The world went from being spherical to being round, to being flat, and learning went from contextual theory to contextual practice, to cross-cultural understanding. The skills now needed in the new global economy to function, are more similar than they have ever been before.
Learning is now a phenomenon that has brought continuous improvement to a broader plane and filled it with skill proficiencies that are similar for different fields irrespective of where the field is being practised. Likewise, assessing an employee’s value is now a function of measuring against global skill, social benchmarking, and popular culture.
The best in business have latched on to Flat World Knowledge as a means of celebrating and teaching the concept of democratised knowledge and skills across this global economy. They achieve this by drawing key lessons, learning points, learning opportunities from nations with high performing systems in the relevant skill areas, and successfully rated businesses in the relevant industries. Professional trainers explore these systems’ differences and approaches and make it a top priority to up-skill and lean on the high-leverage strategies applied to achieve their goals.
Every day, this flat world seems smaller, and external factors create opportunities and threats that force even more global practices. Consider the new normal and its impact on the work world. It would seem as though the world worked in one organisation throughout last year; as every company looked to the next for direction, ideas, and initiatives to create their learning curve.
It is a new year, and instead of going back to the way things were, it might be time to define the way things should be. As people kick off every year with goals and resolutions, they tend to focus on the immediate environment. While we operate on a global corporate continuum, people tend to see things from a somewhat contained perspective – global goals through local means. This does not have to stay on one point on the map anymore.
To thrive, businesses need to identify the high performing systems, strategies they have tried and methods they might apply this year to shape their perspective and inspire exponential performance. Once the bar is set, employees need to be prepped to win and what they need must be sourced across different borders.
With this second wave of the Pandemic, we cannot make the mistakes we made in the first wave. Our goals are different, and we are treading with more experienced feet. However, we must leverage the flat world for learning, culture, and business partnerships to achieve more with less and make our effort truly count.
Written by:
Feranmi Owolabi-Okojie
Learning Innovation Lead, Training
