The term "Luddite" originally described English workers opposing new machinery, but now refers to individuals opposed to new technology or work methods.

These modern-day Luddites resist new technologies due to concerns that automation and artificial intelligence could replace human workers.

People may oppose new technologies due to concerns about job security, privacy, and societal impact.

Lack of understanding of new technologies can lead to anxiety and stress.

Opposition to new technologies may stem from concerns about job security, poverty, and social inequalities.

Effective communication is key to addressing employee concerns about new technologies.

Companies can provide training on modern methods and technology to help employees develop necessary skills.

Organizations should conduct a needs assessment and involve business users in decision-making to improve outdated workflows and increase system acceptance.

By proactively communicating the benefits of new technologies, organizations can alleviate employee concerns and increase digital transformation success.

Leadership and organizational culture play a crucial role in promoting innovation and successful technology adoption.

Leaders can influence technology adoption by prioritizing people, creativity, and continuous learning.

The Luddite movement has similarities with current labor struggles in Silicon Valley.

People opposed to new technology may resist change due to anxiety and loss of control triggered by its introduction.

Organizations can address 21st century Luddites' concerns by prioritizing student-centered methods, curriculum reorganization, and autonomous learning spaces.

Education and training programs can help 21st century Luddites adapt to the changing job market by providing in-demand knowledge and skills.

Digital technologies can enhance education, but their potential biases and limitations must be considered.

The term "Luddite" originally described English workers opposing new machinery, but now refers to individuals opposed to new technology or work methods.

Title:

Content: Brian Merchant, author: “Luddites are more dangerous to the rich than Robin Hood”

The Luddites have been a great historical resource. Any showy enemy of anything that looked like technological progress has been called a Luddite. Today with generative artificial intelligence and its critics, the word has been revived. The author and journalist Brian Merchant (Iowa City, USA, 1983) saw it coming and has written a book that reviews the Luddite revolt in England at the beginning of the 19th century and its similarities with current technologies: Blood in the Machine (Blood in the Machine, currently without a planned edition in Spanish) thus explores the origins of the current revolt against big technology.

Although the book has appeared in the midst of the AI hype, Merchant began his research a decade ago: “Uber was growing and it was beginning to be seen that it was having a hard impact on taxi drivers, I heard the term Luddite from the pro-Uber sector and wrote an article titled You don't understand anything about Luddites”. Now in his book he remembers that the Luddite revolt was a labor struggle, not anti-technology, at a time when unions were prohibited. In a conversation with EL PAÍS from his residence in Los Angeles, Merchant clarifies the historical impact of the Luddites and the possible similar struggles that are being played today in Silicon Valley.

1. The Luddites were not against progress

The labor revolt over the loss of rights was more important than the destruction of textile machines: “The biggest mistake about the Luddites is to say that they were against technology and progress,” says Merchant. “They were against certain technologies because they recognized the way in which they were going to be used in their context against them as workers. It was a labor movement, against poverty, not anti-technology. The British Government began to mold them in this way almost immediately, it was keen to mock the Luddites and present the argument that they were against progress. It is very similar to how today people in positions of power in technology companies accuse those who complain about poor working conditions. It's the same story for 200 years.”

The book quotes a phrase from historian Eric Hobsbawm that explains this stage: “It was collective bargaining through riots.” According to Merchant, this tactic in a workers' struggle was very powerful for two reasons: “First, it was symbolic because everyone understood that what they were destroying was not just a machine. It was also the specific machine used to transfer wealth from the workers to the employer. Second, it was useful because they destroyed the equipment that businessmen needed.”

2. Why Robin Hood is better accepted than Ned Ludd

Ned Ludd was a legendary character. No one knows for sure if he existed. It was the legend of a teenager who would have broken the first machines at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. In 1811, rebellious workers used his legendary name to sign letters and further scare: “Ludd probably never existed. But the incarnation of it would become a mascot, an organizational tool, a wink: a powerful 19th-century meme,” Merchant writes.

See also  The Commander of the Land Forces meets in Muscat a number of Omani military leaders

Ludd lived near Nottingham (United Kingdom), like another legendary figure who has been better treated by history. There must be a reason, says Merchant: “The Luddites organized a popular and powerful rebellion. People wrote popular songs about them. They were like Robin Hood. But it is interesting that Robin Hood has endured as a positive light, while the Luddites have not. He suggests that the myth of Ned Ludd is in some ways more dangerous to the elites and the wealthy than that of Robin Hood, which is a little more nebulous and open. The Luddites say: go ahead and break the machines of your oppression. Robin Hood says: steal from the rich and give to the poor. “I think that’s a little more tolerable.”

3. How are they similar to today's problems?

The background of the book is that the history of the Luddites is similar to what happens today in Silicon Valley, where a small group of corporations dominate new technologies. “The way technologies are developed has basically not changed. You have a handful of people with access to enough capital or political influence to be able to build a factory and use automation technologies. “Back then, the most aggressive owners didn’t ask anyone how to find a way to make this a win-win.”

Merchant has received criticism for equating the great businessmen of 19th century England with 21st century America. But there are details that he does not see that far away: “The technology development process is in some ways even more undemocratic today than then. There is this immense pool of capital available to Silicon Valley innovators through venture capital. Uber wasn't profitable for 10 years, but they had access to that capital. Did anyone really like that? Did it work for workers and delivery people? Nothing mattered, they just had more money and moved on.”

See also  Just the mystery

These modern-day Luddites resist new technologies due to concerns that automation and artificial intelligence could replace human workers.

People may oppose new technologies due to concerns about job security, privacy, and societal impact.

Lack of understanding of new technologies can lead to anxiety and stress.

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The Right Way To Evaluate A Technology Solution For Your Organization

Founder and CEO at Ludi, Inc., a healthcare technology company making it easy for hospitals to pay physicians.

Selecting a new technology for your company can be daunting. Organizations usually begin this process with a desire to either streamline or solve specific pain points. Regardless of your specific needs, implementing new technology will involve change. For your organization as an entity, change can be great. Change can reduce inefficiencies and errors, as well as usher in new opportunities. But for the people who work for your organization, change can trigger anxiety and ultimately resistance to the new technology. Here are six things to keep in mind when evaluating new technology:

1. Identify your problem. It sounds simple, but many organizations jump straight to the solutions they find appealing. If you focus on the true problem you’re trying to solve, you will stay goal-oriented while searching for a vendor.

2. Keep an open mind. You may have seen a solution you find appealing, but remember that you don’t know what you don’t know. The technology partner you choose should be an expert in the field and may offer you products that you didn’t even know existed. Stay open to new ideas and solutions. One of the things I’ve noticed is prospective clients saying, “We can’t buy this product unless it handles this exact case we’re trying to solve for.” That’s not always the most effective approach because it doesn’t take all the variables into consideration. For example, my company works with hospitals to streamline complex physician payment structures. The hospital may have had the doctor recording their time one way because they were using a paper system and approvals needed to be checked in a certain manner for that doctor to get paid. Once you eliminate paper, though, in that particular scenario, everything is up for discussion – not just the way doctors record their time, but the entire physician payment process at the hospital. Rigidity will not benefit you when evaluating new technology.

3. Get your people on the same page. Meet with department heads to pull together all the pain points that need to be solved. You must be comprehensive during your internal review because needs come out differently across different departments. You may not be able to solve everyone’s problem with the new technology, but it’s important to align your team before you bring in a vendor. Then prioritize your needs. Once your departments agree on the priorities, be clear with your team on who is making the final decision. Departmental input is important, but knowing who the purchaser is within your organization is equally important. Remember: Don’t lose sight of why you're buying this technology. Keep the ultimate purpose in mind.

4. Consider internal change management. Change is difficult for many of us, so it’s important to stop and consider the people who will be affected by this change. Resistance to change can originate from any of the following: loss of control, insecurities about competence, feeling defensive about past work, concern about more work and general uncertainty. Be proactive in preparing your staff for a change, because all of these responses tend to have a ripple effect in corporate cultures.

5. Focus on the future. If you’ve ever bought a house, you know that there are things you didn’t know you needed until you lived with your investment for a few years. Technology is no different. You may have a list of goals for your business, but there is no telling what you’ll need 10 years from now. The best technology partner will be flexible enough to support your organization as it grows. How can you find a partner with this type of future-focused outlook? See point number two.

6. Listen and be patient. The people delivering technology solutions in the market are experts and can offer you insights into the industry. I suggest finding a solution that can handle 90% of what you need out of the box. Work with your solution provider and try their out-of-the-box solutions for 90 days before you decide what you need next. Make sure the product you choose is flexible enough to grow with your business, but resist over-customizing the product because that can back you into a corner.

Technology solutions truly can help you streamline and standardize your business. Time spent organizing what problem you are trying to solve will make the search much more efficient. While there may not be a solution out there that does everything you hope to accomplish, keep an open mind and you'll find a solution that's right for your specific needs.

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Opposition to new technologies may stem from concerns about job security, poverty, and social inequalities.

Effective communication is key to addressing employee concerns about new technologies.

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6 Strategies To Alleviate Employees’ Fears Of AI In 2024

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The rise in AI has caused a mixture of excitement and fear as it becomes a standard part of our lives. Some say it’s a risk to civilization as we know it, while others insist it will transform the way we work, live and interact with one another. The part that is not debatable is that not only is AI not going away, it’s on the upswing. You can get that tattooed. So it’s important to develop a reasonable comfort around its use.

Is AI Coming For You Or To You?

One way to do that is to consider that AI is coming to you, not for you. The stigma and fear around the technology has caused some employees to shy away from a tool that can enhance productivity and certain mental health benefits like cognitive re-framing for anxiety. On the flip side, studies also show that workers who frequently use AI are at higher risk for burnout.

However, the opposite findings are reported in a new global survey from Sage. Out of over 1,000 HR leaders, 95% have experienced a workload increase over the last year, and 91% noted an increase in their responsibilities. Yet, instead of fearing AI usage, 77% of the respondents cite AI as having the potential to revolutionize their work processes by reducing time-consuming tasks and ultimately easing burnout.

Taylor Blake, senior vice president of new initiatives at Degreed, told me by email that there’s a lot of fear about AI, but avoiding the technology won’t make the risks go away. He explains that employees need to know what the AI tools are capable of, and they need to be experimenting. He also said that many companies want their employees to adopt this technology, adding that many workers are left wondering if AI will take their jobs in the next two years and what this means for their careers.

How Companies Can Help Assuage AI Fears

Mismanaged fear is responsible for most poor communication in organizations. It’s important that business leaders consider the psychological safety of their employees and how their mental health impacts the company’s bottom line.

The human mind is like Velcro for negativity and Teflon for positivity. Work-life’s inevitable uncertainties instantly arouse our fight-or-flight reaction. Our survival brain is constantly updating our world, making judgments about what's safe and what isn't. It will do almost anything for the sake of certainty because we’re hardwired to overestimate threats and underestimate your ability to handle them. Here is where business leaders can step in and offer a helping hand, according to the experts.

“Some companies are going all in on AI, wanting their employees to start adopting this technology, leaving employees wondering if AI will take their jobs in two years and what this means for their careers,” Blake says, adding that in this new reality, companies should be helping their employees navigate where they can best apply their skills and develop new ones simultaneously. “Many of us have the mindset that learning is something we do early in our careers, but we need to shift that to a mindset of being lifelong learners. Learning is the new competitive advantage in today’s AI-powered job market.”

According to Rick Hammell, founder and CEO of Helios, leaders play a crucial role in alleviating employees' fears of AI. He shared with me six strategies companies can implement to mitigate fear and misunderstanding

  1. Providing comprehensive education and training programs. By offering employees a deeper understanding of AI technologies, their benefits and limitations, Hammell suggests that leaders can demystify AI and address misconceptions that often fuel fear and uncertainty.
  2. Fostering open communication within the organization. Hammell believes that creating a culture where employees feel comfortable expressing their concerns about AI allows leaders to actively listen to these fears and address them with empathy and clarity.
  3. Emphasizing the concept of human-machine collaboration. Hammell advocates highlighting how AI can complement and enhance employees' skills and productivity rather than replace them. He insists that this will enable leaders to help employees see AI as a tool that can improve their work experiences.
  4. Establishing clear ethical guidelines and policies for the use of AI in the workplace. Hammell sees this as crucial in addressing common fears related to AI. He acknowledges that employees often worry about job loss, privacy concerns, skill obsolescence, bias and discrimination and a lack of control when it comes to AI. To assuage these fears, he advises that leaders reassure employees about job security by emphasizing that AI is meant to augment their work, not replace it entirely.
  5. Implementing robust data protection measures and transparent data handling practices can help address privacy concerns. Hammell recommends offering upskilling and reskilling programs to help employees adapt to the changing skill requirements in the age of AI to alleviate fears related to skill obsolescence.
  6. Promoting diversity and inclusion in AI development and deployment. Hammell argues that it is essential to address concerns about bias and discrimination. “By involving employees in the design and implementation of AI systems and providing opportunities for feedback, leaders can empower employees and help them feel more in control of AI processes,” he concludes.

A Final Wrap-Up

Companies are developing technology to help people feel more confident with the inevitable technology. A study by Genesys, for example, finds a consensus among most employees who say they don’t fear AI replacing their jobs. Only 10% of GenZ/millennials and seven percent of GenX/boomers worry about this in the long run. Instead, 23% of GenZ/millennials and 19% of GenX/boomers see its potential to make their jobs better. The study concluded that organizations should seize this opportunity to educate and train their employees on AI’s benefits.

Bill Salak, the CTO and COO of Brainly, is on a mission to ensure the country’s future workforce is well-educated and ready to wield AI properly. His company has validated its commitment to the future workforce with the launch of Test Prep, an AI-driven tool that builds good time management skills and bolsters their overall understanding of AI use. The new Brainly feature uses AI to generate personalized study experiences—boosting confidence and reducing anxiety.

The conflicting findings that are emerging around AI reflects our human inability to accept uncertainty. It shows that some workers have fear; others have appreciation, which raises the question, “Is AI a sword or a shield?” Too much or too little of anything can be harmful. In the final analysis, it’s how corporate America uses the technology to improve humanity that ultimately matters.

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Companies can provide training on modern methods and technology to help employees develop necessary skills.

Title:

Content: They believe that it hinders students from using modern learning techniques.
Teachers: Traditional training programs are not aligned with artificial intelligence
Teachers in private schools called for a review of the training programs implemented by schools annually, pointing out the need to develop them to suit the modern education system, in addition to providing training programs for teachers to deepen their educational awareness, and provide them with advanced teaching methods in line with the great technological development that occurred during the last five years, instead of focusing on assignments and job burdens.
For its part, the Department of Education and Knowledge in Abu Dhabi called on teachers to develop themselves professionally through participation in professional development activities, periodic self-evaluation of their performance, and the definition of continuous development priorities, noting that teachers should be ambitious in their pursuit of excellence for the benefit of their students and the school community.
In detail, teachers working in private schools with different curricula, Mohammed Ali, Reem Bahaa, Caroline Alian, Mira Suleiman, Sara Elia and Rami Youssef, stressed the need to raise the level of teachers ’ performance and increase their creativity, use modern methods, and enhance their expertise by revising and updating their training programs, improving and developing the existing ones on a continuous basis. Effective, equipping learners with the skills needed to succeed in an ever-changing world.
They pointed out the need for private schools to provide opportunities for education and continuous development of skills and training on modern teaching methods, and ways to employ technology in performing their functions efficiently, to keep pace with technical and applied developments in the field of education, which reflects on the quality of outputs in all educational stages.
Teachers Sami George, Thamer Hassan, Lama Gad and Zainab Ammar said that schools still implement traditional training programs, which are divided into three types, including theoretical training, which is one of the oldest training methods, based on lectures and theoretical explanation of information, and training with games to motivate trainees and make them more interactive with the content of training, in addition to training on joint projects to improve teamwork skills.
They stressed the need for teacher training programs to focus on the mechanisms of technical transformation in the field of education, the use of artificial intelligence in the field of education, ways to identify and allocate appropriate educational plans for each student, analysis of student behavior and learning patterns, how to build an interactive community for each semester, and access to educational sources with valuable and reliable information.
For its part, the Department of Education and Knowledge (DoE) stressed that CPD covers the activities carried out by the administrative, teaching and technical bodies in schools to improve their skills and the effectiveness of their work. The development includes a wide range of activities, training courses and staff development programs.
The Department stipulated that each school must provide members of administrative, teaching and other bodies with at least 25 hours of professional development annually free of charge, provided that the hours allocated to training and professional development programs are not counted among the teachers' teaching burdens, noting that it follows through licensing, inspection and monitoring visits the commitment of schools to this requirement, and requires evidence to prove how schools use professional development hours.
She stressed that teachers should work to develop themselves professionally through cooperation with other teachers, participation in professional development activities, self-assessment and prioritization of continuous development, noting the importance of the teacher being ambitious in his quest to achieve excellence for the benefit of his students and the school community as a whole.
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Organizations should conduct a needs assessment and involve business users in decision-making to improve outdated workflows and increase system acceptance.

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5 Mistakes To Avoid When Replacing Your Communications Technology

After working on projects replacing hundreds of phone systems over my years as a consultant, I have noticed some common trends in the projects that are the most challenging.

Here are the top 5 most common mistakes we see when replacing a telephony system:

  1. Skipping the needs assessment. Often a move to a new telephony solution occurs when the existing system reaches end of life. In these cases, it’s easy to think that your goal in replacing your existing solution is to simply duplicate what you have. But you are missing a big opportunity for improvement.

Communication technology has changed considerably in the last few years. New solutions go beyond telephony to include collaboration tools and support multiple forms of communication. Users can move seamlessly between devices and incorporate SMS text messaging and IM in addition to voice. There are usually opportunities to improve outdated workflows caused by limitations of the old technology.

If you are looking at a replacement due to inadequacies of the existing technology, a thorough needs assessment is still a good idea. Most organizations have some percentage of power users who will benefit from higher-level “tools,” and the most successful implementations recognize these users and provide the tools to make them more effective. Standard users can benefit from enhancements such as voice mail messages in their email, and the ability to work remotely, if they don’t already have these capabilities.

It's useful to document your common user requirements in addition to the more complex special requirements. When you understand the workflows of your users and how they utilize the features in your current telephone system, it will help you select a better replacement technology.

  1. Not involving business users in the decision. When a system is selected only by the IT team, it often does not fully meet the needs of the wider group of end users. We once saw a solution selected based primarily on what would be best for enhancing the IT team’s resumes.

Including end users in your needs assessment will help to uncover both business and technical requirements. This has multiple benefits:

  1. Reveals productivity enhancements offered by mobility and collaboration capabilities not available in the current system.
  2. Uncovers communications issues. Often, we find that many user complaints can be resolved through changes in business processes.
  3. Improves system acceptance. When business users have had input into the process, they are less likely to resist adoption of the new system.

Involving business users in the selection process results in a better decision in the end, although a larger group can slow the process. Business users often help to clarify what is truly needed versus what is nice to have. They typically aren’t swayed by the coolest new toys, and offer insight into areas where true productivity gains can be achieved.

  1. No end-user communications plan. End users are much more likely to accept and adopt a new technology tool when they understand how it can benefit them. A good communication plan can go a long way in reducing resistance to the change. The best communications plans take a custom approach and target messages to specific groups of users, explaining the benefits of the new tool that are most relevant to each group.

You can download an eBook that explains the adoption and change management process in greater detail

  1. Skimping on user training. UCaaS providers typically don’t offer “classroom” training on live phones. They offer virtual classes with live instructors, recorded sessions, and train-the-trainer options. While these methods save a lot of labor for the vendors, they can be insufficient for the users. On the surface it seems OK. After all, how hard can it be to use a new phone?

But new telephony solutions bring many new capabilities that users may have never been exposed to previously. They may not know how to manage calls and features using a computer instead of the hard phone.

And there are cell phone apps, collaboration tools, and presence and status information. There may be multiple tools that offer the same capabilities. Your new tool may offer chat, or video conferencing. Which tool should they be using?

All of this complexity creates confusion for your users. If your new solution has any feature depth, then there will be complexity. In order to get full use of the new capabilities, users must be trained on them, and given guidelines on which tools are to be used.

  1. Underestimating the difficulty of porting numbers. This process can be quite dysfunctional, especially if you have been with your carrier for several years. Records can be inaccurate, and the entire process is based on this information. At times, this can be a headache (or worse). For a breakdown of common problems, check out this article

Often the process takes longer than expected, so build extra time into your process to allow for that.

For more tips and advice from people who have gone through this process, check out these sessions at Enterprise Connect:

Tuesday, March 26 | 2:00pm - 2:45pm

UCAAS CASE STUDIES: HOW YOUR PEERS MADE THE MIGRATION

Moderator: Melissa Swartz(Swartz Consulting)

Panelists: Steve Panton (Gannett Fleming), Brian Harrison (Broward College), Karen Gordon (King & Spalding)

Wednesday, March 27 | 2:00pm - 2:45pm

ENTERPRISE LEADERS SPEAK OUT: VOICE MIGRATION--CRITICAL ISSUES FOR A (STILL) CRITICAL CAPABILITY

Moderator: Melissa Swartz (Swartz Consulting)

Panelists: Scott Johnson (Cargill), Georges Habalian (HCA Healthcare), Eric Zweigbaum (Conair)

By proactively communicating the benefits of new technologies, organizations can alleviate employee concerns and increase digital transformation success.

Title:

Content: With the development of technology, digital transformation has become a problem for many enterprises.
But how do businesses cope with the digital wave of disruption?
In the face of this one problem after another, digital transformation consultants become the best partners on the transformation path of enterprises, providing professional strategies, technologies and experience to find the best solution for enterprises in the digital era.
In the past two or three years, with the impact of technological innovation, consumer lifestyle changes, and the need for remote work caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies have begun to pay attention to digital transformation in order to maintain "business continuity". Activate the needs of digital transformation consultants.
Formulate a transformation strategy
Start with defining the problem
The so-called digital transformation, as the name suggests, refers to the transformation of the organization, operation, and profit model of enterprises through digital technology.
Lai Weiyan shared that in fact, the process of assisting enterprises in digital transformation can be roughly divided into three parts: "digital", "transformation" and "type".
First of all, “type ” refers to understanding the state of the enterprise and clearly defining the transformation issues before you can confirm what“ type ” the enterprise should become.
“Digital transformation consultants must first understand the customer ’ s situation through interviews, questionnaires, surveys and research before they can propose a transformation strategy suitable for different customers. ”
For example, we have designed a set of scales based on past experience. After enterprises answer the 20 questions in the scale, they can roughly know the performance of enterprises in the five capabilities of "forward-looking", "pioneering", "digital", "awareness" and "resilience". See also "Satia", "Satia", "Satia", "Satia
If customers want to further establish their strengths and weaknesses, we will also provide more detailed customized questionnaires to understand the current situation of customers, so as to re-inventory the current status of customers, target customers, competitors, and how resources should be allocated. 」
Based on transformation strategy
Find the right technology tools
Once you have identified the “type ”, the next step is to identify the corresponding“ digital ” technology tools.
“The most important thing at this stage is to find the technical way to solve the customer ’ s problem.
For example, when a store wants to launch a “buy first, pay later ” service, we know that we need to launch a risk assessment model with a credit algorithm to grasp the risk of repayment.
We then decide, depending on the customer ’ s needs, whether it will be handled by the engineers within our team or an external team that can provide the required technology for the customer.
Lai Weiyan described that this process is actually like a doctor treating a patient, finding out the cause and treatment is the ultimate goal, as to whether it is to treat it by yourself, or to consult with other medical personnel, is a possible way of implementation.
Empowering businesses
Let internal partners be transformational help
Lai further stated that after establishing a digital transformation strategy and the technology required, it is the internal partners that can really bring change to the enterprise. Therefore, in the “transformation ” part, the focus is on cultivating the knowledge and capabilities required for the transformation of customers.
“Companies sometimes provoke opposition to digital transformation, which stems from a lack of understanding between those in charge of digital transformation and those in traditional jobs, and the fear that they will not keep up with the times and that they will be replaced, can become resistance to transformation. ”
In order to alleviate this situation, we will organize internal courses for our customers so that people who do not know much about digital trends, programming and so on can understand them slowly. ”
Lai Weiyan, for example, when he was training for employees of enterprises, sometimes he took the building block excavator as a prop, and divided the students into groups. Each group was composed of employees of different departments, positions, and ages, and then let them collectively complete a movable building block excavator according to the basic digital engineering knowledge taught in the course.
"In this way, in addition to allowing internal employees to communicate with each other and cooperate in a team, but also let partners who are afraid of, or even resistant to, digital transformation know that they can actually understand the digital world." 」
Lai Weiyan added that digital transformation consultants need a lot of capabilities to achieve the above tasks.
In terms of hard power, in addition to data analysis and agile management, consultants also need basic AI and information technology concepts to know through data which technical tools can achieve transformation tasks and maintain flexibility in the transformation process.
In addition, it is best for each digital transformation consultant to have expertise in one field or industry in order to provide professional services to customers who want to move to another industry in the digital transformation process. In terms of soft power, due to the rapid development of digital technology, European and American digital applications are constantly innovating, and it is especially important to maintain the habit of continuous learning and strengthen the international perspective.
At the same time, the consultant needs to communicate and cooperate with the enterprise, so the ability to express is also an indispensable key function of the job.
“Helping companies solve problems and create value through the power of technology has always been an important concept in my work.
When we see a business owner listening to us share our knowledge about digital transformation, receiving affirmations from customers, or hearing a customer ’ s employees thank us for exposing them to the new world, we have a great sense of accomplishment as a digital transformation consultant, and this is the driving force behind my continued passion for this job. ”
Name ： LAI Weiyan
Occupation: Digital Transformation Consultant
Proficiency in communication, international outlook and curiosity to learn new things.
Work tasks: To formulate digital transformation strategies and methods for enterprises, and to digitally empower customers.
Core concept: Through the power of digital technology, help enterprises solve problems and create value.
Author ： Guo Hui
(This article is excerpted from the Taipei Fine Arts Journal, Issue 662, March)
# Digital Transformation # Customers # Businesses # Consultants # Transformation

Leadership and organizational culture play a crucial role in promoting innovation and successful technology adoption.

Title:

Content: Although it is common for business leaders to take inspiration from successful sports coaches, former Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger — himself a regular speaker on the corporate circuit — believes lessons from sport aren’t easily transferable to most organisations.

“Players have to be as close as possible to 100% of their potential to be efficient,” Wenger is quoted as saying. “That is not the case in daily life.”

Certainly, the role of talent separates sports teams from banks, or law firms, or even startups. Not least because the hierarchy of compensation is flipped, with many players earning in a week what their coach earns in a month, or what the club directors earn in a year. But Wenger is getting at something deeper, a point taken up by Financial Times journalist Simon Kuper.

“Sport isn’t a useful model for business,” Kuper writes. “Corporations are based on the concept of replaceability. [Employees] don’t need to be highly talented. They just need to be good enough.

A corporation succeeds thanks to efficient processes, not extraordinary talent. In most jobs, creativity and extraordinary talent only cause trouble.”

Interestingly, Kuper’s emphasis on process and replaceability chimes with common fears around AI and automation, with many digital transformation initiatives encountering resistance and scepticism from employees fearing job displacement — often justified.

Irish workers at risk

By 2030, management consultancy firm McKinsey predicts automation will impact at least 375 million jobs worldwide, while the recent OECD Skills Strategy Report notes Irish workers are at risk of falling behind as workplaces and technology evolve faster than skills and capabilities.

If we accept Kuper’s version of a corporation, surely more AI and automation will lead to increased organisational downsizing and even less emphasis on creativity and extraordinary talent.

Thankfully no. Or at least, not entirely. While the process-over-people organisation Kuper describes may have been common in the past — and still exists to an extent — IMI research shows top organisations have never been more committed to their people, with AI and automation an enhancer of their creativity rather than a replacement.

After studying the digital transformation efforts of multiple organisations, IMI found the biggest enabler of project success was not the technology itself, but the organisational and leadership structures.

Empowered by supportive leadership, agile and cross-functional teams utilised cutting-edge project management techniques to test and iterate in an environment of psychological safety, with creativity and innovation at the forefront.

Emphasis on continuous learning

The most successful teams were not necessarily AI or technology experts, but their organisations placed a strong emphasis on continuous learning and upskilling, allowing them to adapt more easily to new technology and ways of working.

Crucially, rather than being processed-obsessed, these teams were output-orientated, customer-centric focused on high performance. Tony Moroney, programme director for IMI’s digital leadership diploma and AI for C-Suite programme, believes the biggest challenge to be overcome when it comes to technology and digital is mindset.

When people hear digital transformation they tend to focus on the digital side rather than the transformation side, when really it’s just using digital tools to deliver this transformation and provide a better experience for customers.

"But it’s vital to look at digital transformation as a strategic imperative, and not just as a technology project.”

Recall the words of Colonel John Boyd, the US Air Force pilot and military strategist, who would routinely bark: “People, ideas, machines — in that order!” Boyd believed project success with technology came from the intersection between people and technology, and the ideas of those people, not from the technology itself. In other words, instilling a culture of innovation.

New opportunities and challenges

However, fostering that environment is not easy. The business landscape is being reshaped by automation and AI in unprecedented ways. This brings forth new opportunities and challenges for leaders, who are tasked with driving their organisations through technological adoption while meeting the changing needs of an evolving workforce.

Organisations must shift from technology infrastructure investment to value realisation, but these opportunities can only be realised when the cultural and organisational challenges are met.

For example, a recent Microsoft survey noted over half of Irish workers feel their leadership team is out of touch and that workplace culture has deteriorated in the hybrid environment. Burnout, not enough focus time, and too many tasks and meetings were also cited as challenges.

On the flipside, a recent Deloitte survey noted C-suite leaders found the main obstacle hindering their organisation’s progress towards digital transformation was lack of workforce skills and capabilities, followed by mindset and cultural shift.

In terms of overcoming these challenges, the adoption of digital solutions like AI should help organisation address the productivity pressure points mentioned above, reduce risk of employee burnout and improve the employee experience.

Crucially, leaders must encourage a culture of continuous learning and experimentation, where employees are empowered to embrace change and adapt to emerging tools and trends, along with equipping the workforce with new skills and capabilities. Otherwise, workers may get left behind, as the OECD recently warned.

While technology should be used to increase productivity rather than a means to replace people, technology can and often does replace people — this is the history of automation. Thus upskilling and lifelong learning initiatives are so vital: empowering and increasing the capabilities of a hugely diverse group of workers, including leaders themselves.

Jobs threat

Because automation and AI threaten jobs higher up the food chain than ever before, leaders are also at risk of being left behind, unless they equip themselves and their teams with the necessary skills and capabilities to navigate the rapidly evolving landscape.

The demand for a better understanding of these implications has led IMI to create their AI for C-suite half-day programme, featuring immersive workshops providing scenarios where senior leaders will work through the implications and challenges of embedding AI into their businesses.

The need for programmes such as these is especially crucial, considering the growing divide between workers and leaders in many organisations and the unprecedented complexity we face.

AI is likely to be the defining technology of our time, with the potential to free us from digital debt, fuel innovation and transform how organisations operate and interact with their employees. Rather than diminishing creativity and extraordinary talent, quite the opposite effect occurs. Freed from process obsession, workers can finally perform to the standard of high-level footballers.

At least in theory.

  • Ben Davern leads research and insights with IMI

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Leaders can influence technology adoption by prioritizing people, creativity, and continuous learning.

The Luddite movement has similarities with current labor struggles in Silicon Valley.

People opposed to new technology may resist change due to anxiety and loss of control triggered by its introduction.

Organizations can address 21st century Luddites' concerns by prioritizing student-centered methods, curriculum reorganization, and autonomous learning spaces.

Title:

Content: The Path of Inspiration: A New Inheritance of Inspiration. Creativity. Doing
Post Date ： 2022 年 09 月 06 日
Over the past six years, the Jockey Club has been “impressed. ”
Base Camp (LBD) In the face of all kinds of challenges, the “impossible task ” is finally completed.
Education Datong and teachers work together to break the existing framework of common sense subjects, reorganize the curriculum, and establish a relatively autonomous space in the first learning stage of primary school, so that children learn in the real life situation, and establish the attitudes, skills and knowledge needed in the 21st century.
It is also important for teachers to break through the inherent teaching framework and practice student-centered teaching methods.
As a child leaves primary school and enters secondary school, we graduate!
In the next stage, we will further take the past learning and teaching experience into the school, and carry out the "sense."
Do "Total Value Inheritance Program".
Strengthen student-centered learning and teaching in the formal curriculum of 15 schools, so that disadvantaged students can build values, attitudes, social, emotional skills, and 21st century life skills as early as possible, and alleviate intergenerational poverty and educational inequality exacerbated by COVID-19.
Implement Value Education in General Studies
Building values and attitudes through extracurricular activities is very limited. After all, there is not much time.
Therefore, we will implement value education in the curriculum of General Studies.
As the pandemic rages, teachers also have a headache of re-establishing daily teacher-student interactions with their students.
In particular, students in these years need more effective social-emotional learning in order to recover the distance that the epidemic has ordered people to draw.
Based on 35 minutes of general knowledge lessons five times a week, there will be 100 hours of time in a year to build these important values and abilities for children more deeply. In three years, 300 hours have taken root.
Establish a teacher learning platform to share with each other
Teachers have basically been running for their children since May, and have not yet had a good rest, and the new school year has begun.
We understand the difficulties of teachers, so our school partners will continue to provide hands-on training and build a learning platform for teachers.
In the past, we have observed teachers sharing, observing, supporting and encouraging each other from the open classroom, and witnessing the successful experience brought about by “trusting children ” together.
In the process of learning from each other, the teachers' satisfaction is strengthened, and the positive energy is naturally transferred to the Protestant teachers who are trying to change.
Creating a happy and meaningful learning environment is not a matter for just a few teachers or schools, but for the entire school community to change the education culture in Hong Kong.
When teachers see their own changes and can bring so different growth to their children, they will be more willing to enrich this teacher-sharing platform.
In the next 3 years, under the new plan, parents will learn more about their children's development and have more positive communication and interaction with their children through more classroom participation and parent-child family activities.
We believe that apart from one-on-one seminars and parent interest classes, schools can have a home-school collaboration model that promotes communication and mutual trust.
Students are the masters of learning, and adults are the helpers!
Expect to extend the "feeling."
More students will discover the joy of learning, learn more about themselves, appreciate their strengths, be more confident in asking questions and expressing themselves, and be more willing to collaborate and collaborate with peers, family members and teachers. Let ’ s build a new chapter in local education with principals, teachers and parents in 15 schools!
Text: Zhu Fengling (Assistant Publicity and Promotion Manager, Education Datong)
Introduction of the author: Written by educators from Education Datong and partner schools, sharing the concept of Learning by doing and the latest developments.
Education Datong is a charitable organization initiated by parents. It is committed to collecting new ideas in education, opening up educational choices, and helping everyone to reflect together.
(Criticism of works published by this website is aimed at pointing out errors or deficiencies in relevant systems, policies or measures, with the aim of correcting or eliminating these errors or deficiencies and improving them through lawful means, with no intention of inciting hatred, dissatisfaction or hostility towards the government or other communities.)
[Happy PaMa # 413]
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Education and training programs can help 21st century Luddites adapt to the changing job market by providing in-demand knowledge and skills.

Title:

Content: At the moment, advanced training programs are important not only for employees and specialists seeking career development, but also for university students, since they allow them to form a complex of basic knowledge and skills in related areas that are in demand in organizations of all forms of ownership.
Volga Region Institute of Management named after P.A. Stolypin RANEPA actively practices these programs for students, providing them with the opportunity to obtain along with a document on secondary vocational or higher education a document on additional vocational education, thereby ensuring the universality of professional and career opportunities of students.
For the 2020 / 2021 academic year, several advanced training programs were implemented on the basis of the Center for Further Education of PIU RANEPA.
Thus, the program "Designing and Moderation of Organizational Activity and Business Games" has successfully fulfilled its goals - mastering the project management methodology and advanced concepts, technologies and methods of business evaluation and development, as well as the formation of systemic knowledge and competencies necessary to perform a new type of professional activity in the field of project management.
As part of the course, a series of interactive online classes was planned on the formation of an organizational and substantive contour of an organizational and activity game, the analysis of complex cases in the work of a moderator, and training in digital tools for designing a game space for remote teams.
Digital technologies again allow us to effectively solve the problems of implementing additional education programs.
The extensive geography of the students of the new Program did not become an obstacle to obtaining knowledge and skills in the field for which previously only full-time formats were used.
Designing and moderating online events, including gaming sessions, is becoming an increasingly popular competence, ” said Maria Zhverantseva, Program Manager, Deputy Director of the Center for Further Education of the Institute.
Also, the advanced training program “Digital Tools and Services for Managers of the 21st Century ” was organized for students, in which students got acquainted with modern digital tools in a remote format, practiced practical skills in the Zoom session halls, visualized the results of interaction of remote teams on the Miro interactive whiteboard and in the Trello service, calculated the budget of events using Google tools.
The course provided students with a holistic view of digital tools and services, and also allowed them to work out the skills of combining digital technologies to solve educational, professional and personal problems.
“The program was useful for me not only as a future manager, but also as a person keeping up with modern realities of life.
I have already successfully applied this knowledge in my daily life.
Separately, I would like to note the learning process: the development of the project in a team helps the participants to correctly distribute responsibilities, everyone sees the work done in real time and can give comments to each other, ” Anna Demidova, a student of the Program, shared her opinion.
The cycle of training courses for students was closed by the advanced training program "Fundamentals of Project Management".
The process of training students consisted of analyzing the benefits of using the project approach in the activities of enterprises and organizations, analyzing the ten most effective methods and tools of project management, studying the essence of five management processes of project management, identifying twelve key skills of the project manager, analyzing practical cases of implementation and application of flexible approaches in organizations of different sizes and spheres of activity.
Students benefit greatly from the experience of participating in these additional courses.
In the preparation and implementation of educational programs, special attention is paid to the needs of employers so that graduates are in demand in the labor market, ” said Elena Danilkevichene, Director of the Center for Further Education.

Digital technologies can enhance education, but their potential biases and limitations must be considered.