New learning tools can boost understanding and the capability to do difficult jobs

Educational systems and approaches to teaching need to be radically changed if people are to achieve their full potential. According to Prof. Colin Coulson-Thomas “it is possible to transform school, higher, professional and lifelong education by making it easy for people to learn, increase their understanding, build their capability and solve complex problems.” His inaugural Kuwait Knowledge Partnership lecture set out how this can be achieved and gave examples of tools that have had a massive impact on understanding and performance in complex fields.

The Professor and author of Winning Companies; Winning People believes “Different people learn in different ways. Learning support tools can help people to overcome barriers to learning. The right tools use a variety of ways of making it very easy for people to quickly understand areas that have hitherto been considered too complex to comprehend. At school level they need to be designed to engage young learners, secure their attention and inspire their imaginations.”

Coulson-Thomas who is also a co-Founder of the Kuwait Knowledge Partnership believes, “Possession of information and knowledge does not of itself lead to understanding or the capability to do things. A new generation of learning and performance tools are enabling average people to excel in challenging roles by equipping them to adopt the approaches of their high performing peers.”

The Professor explains: “Within any community of knowledge workers and professionals whether teachers, engineers or doctors there are a small number of superstars and a long tail of OK people. The high performers are not necessarily cleverer or better educated. They just do the activity in question differently. The performance of others can be increased by making it easy for them to adopt these more effective approaches.”

The right tools can also stretch and develop high performers by freeing them of the more routine aspects of their roles, and enabling them to quickly search for better outcomes. Coulson-Thomas’ Winning Companies; Winning People research programme identifies critical success factors for a wide range of activities from winning business and building relationships to corporate learning and creating and exploiting know-how. Early adopters of tools based upon his approach have obtained returns on investment of over 20, 30 and 70 times within a year on the basis of just one or two of several possible measures of outcomes.

Coulson-Thomas believes education must also help people to be true to themselves. He argues: “Far too much education and training is focused upon helping people to address their weaknesses rather than build upon their strengths. With cost-effective ways of capturing and sharing what super star learners and high performers do differently, the payoff from encouraging people to excel at what they enjoy doing and do best can be enormous.”

The new generation of learning and performance tools the Professor champions can boost performance, speed up learning and other activities, and enable bespoke responses, while at the same time reducing risk, costs and stress and ensuring compliance. They have already been adopted by pioneering companies and are now in use in over 100 countries. Affordable tools can be developed for both teachers and learners, and the latest ones allow for automatic updating whenever users are on-line. Whereas some technologies can de-skill Coulson-Thomas advocates designing them so that people increase their competence and confidence each time they are used.

The implications of the new approach are far reaching. The Professor explains: “People can learn at a time and place of their choice, including when on the move as support can be provided via a laptop or the latest generation of mobile phone. The roles of teachers and trainers are changing from the transmission of information and knowledge to the facilitation of learning and the building of both understanding and capability.”

The new approach also supports the Kuwait Knowledge Partnerships aim of encouraging creativity. Coulson-Thomas feels “Most past education and training has equipped people with commodity knowledge. Training inputs have not led to intellectual capital outputs. In order to break new ground people need to be helped to go out in front. Building controls into learning and support tools means that people can be set free to discover, explore and innovate.”

Coulson-Thomas’ book “Winning Companies; Winning People” is subtitled “making it easy for average performers to adopt winning behaviours”. It sets out a new approach to helping people to understand complex areas and do difficult jobs and can be obtained from http://www.policypublications.com. It gives examples of how pioneering companies have used learning and support tools to increase understanding, build capability and boost performance.

Prof. Colin Coulson-Thomas is an experienced director, consultant and educator. He has been a Faculty Dean and the Head of a University campus and is a fellow of seven chartered bodies. The author of over 40 books and reports, he has held professorial appointments in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, India and China, and helped over 100 organisations to improve director, board and corporate performance. He has spoken at over 200 national and international events in 40 countries, and can be contacted via http://www.coulson-thomas.com. His recent books and reports can be obtained from http://www.policypublications.com.

The Kuwait Knowledge Partnership is for the betterment of society and coming generations, and a sustainable future. It achieves this through knowledge-transfer between experts in Kuwait and the wider world, and aims to help young Kuwaitis to develop new thinking and a passion to achieve the highest standard of educational excellence and creativity. The inaugural lecture was delivered at the TIES Center in Kuwait City which promotes relations between westerners and Muslims through dialogue, friendship, and cultural-knowledge exchange.

ROCKLEIGH, NEW JERSEY – Crestron was named UK Manufacturer of the Year at the Inside Hi-Fi and Custom Installer Trade Awards 2008. The ceremony was held recently in the Novotel at London’s ExCeL. Crestron was recognized for its significant contribution to the development of the custom installation market and ongoing commitment to the company’s ever-expanding national network of dealers, partners and programmers.

Commenting on the award, Crestron UK Residential Sales Manager, Phil Solomons said, “It is always fantastic to receive awards, especially this one. To be named Manufacturer of the Year from those within the CI industry is a great honor. We take our relationships with our dealers extremely seriously and we are committed to supporting them in whatever way we can to grow the market together.”

The award punctuates a significant expansion period for the company that transformed its UK operation with a move to new headquarters at Munro House in Cobham. This impressive 12,500 sq ft facility has already enabled hundreds of installers from across the UK to get hands-on experience of Crestron award-winning products and technology, as well as participate in popular training courses, such as the two-day Crestron Foundation course, which was also acknowledged in the Training Course of the Year category.

In addition to its new UK offices, Crestron has released over 70 new product developments in 2008. These include the TPS-6X, a finalist in the Product Launch of the Year category. Launched to international acclaim at CEDIA EXPO 2008, the TPS-6X revolutionizes touchpanel design for the 21st century and reaffirms Crestron as the leading innovator of advanced control and automation systems.

# # #

Boards must be more open and positive according to Prof. Colin Coulson-Thomas speaking in London to the ninth International Conference on Corporate Governance: “Too many boards are battening down the hatches when they should be seizing once in a lifetime opportunities. They are playing it safe when they should be bold. Financial crises, economic downturns and recessions often create possibilities that can only be dreamt of in more stable conditions. Those who are flexible, prepared and act quickly can acquire the best bits of failing competitors at knockdown prices. They can snap up good people who are laid off.”

Coulson-Thomas, author of ‘Developing Directors’ a handbook for building effective boardroom teams, believes: “Many boards are so concerned with playing it safe, avoiding risks and longer term planning that they fail to quickly respond when exciting possibilities suddenly appear. When a situation is unexpected and precedents few and far between a company led by an entrepreneurial, canny and pragmatic board is at a huge advantage. Confident directors who can act without long investigations and consultants reports can steal a march on competitors who cower behind prison bars of their own creation.”

The professor who is himself an experienced director examines the approaches of different boards to determine what the more effective of them do differently: “The inhibited and muscle bound are those who become dependent upon experts who encourage them to engage in activities and esoteric practices they do not fully understand. The nimble are those who keep their feet on the ground and remember the realities of business. A dodgy debt is a dodgy debt however it is packaged, passed around and moved offshore.”

Coulson-Thomas emphasised that an economic downturn can create unprecedented opportunities for a competent board that is quick to react: “In normal market conditions financial institutions have to work very hard to secure quite modest gains of market share. Yet the proposed acquisition of HBOS by Lloyds TSB illustrates the scale of good fortune that can arise in crisis conditions. Favourable circumstances can be created when normal rules of the game are set aside. Boards need to ensure the activities of competitors are monitored and they have the flexibility to act quickly and decisively as and when exciting and strategic possibilities arise.”

According to Coulson-Thomas, “The credit crunch has exposed the inadequacy of many directors. The scale of public intervention required to prevent meltdown reflects a failure of boards to question and read the road ahead. Chief executive officers (CEO) and their senior executive teams have not been challenged or held to account. Prior to Lehman Brothers filing for bankruptcy certain of the US investment bank’s non-executive directors had been on its board for so many years that it would have been difficult for them to be independent.”

Coulson-Thomas finds: “Many directors go with the flow and turn a blind eye to activities they do not fully understand. Billions have been written off the value of banks around the world because directors did not appreciate their company’s exposure to US mortgage loan defaults. Anyone who did not understand the nature of a derivative or the implications of slicing and dicing debt should have raised their hands and asked for clarification. Certain implications and future scenarios should have been foreseen. Directors stood by while huge sums were paid out as bonuses and commissions for bringing what would prove to be time bombs into their organisations. ”

Coulson-Thomas believes the membership of many boards needs to change: “Long experience of looking the other way and following the herd should no longer be a requirement for further board appointments. Directors who serve as a loyal supporter of the CEO appear to be in demand, when the emphasis should be upon curiosity and courage – the curiosity to question and the courage to challenge. A new generation of directors are required, selected from people of integrity who have their feet on the ground and think for themselves.”

The most and the least successful directors and boards react very differently to an economic downturn. Coulson-Thomas explains: “The main aim of struggling boards is to survive. New initiatives are avoided, and their focus is almost exclusively upon internal restructuring, cutting costs and related layoffs. Cutbacks tend to be hurried and indiscriminate. Headcount culls fail to distinguish between low and high performers. Valuable knowledge and experience is lost, and these companies become trapped in a spiral of decline.”

In contrast, Coulson-Thomas’s investigation reveals the more successful directors and boards adopt a different approach: “The focus is external and upon re-positioning and securing competitive advantage. They seek improved efficiency, productivity and performance. Strategic areas and high performers are identified, protected and better supported. The know-how and superior approaches of superstars are captured and shared. They make it easier for their people to cope with difficult situations, respond quickly and excel at key corporate activities.”

Directors of over 4,000 organisations from smaller firms to major corporations and public bodies have participated in Prof. Coulson-Thomas’ research programme which identifies critical success factors and successful approaches to the challenges faced by directors and boards. His books ‘Developing Directors’ and ‘Winning Companies; Winning people’ set out the different approaches of those who are most and least successful. Both are published by Policy Publications and can be ordered from: http://www.policypublications.com and http://www.coulson-thomaspublications.com

Lessons from the investigations are incorporated into twenty five courses for directors and boards on particular activities that are vital for corporate success. Further information can be obtained from http://www.adaptation.ltd.uk and http://www.colincoulson-thomas.com

Critical success factors for key corporate activities that have been identified by Prof. Coulson-Thomas’ research programme are set out in 20 reports published by Policy Publications. Full details can be found on http://www.policypublications.com

The 9^th International Conference on Corporate Governance was organised by the World Council for Corporate Governance and held at the Royal Overseas League in London. The theme of this year’s conference was making capital markets work through corporate governance.

Boardroom consultant Prof. Colin Coulson-Thomas is the author of ‘Developing Directors’, ‘The Knowledge Entrepreneur’, ‘Developing a Corporate Learning Strategy’ and ‘Winning Companies: Winning People’. He has reviewed the processes and practices for winning business of over 100 companies, helped over 100 boards to improve board and/or corporate performance, and spoken at over 200 national, international and corporate conferences in 35 countries. He can be contacted via http://www.colincoulson-thomas.com or http://www.coulson-thomas.com

WHY NOT TRY SOMETHING NEW … FOR FREE!
At this year’s NEW LIVING EXPO …
ALL WORKSHOPS, PANELS & LECTURES ARE FREE WITH the low PRICE OF ADMISSION!

TOOLS FOR TRANSFORMATION and a happier, healthier, stress-free lifestyle await you at the NEW LIVING EXPO, April 25-27 at the Concourse Exhibition Center, 635 8th St. [8th & Brannan] San Francisco.
Visit www.newlivingexpo.com for more information
Call 707-263-1510 to volunteer

volunteer@newlivingexpo.com

IMAGINE … meeting internationally recognized authors, facilitators, teachers, celebrities and 300 exhibitors for three full days of unlimited events — FREE — with just a low general admission price of $10 on Friday, $15 on Saturday or Sunday or $30 for the entire weekend (seniors 60+ $10/day, children under 10 free).

BROWSE this year’s bustling marketplace with 300 exhibits and TAKE YOUR PICK from 20 free workshops, 6 special events, 5 free panel discussions (on Anti-Aging, UFOs and 2012), more than 100 free lectures throughout the weekend, all connecting body, mind and spirit. Plus new Special Events at the Holiday Inn (50 8th St. SF), admission to these events is separate from General Admission, visit the www.newlivingexpo.com or call 415-382-8300. Exhibitors ~ Panel Discussions ~ Workshops ~ Lectures ~ Special Events, Expo Bookstore ~ Business Opportunities ~Natural Foods Dining, Anti-Aging ~Bodyworkers ~Green Business

EXPERIENCE inspiring and provocative sessions with Alice Walker, Jim Hightower, Gay & Kathlyn Hendricks PhD, Vaishali, Sean David Morton, Jelaila Starr, David Wilcock, Dr.Fred Bell, David Wilcock, Doug De Vito, Dr. Raymond Moody , Norm Shealy, MD, PhD, Lori Grace, Master Sha, Mellen-Thomas Benedict, Viktoras Kulvinskas, Mingtong Gu
Gabriel Cousens, MD, Dannion Brinkley , Kevin Ryerson , Corinna Kaufman , Live Performance Good Vibes , Christopher Valentine & Christian Von Lähr, PhD, John Gray, PhD
CELEBRATE the earth and discover the latest technologies, products, therapies and insights in the fields of personal growth, health and healing, finance and abundance, relationship, sexuality, politics, ecology, spirituality, consciousness, creation, angels, yoga, channeling, alternative energy, sustainability and more.

Friday, April 25, 3pm -10pm
Saturday April 26, 10am – 9pm
Sunday, April 27, 10am -7pm

For more information visit www.newlivingexpo.com or call 415.382.8300 ( Tickets on sale now )
To volunteer send an e-mail to: volunteer@newlivingexpo.com or call 707.263.1510