Learning: The Magic of Making Training FUN

Nice article http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20131024075342-42592294-can-founders-let-go-what-love-s-got-to-do-with-leadership?trk=tod-home-art-list-large_0

Budget Comments Kuala Lumpur, 25th October 2013 I like and love the strategic thrust on Inculcating Excellence in Human Capital in this year's Malaysian budget. Thank You Mr. Prime Minister. While there are some who would have preferred greater development expenditure and lower operating expenditure, some would even prefer a lower % deficit of the GDP, I think the budget has focussed on a key priority area: Human Capital, to improve the long term well being of the nation and our competitiveness. There are no short cuts to success. Education receives 21% of the budget. The commitment to implementing the Education blueprint and improving standards of English and upholding the importance of the National Language, emphasis on Entrepreneur development, supporting employers on the Minimum Wage Policy, the setting up for a private retirement scheme are positive initiatives. RM 400 million from the Human Resources Development Fund for employers for training, 330 million for Skills Tra

Learning & Performance As I am completing my latest book The Global Journey of an Asian due for launch this year, I found that some books can be game changers. The 4 – Hour Work week by Tim Ferris was an astounding book. The lesson that you don’t want a million dollars but you want the lifestyle a million dollars will get you had a huge impact on me. Another lesson from the book and reinforced by my long time friend from the US Ajay is for the need to sever the connections between time and work. As an entrepreneur you want to live the life you want and not to keep investing time on a perpetual basis into work. The goal is to have the focus on the family and do things you like to do. I like most entrepreneurs today dreamed not about making money while I slept, commonly referred to as non linear income or income from multiple sources but about the impact I could make on the world. The 4 Hour Work week is not about working four hours or being lazy but about achieving the goals set b

I found this article from Thiagi www.thiagi.com very useful While reviewing a training game on team formation, I came across this question: What are the four stages of team development? You probably know the answer: forming, storming, norming, and performing. If you answered the question correctly, what does it prove? Sure, you can recall the four stages of team development. But does this mean that you understand the principles and can apply them to real-world teams? Compare the original question with these questions: What is an example of effective facilitation behavior during the norming stage? What is an example of effective team-member behavior during the storming stage? Which team-development stage is the most critical one? Why do you think so? What additional stages would you add to the four team-development stages? I am sure that you noticed the difference between the original question and the latter questions. The latter questions require more thinking. They reflect the type o

Prof Thiagi outlines what you can do to make your managers have faith in the value of games in learning. Some exctacts from his article: The Intelligent Choice When trainers challenge me with "Why should I use games and experiential activities?", Thiagi lists impressive research findings from cognitive sciences. These findings suggest that traditional training is severely limited -- and interactive, experiential techniques have great potential. Here are some specific details: YOU ARE OF TWO MINDS. Professor Seymour Epstein at the University of Massachusetts has a ground-breaking theory of intelligence called Cognitive Experiential Self Theory (CEST), which suggests that we have an experiential mind and a rational mind. Our experiential mind learns directly, thinks quickly, pays attention to the outcome, and forgets slowly. Our rational mind learns indirectly, thinks deliberately, pays attention to the process, and forgets rapidly. Epstein's contention is that you need b

I had the honour of delivering a key note at the recent ASTD MENA ( American Society of Training & Development and Middle East North Africa) International Conference, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Even though I was nervous waiting to be cleared by a young Immigration officer for close to an hour, I could see the pace of change in the kingdom. The day I landed in Jeddah, the King had just appointed 30 women to the Shura Council, the traditionally all-male body which drafts laws, debates major issues and provides advice to the King. And, just a few minutes before my key note, I was very anxious as most of the delegates had not yet come in to take their seats. However within a couple of minutes past the start time, a flood of delegates moved into the conference room and I could see the rapt attention and the incessant desire to learn and keep pace with the world. The young people and the decision makers in the room were so excited to learn and perform and to catch up with the industry leade