I recently had the honor of presenting a keynote address about the research from my latest book Minds at Work at the 2018 Learning Technologies Conference and iLearning Forum in Paris, Porte de Versailles. There were over 8,000 people attending the two-day event and the interest in learning and learning technologies in the EU is as intense and focused as I have experienced.
The book is becoming a bestseller, and the groundbreaking research is helping promote a new and progressive form of management centered on what we are learning about the ways to effectively manage minds at work.
Managing Minds, Not Hands – Sally Ann Moore, Executive Director, EU Conference
“Additionally I came across some brilliant new thinking published this year by David Grebow in the USA. He and his co-author have been researching a book to be published early 2018 by ATD Press, entitled: “Minds at Work: Managing for Success in the Knowledge Economy”
They began the research by looking for examples of companies that said they were learning cultures, where learning was continuous and supported in every aspect of organizational life. They never found one. They found some examples of learning cultures within companies, in various departments and units, but never consistently across the whole enterprise. They eventually realized why: A company can tell the world it has a learning culture, provide lots of learning opportunities, and supply eLearning for everyone. But if management support for learning is not apparent and not constantly on display by managers every day, the original culture that supported and rewarded “not learning” will dominate over any attempt to be a learning culture.
They realized that a culture focused on learning needs leaders and managers focused on learning. So they looked at the critical relationship between management, managers, and learning. Managers are expected to direct people’s daily work and performance. They are not usually expected to develop employees. In the research the authors Grebow identifies two very different and distinguishable categories of business organization:
- The 19th style century industrial economy “Managing Hands” older companies, an endangered species
- The 21st-century knowledge economy new companies learning what “Managing Minds” means to an organization
The business results of the latter group by any measure are far more spectacular than the former. The authors go on to look at several case studies, in order to identify best practice of managing minds. David Grebow will present their results (and the book) at Learning Technologies France, international conference stream, on 22nd & 23rd January 2018.
The book Minds at Work will be featured in the conference in January.
The only sustainable advantage in our hypercompetitive marketplace is the ability to learn and adapt faster than everyone else. Companies that cling to management practices of a bygone era continue to fade away. They desperately need managers who empower people to seek out learning at a moment’s notice.
Minds at Work can help you be that manager. This book captures the role managers play in the knowledge economy—where uninhibited, on-demand learning inspires employees to achieve higher levels of performance. Author David Grebow describes how managers can move from a traditional “command and control” position to become advocates of communication and collaboration. They share what happens when managers help their direct reports grow as people and use technology to pull the learning they need when they need it.
Minds at Work illustrates this shift to a learning community with success stories from forward-looking companies that are managing minds. With this better way to manage, these companies have unearthed those “aha!” moments as the dots connect after continuous problem solving, trial and error, and innovation. Each has redefined norms, made knowledge sharing flat, and created a workplace culture built to innovate, grow, be agile, nimble, and more competitive.
Use this book to embrace learning anytime, anywhere. Nurture the minds at work, and you’ll win the hearts of your organization.”
David Grebow KnowledgeStar 