New professionals entering the work force hear the words but may not understand how to do it. Experienced professionals who think they may have been doing it for many years may have forgotten how to do it or don’t care to do it anymore. The “it” I am referring to is earning customer trust.
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There are certain things in life where brand matters more than commoditization. When you get to the core of any business strategy, the primary goal of any company selling products or services to customers is to find the right customers that appreciate and value the unique set of attributes the brand means in the purchasing process. Once you’ve been able to do that, the hardest thing to do in all of business is to then keep delivering on that value proposition and lock in customers for the long-term.
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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.
Last week, one of my dearest talent development clients asked me to talk to the General Manager of one of the divisions within her business as part of a fact-finding mission. He came to her asking for some sort of “workshop on Leadership” and requested “something that’s not just lecture, but has some fun in it.” Being the world-class professional she is, my client engaged with her internal leader to try to identify exactly what he needed so that she could help him find a solution. Knowing he wanted something “interactive” she called me to brainstorm with him. It turned out that the new leaders on his team were struggling with providing basic coaching and feedback to their direct reports.
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Why Business Acumen Skills Will be Needed to be Successful
Everywhere we turn, there is another story about Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the impact it’s going to have on people, businesses, culture, society, and the basically the entire world. Since we first met HAL in the 1968 movie, “2001: A Space Odyssey,” we’ve been waiting, wondering, and forecasting the immersion of AI into everything that we know and do. And finally, it’s here thanks to the ability for data to get processed quickly and then distributed via apps and other smart devices even quicker.
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