On Saturday 2 February 2008 I was one of those who attended a seminar organised by Akamai Uganda on goal setting. There are several things I learned from that seminar that I could (should?) share on this blog. One that I must write about immediately is the concept of a "degree awarded by the market place".
This phrase was used by one of Uganda's Dollar multimillionaire. The short and long of it is that he runs several businesses including hotel, property (real estate), telecommunication services, energy, etc. He told the meeting that for each of the businesses he gets into, he makes sure he learns a lot about it through reading books related to that business and also the experience he gains in the process of running the business. For each of his several successful businesses, he has so much knowledge that he equates it to a degree in the respective fields. He therefore, because of the success bestowed upon him by the market place, considers that the market place has found him worthy of degree awards - he passed all the tests and examinations with distinction. He believes that he has up to 9 degrees now based on how much he knows about specific businesses.
Some questions:
1-How many degrees do you have? Who awarded them to you? How much do they help you to make money and how much money?
2-How can universities tap the wealth of experience and knowledge from practicing businessmen and integrate them in their teaching curricula?
3-I believe that if one sat at the feet of this businessman (with degrees from the market place), they would get sufficient knowledge to start them off in their journey to creating wealth. How many people would become wealthy if they sat at your feet to learn from the knowledge you have gained from your degree(s)?
The advise about reading is that each of us should put aside some time everyday to read about the businesses we are engaged in. That way, we could learn and excel in our businesses and possibly get degree awards from the market place. By the way, this is not a paper award we are used to but I think it is wealth created through the success of that business.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Ugandan Public Universities search for Professor instead of CEO
If press reports are anything to go by then Kyambogo University will wait for a little longer before they get a Vice-Chancellor (VC) and a Deputy Vice-Chancellor (DVC). The press alleges that there has been a low response to the adverts. I know there could be several reasons for the low response but I also think that the criteria for choosing leaders in government universities have some weaknesses. The one I am interested in commenting about at this moment is the minimum requirements for one to qualify to express interest in being a VC or DVC vis-a-vis the functions of those offices.
I believe that the functions of a VC in a university are those of a CEO and therefore the search committees should be honest and openly embark on a search for a CEO. The basic requirements should be improved upon to reflect this. Currently, the first and foremost requirement is for one to be a University Professor of a certain advanced age. To me, besides being an inappropriate criterion, it unnecessarily narrows down the sample space - we have few Professors in that narrow age bracket. Besides, among the few Professors we have in this category, there are probably very few interested in such positions. This makes the sample space even much smaller! Furthermore, although the small sample space greatly reduces the competition among the applicants, it also has the undesirable effect of reducing the probability of landing on the much needed candidate with CEO capabilities. With all due respect, not just any Professor (in that age bracket) with ambitions can necessarily competently do a VC (CEO) job in this highly competitive and rapidly evolving information age / era.
Besides, the nature of students (and some employers) and their corresponding needs and 'language' have long changed from the 'old' pre-digital accent hence calling for extreme flexibility and quick adaptability of strategies.
I strongly believe that the public universities ought to rethink and start looking for CEOs instead of looking for professors - I do not care whether the CEO is a professor or not. I believe that there is nobody who can guarantee that just by being a Professor of a certain age, one already qualifies to get onto the shortlist for a university CEO (VC). Far from it as we know that to attain professorial title one must excel in research and training in his / her discipline. Very few humble ones pick a few corporate leadership skills along the way.
A university leader need not necessarily be (technically) smarter than the people they lead but should be smart enough to get all those very smart people under his/her leadership to work together as a productive team which is responsive to the clients' needs (students, the parents, the employers, etc) and market trends (local, regional and global).
I personally would settle with a competent CEO who is not necessarily a Professor. The public university search committees ought to reconsider their criteria and focus on organisational leadership abilities rather than prestigious titles earned from showcasing portfolios of largely non-managerial achievements in specialised disciplines. I am aware this piece will make me very unpopular in university corridors and I will probably be called names but that is my opinion - I am entitled to it. I apologize though for hurting some feelings, if any.
I believe that the functions of a VC in a university are those of a CEO and therefore the search committees should be honest and openly embark on a search for a CEO. The basic requirements should be improved upon to reflect this. Currently, the first and foremost requirement is for one to be a University Professor of a certain advanced age. To me, besides being an inappropriate criterion, it unnecessarily narrows down the sample space - we have few Professors in that narrow age bracket. Besides, among the few Professors we have in this category, there are probably very few interested in such positions. This makes the sample space even much smaller! Furthermore, although the small sample space greatly reduces the competition among the applicants, it also has the undesirable effect of reducing the probability of landing on the much needed candidate with CEO capabilities. With all due respect, not just any Professor (in that age bracket) with ambitions can necessarily competently do a VC (CEO) job in this highly competitive and rapidly evolving information age / era.
Besides, the nature of students (and some employers) and their corresponding needs and 'language' have long changed from the 'old' pre-digital accent hence calling for extreme flexibility and quick adaptability of strategies.
I strongly believe that the public universities ought to rethink and start looking for CEOs instead of looking for professors - I do not care whether the CEO is a professor or not. I believe that there is nobody who can guarantee that just by being a Professor of a certain age, one already qualifies to get onto the shortlist for a university CEO (VC). Far from it as we know that to attain professorial title one must excel in research and training in his / her discipline. Very few humble ones pick a few corporate leadership skills along the way.
A university leader need not necessarily be (technically) smarter than the people they lead but should be smart enough to get all those very smart people under his/her leadership to work together as a productive team which is responsive to the clients' needs (students, the parents, the employers, etc) and market trends (local, regional and global).
I personally would settle with a competent CEO who is not necessarily a Professor. The public university search committees ought to reconsider their criteria and focus on organisational leadership abilities rather than prestigious titles earned from showcasing portfolios of largely non-managerial achievements in specialised disciplines. I am aware this piece will make me very unpopular in university corridors and I will probably be called names but that is my opinion - I am entitled to it. I apologize though for hurting some feelings, if any.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Appreciative Inquiry (AI)
Uganda hosted the Commonwealth Heads of State and Governments Meeting (CHOGM) in November 2007. By Ugandan standards I think it was well organised. It of course swallowed some significant amounts of money from the government coffers. Based on what I gather from the press and some two personal testimonies, while some individuals smiled all the way to the bank, others came out of it very hurt. Some business deals worked, others unfortunately did not for various reasons.
I did not gain financially (at least not directly). Maybe I was not prepared well enough to grab the opportunity. Well, all was not lost. I participated in the 'free' People's Space - an open forum to every Tom, Dick and Harriet. That should tell you that I did not have a special invite for any of the several parallel sessions that run in the air conditioned facilities in town. I grabbed the opportunity presented to me by British Council to participate in one of its sessions where I was introduced to the concept of Appreciative Inquiry.
While the name was new to me, some of the ideas and principles shared were not new so there was something to learn after all. Of what value is knowledge gained if it is not put to practice and shared? Well, if I fail to put it to practice (which I doubt), I will not fail to share it. This is the reason for this post.
Watch this space for the developing story.
I did not gain financially (at least not directly). Maybe I was not prepared well enough to grab the opportunity. Well, all was not lost. I participated in the 'free' People's Space - an open forum to every Tom, Dick and Harriet. That should tell you that I did not have a special invite for any of the several parallel sessions that run in the air conditioned facilities in town. I grabbed the opportunity presented to me by British Council to participate in one of its sessions where I was introduced to the concept of Appreciative Inquiry.
While the name was new to me, some of the ideas and principles shared were not new so there was something to learn after all. Of what value is knowledge gained if it is not put to practice and shared? Well, if I fail to put it to practice (which I doubt), I will not fail to share it. This is the reason for this post.
Watch this space for the developing story.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Etiquette for Online Outreach
Each one of you reading this blog and many others do online networking. It is important that we do it right in order to obtain optimal results. Liz Ryan provides some etiquette (netiquette) for online networking.
She states that, "Online networking is all the rage, as Internet tools make it easy for us to reach out to almost anyone who has a presence online. Lofty executives, potential clients, and future employers are within easy reach to anyone with a browser and an email account. But it won't do to rush off and start blasting off email messages to strangers -- that's a recipe for being ignored or added to an email blacklist."
Ms Ryan then goes ahead to provide five tips to get you going towards dramatically improving results of your online networking approach in her article, "The savvy networker".
She states that, "Online networking is all the rage, as Internet tools make it easy for us to reach out to almost anyone who has a presence online. Lofty executives, potential clients, and future employers are within easy reach to anyone with a browser and an email account. But it won't do to rush off and start blasting off email messages to strangers -- that's a recipe for being ignored or added to an email blacklist."
Ms Ryan then goes ahead to provide five tips to get you going towards dramatically improving results of your online networking approach in her article, "The savvy networker".
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Learning in the digital age: why and how should teachers listen to the digital natives?
As a teacher (or rather a learning process facilitator), I found the article by Marc Prensky (published in 2005), Listen to the natives, very interesting and also challenging. I attempt to give a short review of it here - I hope it encourages the readers of this blog to look for the article and also an earlier one by the same author entitled, Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants.
Prensky describes the current students as 'digital natives' who are quite different from the educators, the majority of whom he describes as 'digital immigrants'. The latter, unlike the former, were not born into the digital world. He states that the current educators have slid into the 21st century (digital age) carrying with them the 'digital immigrant' accent and doing things the old way. The old way of doing things is a language that the 'digital natives' do not quite understand!
Prensky argues therefore that, to be relevant to the students ('digital natives'), the educators of today ought to listen to the students. He proposed some things that should be considered by the educators / teachers.
1-The teachers should shift gears and incorporate students knowledge and information acquired outside class in their digital lives. The teachers should also establish, by asking students, how relevant / applicable / related the information / knowledge gained in class is to the students' (digital) lives. The shift in gears should also include encouraging students to form study groups.
2-Engagement and motivation being true prerequisites for learning (as judged by Prensky), teachers ought to engage students in the (students') 21st century way. Since digital / computer games play an important role in engaging the students, designing digital games for learning would engage students in the learning process.
3-Collaborating with students through involving them in decision-making on issues that affect the learning process goes a long way in providing educators / teachers with solutions or clues to solutions to many of the thorniest education problems. The students therefore ought to be involved in discussion about curriculum, teaching methods, school organisation, discipline and assignments.
4-There is need for some flexibility on the part of teachers for example avoidance of herding (involuntarily assigning students to classes or groups). Instead of herding, adoption and adaption of one-to-one personalised instruction and providing the opportunity for students to self-select during grouping are some of the proposed alternatives.
5-Incorporation and integration of digital tools in the teaching methods / learning process e.g. Cell phones. Cell phones have very many capabilities (with several emerging ones) that can be harnessed to make them appropriate learning tools. Some countries are already using Cell phones as learning tools e.g. UK, China, Japan, Philippines, etc.
6-Since programmability is a characteristic of the digital technology, the approaches and curricula for programming courses ought to be made available to all (students) to learn and use instead of teachers taking matters into their hands i.e. creating and conducting the teaching of programming courses at prescribed times. Besides, the teachers ought to consider involving students in teaching their peers and also involving outside volunteer experts.
7-A shift from "legacy" curricula towards "future" curricula to provide more room to cover subject matter such as nanotechnology, bioethics, genetic medicine, and neuroscience ought to be considered. Involvement of experts in these fields in preparation of content tailored to students' needs and delivered through 21st century tools is essential.
8-There are two halves of students' education institution: the formal 'school' half and the informal 'after school' half. While the former is becoming an increasingly moribund and irrelevant institution, the latter is technology-rich hence expectedly busier and ought to be integrated with life in school. It is sad to note that some of the technologies used by the students 'after school' are not known to many teachers and administrators!
9-Prensky recommends a student survey of technology use. To stress the significance of this, he states, "If we don't stop and listen to the kids we serve, value their opinions, and make major changes on the basis of the valid suggestions they offer, we will be left in the 21st century with school buildings to administer - but with students who are physically or mentally somewhere else."
Prensky, a US-based teacher, shared these thoughts in 2005. I, a Uganda-based teacher, reviewed the article in 2008. I do not know when you are reading it and from where but what I know is that Prensky wrote it based on his US experience. What remains for me and you is to find out whether and how the above thoughts apply / may apply in our environment. Just like I will do, please share your thoughts with us.
Find Prensky's article here.
Prensky describes the current students as 'digital natives' who are quite different from the educators, the majority of whom he describes as 'digital immigrants'. The latter, unlike the former, were not born into the digital world. He states that the current educators have slid into the 21st century (digital age) carrying with them the 'digital immigrant' accent and doing things the old way. The old way of doing things is a language that the 'digital natives' do not quite understand!
Prensky argues therefore that, to be relevant to the students ('digital natives'), the educators of today ought to listen to the students. He proposed some things that should be considered by the educators / teachers.
1-The teachers should shift gears and incorporate students knowledge and information acquired outside class in their digital lives. The teachers should also establish, by asking students, how relevant / applicable / related the information / knowledge gained in class is to the students' (digital) lives. The shift in gears should also include encouraging students to form study groups.
2-Engagement and motivation being true prerequisites for learning (as judged by Prensky), teachers ought to engage students in the (students') 21st century way. Since digital / computer games play an important role in engaging the students, designing digital games for learning would engage students in the learning process.
3-Collaborating with students through involving them in decision-making on issues that affect the learning process goes a long way in providing educators / teachers with solutions or clues to solutions to many of the thorniest education problems. The students therefore ought to be involved in discussion about curriculum, teaching methods, school organisation, discipline and assignments.
4-There is need for some flexibility on the part of teachers for example avoidance of herding (involuntarily assigning students to classes or groups). Instead of herding, adoption and adaption of one-to-one personalised instruction and providing the opportunity for students to self-select during grouping are some of the proposed alternatives.
5-Incorporation and integration of digital tools in the teaching methods / learning process e.g. Cell phones. Cell phones have very many capabilities (with several emerging ones) that can be harnessed to make them appropriate learning tools. Some countries are already using Cell phones as learning tools e.g. UK, China, Japan, Philippines, etc.
6-Since programmability is a characteristic of the digital technology, the approaches and curricula for programming courses ought to be made available to all (students) to learn and use instead of teachers taking matters into their hands i.e. creating and conducting the teaching of programming courses at prescribed times. Besides, the teachers ought to consider involving students in teaching their peers and also involving outside volunteer experts.
7-A shift from "legacy" curricula towards "future" curricula to provide more room to cover subject matter such as nanotechnology, bioethics, genetic medicine, and neuroscience ought to be considered. Involvement of experts in these fields in preparation of content tailored to students' needs and delivered through 21st century tools is essential.
8-There are two halves of students' education institution: the formal 'school' half and the informal 'after school' half. While the former is becoming an increasingly moribund and irrelevant institution, the latter is technology-rich hence expectedly busier and ought to be integrated with life in school. It is sad to note that some of the technologies used by the students 'after school' are not known to many teachers and administrators!
9-Prensky recommends a student survey of technology use. To stress the significance of this, he states, "If we don't stop and listen to the kids we serve, value their opinions, and make major changes on the basis of the valid suggestions they offer, we will be left in the 21st century with school buildings to administer - but with students who are physically or mentally somewhere else."
Prensky, a US-based teacher, shared these thoughts in 2005. I, a Uganda-based teacher, reviewed the article in 2008. I do not know when you are reading it and from where but what I know is that Prensky wrote it based on his US experience. What remains for me and you is to find out whether and how the above thoughts apply / may apply in our environment. Just like I will do, please share your thoughts with us.
Find Prensky's article here.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Welcome 2008
It is here, I believe with its unique challenges. I trust that God will help you and I through it successfully and with greater achievements than those of 2007.
I am personally happy with the lessons I learned and the achievements made in 2007. I am prepared to experience bigger achievements in 2008 in the areas of Family, Finances, Firm (career development), Friends, Fun, Faith and Fitness - the so-called 7Fs. I purpose to pursue the short and long term 'SMART' goals in my plans for each of these areas in my life.
Get inspired to do the same so that at the end of 2008 you may look back and see how much mileage you have covered with reference to your vision.
Happy New Year 2008.
I am personally happy with the lessons I learned and the achievements made in 2007. I am prepared to experience bigger achievements in 2008 in the areas of Family, Finances, Firm (career development), Friends, Fun, Faith and Fitness - the so-called 7Fs. I purpose to pursue the short and long term 'SMART' goals in my plans for each of these areas in my life.
Get inspired to do the same so that at the end of 2008 you may look back and see how much mileage you have covered with reference to your vision.
Happy New Year 2008.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Rev. Dr. Wes Hall shares some wisdom
It was at the opening ceremony of the 4th Pan Commonwealth Veterinary Conference in Barbados. Reverend Dr. Wes Hall was the featured speaker. What a good choice he was.
I will not promise to write about his oratory skills and style but believe me that he has a lot that we can learn from - his speech was captivating not only because of the content but also because of the style of presentation, moreover without the famous PowerPoint / LCD projector. I will just share about a few comments he made that I think will be useful to readers of this blog.
He confessed that when he was invited, he did not know what to share with veterinarians in such a big conference and from such diverse countries. He settled and decided to speak about Cricket in the West Indies - his past experiences and vision for the future. Although I am not a cricket fan (yet), and I have never played cricket, I learnt a lot from what Dr. Hall shared. He spoke with reference to Cricket but the principles apply to all aspects of life. He referred to Cricket as the legacy of the Commonwealth experience although he lamented that in the West Indies, the game had moved from amazing grace to disgrace.
As part of the team working towards reviving Cricket in the West Indies, he shared their strategy of harnessing talent from deep down in the communities and developing it through the so-called 'bottom up' approach. This way they would not have anybody joining the academy to learn basics. The basics would be acquired at an earlier stage such that when one gets to the academy they would be handled differently - polished to attain world-class status. Who said this strategy only applies in Cricket?
(In the picture below - L-R: Sam Okech - Uganda, Wes Hall - Barbados and Nick Gumede - Swaziland).
He also shared about how teamwork was vital in shaping his legacy as an outstanding Cricketer. He joked about how one time he did not openly acknowledge the contribution made by a teammate even though he knew it was the main factor in their success. The teammate withdrew his vital contribution with disastrous consequences! He had to repent of his 'sins' thereafter. Any lessons for you?
Motivation is one important thing in life, no wonder Dr. Daniel Goleman lists it as one of the elements of Emotional Intelligence. Rev. Hall shared three major things that a Cricket player (read everybody) should aim at achieving to be successful: knowledge, skill and desire. He shares these with the youngsters as a way of motivating them to strive for excellence in Cricket. He described desire as the starting point of all achievement.
Some short motivating quotes I picked out of the speech:
"Courage should overcome challenges"
"You do not go to the academy to learn basics"
"Dinosaurs did not adapt to changing conditions hence they went extinct"
"Success is sustained level of excellence"
Dr. Hall's choice of words and word combinations were remarkable. For example, in conclusion he said, "I am thankful for your hospitality that can only be surpassed by my gratitude and capacity to hold it."
I will not promise to write about his oratory skills and style but believe me that he has a lot that we can learn from - his speech was captivating not only because of the content but also because of the style of presentation, moreover without the famous PowerPoint / LCD projector. I will just share about a few comments he made that I think will be useful to readers of this blog.
He confessed that when he was invited, he did not know what to share with veterinarians in such a big conference and from such diverse countries. He settled and decided to speak about Cricket in the West Indies - his past experiences and vision for the future. Although I am not a cricket fan (yet), and I have never played cricket, I learnt a lot from what Dr. Hall shared. He spoke with reference to Cricket but the principles apply to all aspects of life. He referred to Cricket as the legacy of the Commonwealth experience although he lamented that in the West Indies, the game had moved from amazing grace to disgrace.
As part of the team working towards reviving Cricket in the West Indies, he shared their strategy of harnessing talent from deep down in the communities and developing it through the so-called 'bottom up' approach. This way they would not have anybody joining the academy to learn basics. The basics would be acquired at an earlier stage such that when one gets to the academy they would be handled differently - polished to attain world-class status. Who said this strategy only applies in Cricket?
(In the picture below - L-R: Sam Okech - Uganda, Wes Hall - Barbados and Nick Gumede - Swaziland).
He also shared about how teamwork was vital in shaping his legacy as an outstanding Cricketer. He joked about how one time he did not openly acknowledge the contribution made by a teammate even though he knew it was the main factor in their success. The teammate withdrew his vital contribution with disastrous consequences! He had to repent of his 'sins' thereafter. Any lessons for you?
Motivation is one important thing in life, no wonder Dr. Daniel Goleman lists it as one of the elements of Emotional Intelligence. Rev. Hall shared three major things that a Cricket player (read everybody) should aim at achieving to be successful: knowledge, skill and desire. He shares these with the youngsters as a way of motivating them to strive for excellence in Cricket. He described desire as the starting point of all achievement.
Some short motivating quotes I picked out of the speech:
"Courage should overcome challenges"
"You do not go to the academy to learn basics"
"Dinosaurs did not adapt to changing conditions hence they went extinct"
"Success is sustained level of excellence"
Dr. Hall's choice of words and word combinations were remarkable. For example, in conclusion he said, "I am thankful for your hospitality that can only be surpassed by my gratitude and capacity to hold it."
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