Terry Beaubois is the architect and academic who has the avatar of Tab Scott. Beaubois’ SL avatar visits and reviews student design work in a 3D environment.

The interesting thing about architects (hubby is one) is traditional training doesn’t involve them in collaborative work. When they hit the ground as an architect, they are then faced with managing projects that include builders, clients, contractors and so on. They have to be very good project managers.

So training architects in SL makes a whole lot of sense. This is something I can get my head around as it gives students a rich, sensory immersive experience. Here are some examples of student work - image credit Catalyst. Click on thumbnail below for fuller detail.

Students would be able to model complex scenarios and co-create structures with fellow students. This I totally get. You can check out the process of architectural design by Beaubois’ students here on YouTube.

And unlike an old dog, I can learn new tricks :)- I’ve become quite interested in a new free virtual world - Metaplace (alpha). It seems Metaplace will be easier to deal with than SL for me anyway. You can create your own virtual, multi-user world pretty quickly. If you have no programming bone in your body like me, you can use one of their templates. Pretty cool.

I’m always on the hunt for useful resources to use in my work or University teaching and I’ve recently come across quite a bit of great stuff. First up, is an Educause ebook entitled Educating the Net Generation. Educause is a nonprofit association whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology. The Net Generation has grown up with the Internet being a natural background of their lives and their learning style revolves around collaborative social and learning spaces, which allow them to learn by doing. Download the ebook here. Educause also has a great resource centre for Libraries and Technology.

Next up, I found Shambles, a site that is designed to support international school communities in 17 countries in South East Asia. The Web 2.0 area is a great central spot categorised into resources and links on social bookmarking and social networks, as well as stuff on mind and concept mapping and virtual learning environments. There’s also links to blogs in Asia; blogs by librarians; Web 2.0 Weird Stuff (ie fun links); and an online validator where you can find out if a site is really Web 2.0.

Over at Seed Wiki, I came across Teaching with Blogs. Really great to see the uptake of blogs in education by students and teachers. Check out the The Fischbowl, which is a blog for high school teachers focusing on 21st Century learning strategies; and here’s an example of a blog for high school journalism students.

Back in the Jurassic Park days of my career (1980s), I was a high school teacher - so seeing how social software is contributing to building networks of teachers and students makes me wish I was back teaching in high school!

Then I stumbled onto Worldprocessor, a multi-coloured microcosmos created by Ingo Gunther. Worldprocessor is a gallery of globes that depict our Earth visually in a socio and geo-political sense starting from 1988. Go here to check out some of the many visually stunning globes that depict current problems or invisible processes like refugee flows. Have a look at the globe showing the dark spread of pollution over our planet; the globe in the 17th Century; or where nuclear explosions have taken place since 1945 (scary). These visual globes are hauntingly beautiful, yet remind us that we occupy multiple worlds that constantly shift and change.

And finally, I came across the Global Ideas Bank, which aims to promote and disseminate good creative ideas to improve society and it encourages the public to generate these ideas and to participate in the problem-solving process. The Bank refers to ideas as social inventions: non-technological, non-product, non-gadget ideas for social change. So basically it’s an ideas network and democratic think-tank. And here’s an interesting idea: the problem is accessiblity of environmental businesses and information; and the social invention is the UK’s Green Search, but the rest of the world require green search engines. There’s also a Global Ideas blog.

Lots of great ideas and resources to keep us all going for awhile :)-