Nine Shift

For some reason the seminar was better this time

My two day seminar on continuing education this month was the best received of my four trips to Russia.

I'm trying to figure out why.  Perhaps:

Generational differences.
   For the first time, almost all of the participants were Gen Xers, aged 25 to 40.  We even had one Gen Y person, aged 24, who walked up to my computer and took a picture of the PowerPoint slide with her cell phone, which I thought was terrific! 
  It did not appear that Russians use the generational term "Gen X," yet the generational differences seemed just as apparent as here in the U.S.

  During the seminar, a Baby Boomer administrator sat in for awhile, and asked a number of skeptical questions before leaving (thank goodness).  In my previous seminars, I think the audience was primarily Boomers.  In Russia that generation wants a straight lecture - - no questions, no group interaction.  During my first trip four years ago someone actually told the others to stop asking questions. 

  This time people engaged in a group exercise (writing testimonials), showed everyone else their web sites, and even wished for some small group discussion.  I was impressed. 

   It was also apparent that continuing education in Russia is technologically as advanced as in the U.S., with email promotions and some sophisticated web sites.

((picture is of me doing seminar in Moscow))

"Back in the USSR"

So, our car is sitting in the endless Moscow traffic, and the driver asks me whether the traffic is as bad as this in the United States.  The answer is: Yes.

This caused me to write down a few other similarities between Russia and the U.S. right now:
* Cell phones are everywhere.
* Gas is priced the same, around $2.08 a gallon (15 rubles per litre).
* bp gas stations are rampant.
* housing downtown is popular, and expensive.
* if you ask someone a question about presidential politics (as I did), you get the same 15 minute rant in both countries, including an allusion to stealing the election, and serving only the rich.
* the middle class is in decline.
* commutes are measured in hours, not miles.
* democracy is suggested to be in decline.
* the elderly are losing their benefits.

** And astronauts in BOTH COUNTRIES go to Russia to get launched into outer space **
((3 years ago I took my son Willie to Moscow, and he got to see the American scientists working with the Russians in the space center - - their Houston))

Try this web site translation

Dr. Serge Kibalnikov has online translator software on his organization's web site.
So you can translate the web page from Russian into English.

Go to http://www.iape.ru and.....
To give it a try,  Look in the far left bottom area of the web site to translate the page.

Rip Van e-Winkle in Russia

Earlier this month I returned to Moscow, Russia for the fourth time to present a seminar.
The change from two years ago was astounding. I felt like Rip Van e-Winkle.

Three years ago, there was hardly any online technology available. In fact, in 2002 I watched in amazement as a university professor tried in vain to hook up a computer to an overhead transparency projector.

This time my host Dr. Serge Kibalnikov from the Academy of Tourism showed ME the technology:

* We go to a regular restaurant somewhere near Moscow, and I needed to tell my wife I had arrived safely and was in good hands.  So Serge connects his PDA to the Internet, and I send an email to her!

* Then he logs on to the web, and I check the LERN web site from his PDA in a restaurant outside of Moscow.

* Then he tells me he pays his bills using his cell phone.

* Then I lecture at the Academy, and there is no Internet connection to show them our online classroom.  So Serge puts his cell phone next to the computer, and using Bluetooth our web site gets projected on the big screen for everyone to see, and we do animation, drag-and-drop and everything!

(picture is of Dr. Serge Kibalnikov in Red Square)

From "at work" to "on work"

Our last posting on "things I learned from Jack Tanis of Steelcase."

Another change in the work place, he says, is that more people are working away from the office. They might be travelling, or spending time with a client, or meeting with vendors or partners or other workers.

The cell phone, wireless connection, PDA and other portable tools are helping people away from the office to communicate, and work. Tanis calls this "on work"  rather than the office-based "at work."

Converting the office to residence

So, how practical is it to convert office buildings to residential buildings?

The answer appears to be that some office buildings can be converted, and some cannot (feasibly). Jack Tanis of Steelcase has thought about it.  He says that office buildings generally built in the 1970s or before have a floor plate design that means they can be converted into apartments.  And buildings built post-1970s have problems in converting them. 

What to do with Ground Zero

In a recent New Yorker magazine article on what kind of building should replace the Twin Towers in lower Manhattan, the author suggests dwellings (apartments, condominiums) rather than office space.

He notes there is no demand for office space in lower Manhattan. That there are no office tenants signed up for the next new tower, and that one of the buildings already reconstructed has no office tenants.

Meanwhile, he cites the number of people living in lower Manhattan near Ground Zero has increased (not decreased) since 9-11.  Plus dwellings lead to shops, stores, playgrounds, schools, clubs - - all those other economically beneficial support systems.

We would agree, of course. Build apartments, not offices.  Among the other claims that "things will never be the same after 9-11," maybe we can add a new claim: : : that 9-11 may be a demarcation event in the shift from office buildings to apartment buildings.

Willie graduates! Not the end.

Julie turned in Willie's final assignments yesterday, a week after formal graduation ceremonies and  his teachers already gone. "The teacher's not even going to look at his work?" the school administrative assistant asked, puzzled.   "Apparently not," Julie replied. "It's just busywork."

We won't tell Willie all his hard work over the last 3 weeks may not even get a glance from his teachers. So that's how Willie's story ends.  Graduation ceremonies last week were a big bang and Willie had a great time and we were so proud.  In contrast, turning in his last homework this week was a whimper.

PS #1. Of course, this true life story (drama for us) was not just about Willie, but about millions of students and thousands of schools, about an obsolete school system and negative pedagogy. So the story does not end.  You, we, and thousands of others will continue our common work of bringing schools and colleges into the 21st century, for our kids' sake, for our grandkids' sakes.

PS #2. Thanks to Terry in Los Angeles, Daniel in Kansas City, Michael in Amsterdam and others whom we have met face-to-face in the last month and asked "Will Willie graduate?"  We appreciate all your interest and support.

((Willie with his school chum Sultan at graduation))

Is 'productivity' a valid measurement?

Jack Tanis of Steelcase says that the term 'productivity' no longer is a valid measurement.

In today's world, it is meaningless (or worse, a false indicator).

What do you think? Is productivity an obsolete measurement?

From “I” workspace to “we” workspace

NineShift had the privilege to keynote the American Institute of Architects continuing education conference in Las Vegas last month, at the gracious invitation of Thom Lowther.

Thom also invited Jack Tanis of Steelcase to speak, with the devilish sub-agenda of seeing whether we would agree or disagree on the direction of the office in the 21st century.  Turns out we agreed on 95%, and even better, I learned a lot from Tanis.

The "we" work space
   Tanis says there is a huge change going on in the work place right now, from the "I" work space to the "we" work space.
   That is, people are spending more time working with others than ever before.  One of the challenges for Tanis, whose company builds office furniture, is that offices have been built for individuals, not teams.
   So he is researching how work spaces can be modified to assist in collaborative work.

Collaborative teams
   Tanis says the most frequent number in a collaborative team is two people, according to a study from the Stanford Center for Innovations in Learning.  The next most common team is 3 people, then 5-6.  And if my notes are correct, it seemed as though he was suggested that often an initial team of two people works on a project, and then the project team gets enlarged to 5-6 individuals.