It is Creeping Up in 30 Second Increments

Last week, I shared a blog called “The Potential Blueprint for Artificial Intelligence-Driven Learning” which turned out to be one of the most popular blogs we’ve ever published.  I’ve been responding to a number of requests for more information and have also been in contact with several media outlets asking for interviews and demonstrations.  As I was telling the story and sharing my insights on the AI, I made sure to note for anyone who wanted to listen that although the AI is powerful and scalable, there is another significant trend that is moving just as quickly; the advent of the 30-second continuous micro learning strategy.

In addition to my work as lead consultant on our AI platforms and client solutions, I am also the lead consultant on other dynamic engagements that are pushing the disruption of talent development and learning in new ways that nobody ever thought possible.  I recently started development on a Business Acumen solution that will provide Financial Skills for Drug Developers in the Pharmaceutical industry.  What’s interesting about this engagement is it is the first project we’ve developed that is designed to be completely delivered on a mobile device.

While Business Acumen for Drug Developers may not be the sexiest of topic areas, the solution certainly is as it is being developed on a completely different Instructional Design methodology than anything we’ve ever done and I believe anything in the industry.  For our client, providing Business Acumen skills is now critical as leaders in Drug Discovery look after billion-dollar budgets and must make the right business decisions in order to make and launch a profitable new product.

Among the interesting elements of the design are:

The Drug Development Business Ecosystem

A daily micro-summary of new drug, molecules, indications, and discoveries that include the business implications in terms of cost, budgeting, and ratios including capital expense, depreciation, and cost of capital.  The data from this section flows into the other and build the learning journey…

Daily Micro-Lesson on Business Acumen for Drug Development

Learners are presented with 30 second lessons on Business Acumen every day.  How to read a P&L, Balance Sheet and Cash Flow report are central elements of the lessons.  Over a 30-day period these micro-lessons turn into large lessons that help learners understand the impact of their decisions and teach them how to make the best decisions that drive business results through enhanced drug development.

Daily Challenges

Immediately following the daily lessons are the daily challenges. Again, the disruptions in occurring in 30 second intervals.  Learners are presented with a unique challenge and leverage new knowledge from the lessons into the challenge exercises.  Smartphones offer a variety of different approaches form multiple choice questions to drag and drops.

Micro-Simulation

The centerpiece of the entire learning experience is the Micro-Business Simulation that emulates running a complete global pharmaceutical business with an emphasis on the R&D strategy and decisions that go into developing new products.  The overall goal of the complete learning journey is to help R&D leaders and contributors understand how their decisions impact business results in the short and long terms and the simulation, which is run for 5 simulated years, is the perfect vehicle to do that. The fact that a simulation is systemic and presents business in a non-linear manner also helps learners see things they ordinarily would never see or know.

Deep Content and References

Some learners may want more than just 30 seconds; no worries, the 30 second lesson can link out to more sophisticated and thorough content and reference resources.  This learning strategy enables each learner to customize their own path and drill into the areas they need more help on whenever and wherever they choose. The deep content can be videos, PDF files, and even podcasts.

This week, I am traveling Asia for client work and have had the opportunity to spend time in Japan, Singapore, and now Vietnam.  During my stay, I’ve been working on five different global projects with five different companies each with unique challenges and opportunities. One of the most interesting aspects of this trip were the number of custom scenarios or “disruptors” that our clients asked us to integrate into the delivery of our business simulation workshops.  A disruptor is an extraneous event that is a leadership challenge which potentially disrupts a market. I took some time to reflect on hours of meetings, design work, and conversations and discovered some interesting leadership perspectives on what’s happening in our fractured global business world.  The summary of some of these insights are presented below.

Different Company and Country Value Systems Are a Big Issue

Most great business leaders are successful because they are able to create, nurture, and support a unique and believable company value system that sets the tone for their strategy and execution.  But according to the leaders I spoke with, something has changed; “Country-based value systems” are becoming increasingly important and the foundational roots of “nationalism” are starting to become more apparent in the business.  By way of example, twice this week I was running different Leadership Simulations for high potential leaders. In the simulation, small teams are responsible for setting and executing a global strategy across multiple regions (which are made up of countries).  I saw something in both sessions that I’ve never seen before; intense and sometimes uncomfortable conversations about how countries are losing their identities and therefore customer segments are also losing their identities which makes it harder to differentiate solutions to customers.  I was surprised to see the concept of Nationalism show up in conversations about business acumen.

My take-away observation is that this is an issue that business leaders should put on their radars as my sense is that different value systems by country and market are going to be disruptive forces.

Generational Disparities are Real

The next generation of leaders are knocking on the door and their perspectives are different which is truly bothering the current leaders, but apparently not the stock markets.  The next generation of leader wants their companies to do something important and meaningful and are very adept at building strong cultures quickly around values.  Legacy companies that don’t make “new and cool stuff” are losing key talent and the war on talent is actually showing up in a way that is much different than anyway ever expected.

My take-away observation is that the big disruptions aren’t going to come directly from new technologies, but from new types of employees that want more value in in their business lives and if they don’t get it, will close once-thriving businesses.

Laws and Regulations are Going to Matter More

Political nationalism and in some cases political isolationism has direct impacts on business specifically when it comes to new laws and regulations.  We can only all pray that physical wars don’t erupt between nations because of increased global fractionalization but one big challenge is going to be wars fought through regulations on business. It’s not a matter of if, but when.  Increased tariffs and taxes, increased regulations, and a general mindset of localism versus “importism” is going to fractionalize markets even further and present unprecedented challenges to leaders around the world.

My take-away observation is new skills and tools in this area are desperately needed.  There are endless strategic issues and specific issues that current leaders are simply not prepared for.  For example, if Market Valuation is driven by free-cash flow, but profits and the cost of doing business are unfairly impacted within all countries, performance is going to go down and so will value causing losses of jobs and a slowing of all markets.  I don’t think many leaders have the business acumen and leadership skills needed to circumvent these challenges.