It has been quiet on my weblog for quite some time due to illness. Lying in bed gives you some time for reflection, but I’d rather be up on my feet. Especially during the start-up of a new business. At atrivision my partners have not been sitting still. We were present at the Performa 2007 with a booth and two seminars. Also we have been able to launch our weblog (Dutch) at www.atrivision.com/weblog. Now I am back in the saddle I hope to be able to contribute to both this and the atrivision blog and be able to do some work in the meantime.

This week I formally kicked off for my ultimate corporate learning experience: the start of my own company. This milestone is set with the registration at the Chamber of Commerce today. In September 2007 we (me and two partners) will be in business with Atrivision. We will focus on the link between organisation, learning and technology delivering practical solutions for organisation. I will update you on the exact details of this new venture when we are in business in september. For this post I want to focus on the learning aspect of this excercise.

What struck me is the learning experience you go through setting up a company. And what surprised me (or maybe not) is how little of this is covered in formal education. I finalised my MBA just a year ago, but I must say you face a lot of new challenges they don’t cover in a business administration study. And, you learn to cope with them very rapidly in action. I ‘developed’ my own blended learning program on the fly with some formal workshops at the Chamber of Commerce. These covered issues like ‘How to set-up your financial administration’ and ‘Formulating general terms & conditions’. I added a lot of semi-formal learning reading books for specific knowledge and entrepreneurial inspiration. These ranged from a review of the Entrepreneurship module from my MBA (I faced a transfer issue regarding this knowledge following the course in 2006) via Million Dollar Consultancy to Purple Cow and ZAG. The Dutch book “En nu laat ik mijn baard staan” (”And now I am going to grow a beard”) also served as a source of inspiration. Besides this semi-formal part I found the informal part very helpful, consisting of several meetings with experts in accounting, tax, contracts and (venture) capital. Last but not least we are part of the TOP(Temporary Entrepreneurial Positions) programme of the University of Twente. This enables us to be part of a network of Knowledge Intensive Entrepreneurs. And, this also gives us the opportunity to work with a scientific and business mentor. For the scientific part Prof.dr. Joseph Kessels will be our mentor and we already had an inspiring meeting with him. His book on HRD in the Knowledge Economy will serve as a guide for defining the value proposition of Atrivision. In addition to all this we also will have our offices at the Knowledge Park just opposite to the Campus. I am therefore thrilled by the idea that the learning will continue at full throttle in the upcoming months. We have established a learning ecology or social network that will be a sound basis for informal learning.

I am confident that we are going to be successful with our new company. But if not, then at least we had a wonderful learning experience that will stay with us for life. For everyone looking for a course or study to follow, I can recommend setting up your own company. Or you can join Atrivision, since we will be an entrepreneurial network organisation willing to share learning with you!

A few weeks ago my local newspaper published a piece on Lifelong Learning that expressed concerns about the lack of support the Dutch Government is giving to it. The argument is that there are good intentions, but action is missing. “No one is against Lifelong Learning, but we need more people promoting it actively”, according to Theo Bovens of the Dutch Open University. His institute is facing a decrease in new students year after year. You can argue if this is an indication of a lack of interest in lifelong learning or it is pointing at a different problem.

But anyway, more concerns are raised. The article points at the fact that it is not possible in the Netherlands to get a Government sponsored scholarship for picking up a study beyond your thirties. Also the cancellation of attractive tax deductions and the limiting of subsidies is doing Lifelong Learning no good according to the journalist. The government should take its responsibility in financing Lifelong Learning instead of leaving it to organizations and individual employees. In my opinion the government is already betting on a new horse called Innovation. The article continues with the scary perspective that this behavior will lead us to disaster. The Netherlands will not reach their goal of having 20% of the workforce following a part-time course or studying besides work . Is this alarming? Well, when you look at the fact that the Netherlands are at 16.6% and above average in the EU, there is nothing to worry about. But when you consider the Netherlands having knowledge economy and innovation high on its priority list, it might be alarming that Slovenia has passed us and also Sweden and Finland score significantly higher.

But there is hope. Research into Lifelong Learning is in general only focused on formal education (Education Permanente). It is about quantity in money spend on and students that go through education and training programs. Although it provides some information on the bias for learning in a country, there is much more than just the formal side of learning. Lifelong learning is as human as eating and sleeping. It is a natural thing, that occurs regardless of classrooms and instructors (in some cases even more effective in the absence of these). Especially in times of rapid change in knowledge, technology and methodologies formal approaches are too slow anyway. So, let us be the best in informal learning. It won’t help us make us reach our Lisbon goals, but it will help us forward.

From time to time the field of Corporate Learning is subject to discussions on the labeling of the discipline. We have come all the way from Training and Personnel Development. Currently we are in the Human Capital Development era. Just another try to pimp the discipline? Clive Shepherd wrote an interesting comment on this development. He states: “I do know what capital is, and it isn’t people … People are not capital because they cannot be employed in place of money to purchase assets or to cover expenses … If anything, the concept of human beings as assets is even less credible than it used to be, because, with increased mobility of labour and severe skills shortages“.

I think his statement is spot on and Human Capital Development is just a way of stating: “Look we are doing some strategic things here, we are adding value to the business!” This probably is an attempt to counter the criticism HR professionals constantly having to deal with. In my opinion re-labeling the discipline isn’t the answer. More fundamental changes are needed for HR(D) to become business partner:

• Increase business understanding and general business acumen.
• Don’t talk jargon and develop professionalize the ways of working.
• Leave the administration and operations to services centers or outsource.
• Get out of you ivory towers in Corporate HQ and start listening to your clients.
• Forget about ROI and deliver services the business is asking for.

If the fundament is right, the labeling is just about internal marketing. And I must say Human Capital Development sure sounds trendy and appealing. I can imagine that it looks impressive in internal Powerpoint presentation for executives. So, what should we do? Should we use a label that is appealing, but not correct from a theoretical standpoint. Or, should we be true to our profession and use a label that is authentic.  

Please help me out on this one and join my poll (see sidebar)! What is your preferred label for the field of corporate learning and development?

On the weblog of Mindleaders I read a post by Beth Griese . She stated that one of the popular topics at the ASTD conference 2007 was International learning and diversity. This is no big surprise with the increased globalisation in mind (25% of ASTD’s audience from outside the US). So far I haven’t been able to find much research into this specific area. Strange, since it is a subject that seems to interest a lot of people, including me.

Questions like: “How to manage learning on a global scale (e.g. sourcing, delivery, reporting)? What is the impact of local culture on preferred learning styles? And, what didactical approaches fit these different cultures?” are absolutely relevant for enterprise organisations operating on a global scale. On this subject I want to write an article. Specific issues that interest me are the following:

• Linking learning styles to the attributes of National cultures as defined by Hofstede.
• Management issues that International HRD and training departments or Corporate Universities are facing.
• Balancing of centralisation and decentralisation in global learning (and the rollout of learning programs).

If you have any suggested readings, links or other references, please e-mail them to me or comment on this post. Your help is much appreciated. When I have finished my article this, of course, is the first place where you will find it!