Metacognition & Reinvention: The 21st Century Career Paradigm
1. Christopher Bishop IBM Global Services Internal & Executive Communications Metacognition and Reinvention: The 21 st Century Career Paradigm Keynote Address Bennington College – Senior Week February 19, 2009
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7. AGE YEAR 1970 1980 2009 1990 2000 Graduated from Bennington McKendree Spring NYC session musician Jingle producer Web producer Business Strategist Comms Specialist 20 30 40 50 60 Academia 70 My own career trajectory ?
18. Technology adoption continues to accelerate Internet 0 25 50 100 125 150 75 Years 25 50 100 Electricity Radio Television VCR PC Cellular % Penetration Metaverse YEARS Automobile Telephone
19. An estimated 2 billion people will be on the Web by 2011 ... … and a trillion connected objects – cars, appliances, cameras, roadways, pipelines – comprising the "Internet of Things."
My name is Christopher Bishop from the class of 1972 and I am a currently working as a communications specialist in IBM Global Technology Services. I am delighted to be here. Let me give you a sense of what I am going to speak about this morning…
Why me? Multiple careers over 35 years Kind of the poster child for 21 st century work model Graduated with a BA in German literature-minored in music – translated five short stories into English by eccentric post WW II German authors Took 16 th century poetry, dance classes, jazz, played in two symphonies, did gigs with my rock band at ski resorts
6 months after graduating, I got a gig with McKendree Spring. 6 months after that I was touring England and Germany. Toured all over the US and many gigs in Canada. Recorded three albums – one at the Manor, Oxford England, Electric Ladyland- (Hendrix’s studio on 8 th St in New York) and Bearsville in Woodstock, where the Band, Bob Dylan and Todd Rundgren among other made records…when the band broke up I moved to New York City REINVENTION
Moved to NYC in 1976 and worked as a freelance musician –played in dozens if not hundreds of bands over 16 years – Robert Palmer, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Skunk Baxter On a rooftop in NYC in 1981 with Baird Hersey (class of 73) pop-rock band MATSUO-BEBOP REINVENTION I was also playing in on average 12 different bands at the same time in styles ranging from country to rock to punk to R&B to jazz MOVE TO JINGLES_REINVENTION
Wrote music for radio and TV commercials using a Synclavier – state of the art (at the time) digital musical instrument – Gimme A Break – Kit Kat spot MOVE TO COMPUTERS - REINVENTION
REINVENTION – MOVE TO WEB Worked at several seminal interactive agencies in New York – CKS Partners, Eagle River Interactive, i3 Media – made the transition by learning, reading, talking to people
REINVENTION – VARIOUS ROLES Hired as an Account Manager in Corporate Internet Programs in 1998, have worked in Web production, business strategy development, and communications NEW TECH
Very active now in Virtual Universe Community, conducted many pilot programs using virtual worlds for HR activities, manager training, onboarding new employees in BRIC countries, social events, meetings, training, collaboration
Still playing – Block Island last summer
Now working in executive communications in IM Pei pyramid in upper Westchester county
When I graduated in 1972, there were no: no personal computers, no World Wide Web, no cell phones, no Facebook, no DVDs’ also - no hybrid cars, no blogging, no texting, no Leet Speak, no cloning, no mapping the human genome, no space shuttle, no microloans, no wireless power, no black president, Tell BlackBerry story
Every 40 – 60 years over the past three centuries, society has witnessed a great surge of business innovation sparked by technological advances which usher in a revolutionary new era . Each follows a predictable pattern of two distinct periods of 20-30 years. There have been five such surges in modern history according to Carlota Perez, who teaches at Cambridge University, wrote a very important book called "Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital," about how the world economy has developed. She found a consistent pattern in how these phases emerge, I’m going to spend a little time on this historical approach, to give you a sense of the basic logic, because the same pattern plays out time and again. We see this pattern around every major new technology . Something new emerges, and all of a sudden we need to go back and deal with some of the societal infrastructural issues . Then the technology can take off. In the late 1840s, investors poured money into new railways with little regard for where they were routed, how well they were designed or how many rail lines the market really needed. And there was no thought given to standards, so when two lines approached each other, they'd find their tracks didn't line up. - To some, this period is a much more boring affair. All the quick bucks have been made. The emphasis is no longer on raw technology but on how to apply and capitalize on it. Period of invention generates wholly new products, markets and industries and a new infrastructure to support its growth. Speculative capital inevitably leads to a bubble, an economic meltdown and a correction. Market adjusts, resulting in extended period of "deployment“ The same pattern occurred with steam railways in 1829; with steel, electricity, and heavy engineering in 1875; with oil, autos, and mass production in 1908; and right up to the present era, which she calls information and telecommunications, starting in 1971. that we're just starting the deployment phase of the information and telecommunications era, which will take perhaps 25 to 45 years to get really baked into our society.
Newer technologies have been taking hold at two and three times previous rates Years to reach 50m in marketplace adoption – Radio – 38 TV – 13 Internet – 4 iPod 3 Facebook - 2 200 million users of My Space as of Sept 2006 –If it were a country it would be the 11 th largest in the world – between Japan and Mexico Number of text messages sent and received every day exceeds the number of people on the planet 40 exabytes (4.0 X 10 19 th power) of new information will be generated this year-more than in the previous 5000 years it’s a good time to be having this discussion about the changing nature of innovation. Because as this chart illustrates, there’s simply no doubt that the pace of innovation, and the time between important new innovations, is changing. Today, new technologies are taking hold at double or triple the previous rate. Compare the penetration of cell phones in our society with the telephone. The invention of the telephone took nearly 40 years to reach the same societal penetration as cellular technology has in five years. All of which comes with implications for about ability to absorb, adapt and respond to the policy and ethical implications that always accompany technical advances.
*2 billion people on the Web by 2011, according to the Computer Industry Almanac. **A trillion connected objects, according to "From Autonomous to Cooperative," ERCIM Workshop on eMobility.
Globally interconnected Data from embedded devices Driving new and evolving business models
During your careers you will be on a first name basis with people in many of these locations
Data is everywhere and easy to find
You will be doing jobs that have not been invented yet You will need to learn and master new skills quickly You will have to collaborate with team members form all over the globe-different cultures, different backgrounds, different skills, different perspectives You will see breakthroughs in how technology is applied to business and pace of global socio-cultural evolution
My interview at IBM-same qualities as being a freelance musician
According to former Secretary of Education Richard Riley, You will be doing jobs that have not been invented yet You will need to learn and master new skills quickly You will have to collaborate with team members from all over the globe-different cultures, different backgrounds, different skills, different perspectives You will see breakthroughs in how technology is applied to business and pace of global socio-cultural evolution
11/17/09 23:08
Read the Journal , Huffinton Post, embrace technology, go to meetings – be aware of trending ideally in all fields not just the one you are interested in, Virtual Worlds It all connects in various ways, to varying degrees, but it all does
Mike Brecker story a brand is a promise, a perspective, a uniqueness that differentiates you from the rest of the pack Facebook write, compose, paint, draw, post! You are what you do and think and write Just as companies have brands you have a brand Need to always be thinking of your onw brand STORY: Mike Brecker in the studio
Describe breaking into the jingle business – 3x5 cards in a box written in pencil Critically important in a global integrated economy ACT! Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace, Plaxo, Xing, ACT, Google docs, other contact mgmt tools Note cards, yellow pads, whatever works