WEBVTT 00:00:00.307 --> 00:00:02.529 (OFF) Thanks very much... 00:00:02.529 --> 00:00:05.233 (David Price) This is the ever-shrinking presentation. 00:00:05.233 --> 00:00:07.878 It was originally 25 minutes, last night it was 23, 00:00:07.878 --> 00:00:09.799 now it's 22. 00:00:09.799 --> 00:00:13.829 I've got a 40-minute presentation. I'm just going to speak twice as quickly. 00:00:13.829 --> 00:00:17.566 No, I'm only kidding, it's only 20, 22 minutes. 00:00:17.566 --> 00:00:21.624 And I've got a thing to time it to make sure I don't go over. 00:00:21.624 --> 00:00:25.934 About four months ago, I was diagnosed with cancer of the colon. 00:00:25.934 --> 00:00:30.862 And what was it, seven weeks ago, I had the operation 00:00:30.862 --> 00:00:33.498 which kind of went okay, got rid of the tumor. 00:00:33.498 --> 00:00:36.484 But when the colon was reconnected, it sprung a leak 00:00:36.484 --> 00:00:40.254 and I got a thing called sepsis, which I later discovered, 00:00:40.254 --> 00:00:43.657 is fatal in 60% of the cases. 00:00:43.657 --> 00:00:45.892 What essentially happens with sepsis is 00:00:45.892 --> 00:00:48.601 the organs start to pack in, one after the other, 00:00:48.601 --> 00:00:51.780 so my heart was fibrillating, 00:00:51.780 --> 00:00:54.780 I lost, kidneys stopped working, 00:00:54.780 --> 00:00:57.550 lungs stopped working, so they put me on a ventilator. 00:00:57.550 --> 00:01:00.349 And my wife Claire who's here somewhere 00:01:00.349 --> 00:01:03.758 was told to bring the family around, because they didn't expect me 00:01:03.758 --> 00:01:05.725 to get through the weekend. 00:01:05.725 --> 00:01:11.482 As you can see, I survived, and this is actually the first talk I've given 00:01:11.482 --> 00:01:13.182 since I was in intensive care. 00:01:13.182 --> 00:01:15.611 I was in intensive care for a week. 00:01:15.611 --> 00:01:20.581 So, when a sick, no, no honest. (Applause) 00:01:22.211 --> 00:01:27.002 But when I say I'm delighted to be here, I'm not just being polite. 00:01:27.002 --> 00:01:28.582 (laughter) 00:01:28.582 --> 00:01:32.277 I'm talking existentially rather than conversationally. 00:01:32.277 --> 00:01:36.520 But I wanted to start with that story because, in that process of the journey 00:01:36.520 --> 00:01:41.126 from diagnosis to operation, I met with some remarkable people: 00:01:41.126 --> 00:01:45.682 on forums and interest groups, but I also visited and interviewed people. 00:01:45.682 --> 00:01:49.178 So I interviewed some people in the Netherlands 00:01:49.178 --> 00:01:53.036 who are treating their loved ones, who've got end-stage cancer. 00:01:53.036 --> 00:01:56.929 They are lay people, computer technicians, 00:01:56.929 --> 00:02:00.574 who, frankly, conventional medicine's given up, they're stage 4, 00:02:00.574 --> 00:02:04.704 they said there is nothing more we can do, so they're administering 00:02:04.704 --> 00:02:09.487 intravenous cocktails of drugs, some of which are approved, 00:02:09.487 --> 00:02:11.138 some of which are off-patent, 00:02:11.138 --> 00:02:12.817 some of which are off-label. 00:02:12.817 --> 00:02:17.420 I visited a clinic, here in Germany, which I can't name, because 00:02:17.420 --> 00:02:22.082 they're kind of operating in the shadows in fear that they'll be closed down. 00:02:22.082 --> 00:02:24.950 And what it seemed to me, once I looked beyond health 00:02:24.950 --> 00:02:26.465 is that this is a phenomenon 00:02:26.465 --> 00:02:29.494 which is happening in all kinds of areas of public life, 00:02:29.494 --> 00:02:32.577 that we're seeing what I call people-powered innovation. 00:02:32.577 --> 00:02:37.952 And I think it presents a real challenge for institutions and organizations. 00:02:37.952 --> 00:02:40.374 So, why is it important? 00:02:40.374 --> 00:02:45.328 I think it's important because it's kind of a natural consequence 00:02:45.328 --> 00:02:47.972 of the issues I talked about in my book "Open" 00:02:47.972 --> 00:02:53.307 where, now that we're able to share and exchange knowledge, we're now at a point 00:02:53.307 --> 00:02:55.946 where we want to do something about it, and we want now 00:02:55.946 --> 00:02:58.329 to be more in control of our own lives. 00:02:58.329 --> 00:03:02.384 But I think it's particularly important for the people who are in this room today: 00:03:02.384 --> 00:03:05.256 educators and human resource people, 00:03:05.256 --> 00:03:08.823 because one of the things that we're seeing is a major shift in the way 00:03:08.823 --> 00:03:12.436 in which we accredit knowledge and competencies. 00:03:12.436 --> 00:03:13.786 I don't know if any of you have read 00:03:13.786 --> 00:03:15.039 Phillip Brown's excellent book 00:03:15.039 --> 00:03:20.505 called "The Global Auction," but he talks about how our graduates are facing 00:03:20.505 --> 00:03:25.037 a high-skilled, low-income future 00:03:25.037 --> 00:03:30.130 because of globalization and a whole range of other issues. 00:03:30.130 --> 00:03:35.570 And recently, Laszlo Bock who is in charge of People Operations at Google said this, 00:03:35.570 --> 00:03:39.313 "Your degree is not a proxy for your ability to do any job. 00:03:39.412 --> 00:03:41.998 "The world only cares about and pays off on 00:03:41.998 --> 00:03:43.961 "what you can do with what you know 00:03:43.961 --> 00:03:47.432 "and it doesn't care how you learned it." 00:03:47.432 --> 00:03:51.483 So my point, I guess, is that unless we change the product, 00:03:51.483 --> 00:03:54.127 we risk being dis-intermediated. 00:03:54.127 --> 00:03:56.805 By that, I mean learners can find other ways 00:03:56.805 --> 00:03:59.851 to get the knowledge and skills that they need. 00:03:59.851 --> 00:04:03.918 And let's face it, the product hasn't really changed much in decades. 00:04:03.918 --> 00:04:06.872 So I'd argue that the best way to stay relevant 00:04:06.872 --> 00:04:10.223 is to involve users in the process of innovation. 00:04:10.223 --> 00:04:13.059 So this is what I mean by people-powered innovation, 00:04:13.059 --> 00:04:16.688 a process where users lead users, accelerate innovation 00:04:16.688 --> 00:04:20.176 by either advocating for new products or services, 00:04:20.176 --> 00:04:22.777 tinkering with existing products and services, 00:04:22.777 --> 00:04:26.445 or creating new products and services from scratch. 00:04:26.445 --> 00:04:29.443 That's my kind of working definition, based partly 00:04:29.443 --> 00:04:33.333 on Eric von Hippel's definition of people-powered innovation. 00:04:33.333 --> 00:04:35.617 So here's some examples. 00:04:35.617 --> 00:04:39.156 The potato crisp, the humble potato chip 00:04:39.156 --> 00:04:43.860 was invented in 1853 by a chef called George Crum 00:04:43.860 --> 00:04:46.372 who worked at a restaurant in Saratoga. 00:04:46.372 --> 00:04:48.896 Now he gets the credit for inventing it, but I think 00:04:48.896 --> 00:04:52.460 it should go to the disgruntled diner in that restaurant 00:04:52.460 --> 00:04:57.110 who kept sending the potatoes back, said that they were too thickly sliced. 00:04:57.110 --> 00:04:58.923 And this kept going backwards and forwards 00:04:58.923 --> 00:05:01.532 and eventually George Crum got really pissed off about this 00:05:01.532 --> 00:05:04.719 and cooked them as thin as he could, burned them to a crisp, 00:05:04.719 --> 00:05:07.678 smothered them in salt and then sent them out. 00:05:07.678 --> 00:05:09.444 And the diner loved it. 00:05:09.444 --> 00:05:11.542 So he thought, oh, we're on to something here 00:05:11.542 --> 00:05:17.178 but he didn't take out a patent, in fact, none of these examples have been patented. 00:05:17.178 --> 00:05:20.328 So, 1853, we've always had people-powered innovation. 00:05:20.328 --> 00:05:23.346 In fact, you could argue that up until the Industrial Revolution, 00:05:23.346 --> 00:05:26.437 that's all we had, we had people-powered innovation. 00:05:26.437 --> 00:05:28.471 But if you bring it a wee bit more up to date 00:05:28.471 --> 00:05:30.878 I don't know if you know the story of the skateboard 00:05:30.878 --> 00:05:36.035 but it was something that surfers, facing a window where they couldn't surf, 00:05:36.035 --> 00:05:37.969 it was the best kind of substitute. 00:05:37.969 --> 00:05:40.895 So they took a pair of roller-skates, chopped them in two, 00:05:40.895 --> 00:05:45.622 put wheels on either end of a plank of wood, and you had a skateboard. 00:05:45.622 --> 00:05:49.967 So the skateboard industry is now worth $4.8 billion a year. 00:05:49.967 --> 00:05:52.874 And a similar story happened with the mountain bike. 00:05:52.874 --> 00:05:56.340 It was basically cannibalized from other forms of bikes 00:05:56.340 --> 00:05:59.500 and developed entirely by users. 00:05:59.500 --> 00:06:01.167 To bring it even more up to date, 00:06:01.167 --> 00:06:03.840 I don't know if you're aware of this thing called Patreon? 00:06:03.840 --> 00:06:07.389 It's been set up by Jack Conte who is a musician. 00:06:07.389 --> 00:06:12.049 Certainly, he wouldn't have thought himself as a kind of entrepreneur 00:06:12.049 --> 00:06:14.819 but it kind of recreates in the digital age 00:06:14.819 --> 00:06:18.720 the 18th century notion of patronage for artists. 00:06:18.720 --> 00:06:22.218 So you pay up artists, because you like their work. 00:06:22.218 --> 00:06:26.246 And it has been a hugely successful venture for Jack. 00:06:26.246 --> 00:06:29.329 And then one of the few companies that have really latched onto 00:06:29.329 --> 00:06:31.587 people-powered innovation at a very early stage 00:06:31.587 --> 00:06:36.670 is Proctor & Gamble, who have developed a thing called Connect and Develop 00:06:38.120 --> 00:06:42.468 and that service now, which brings in innovations 00:06:42.468 --> 00:06:44.758 from outside of the organization, 00:06:44.758 --> 00:06:48.393 that constitutes about half of all their innovations. 00:06:48.393 --> 00:06:52.037 So much so that Proctor & Gamble say: "Proudly found elsewhere." 00:06:52.037 --> 00:06:53.575 That's their motto. 00:06:53.575 --> 00:06:58.112 And I wonder how many of us working in universities could say the same thing, 00:06:58.112 --> 00:07:01.845 or how many of us who are learning officers in companies? 00:07:01.845 --> 00:07:04.033 So, where do we see people-powered innovation? 00:07:04.033 --> 00:07:07.121 Well, you can go to any maker space and you'll see it, 00:07:07.121 --> 00:07:10.339 visit forums or interest groups, even groups like Anonymous, 00:07:10.339 --> 00:07:12.244 whatever you may think of their philosophy, 00:07:12.244 --> 00:07:15.986 you can't deny their ingenuity and innovation. 00:07:15.986 --> 00:07:17.873 And I've looked at a number of examples 00:07:17.873 --> 00:07:20.643 and I've identified four common characteristics. 00:07:20.643 --> 00:07:22.542 I'm going to quickly go through them. 00:07:22.542 --> 00:07:26.053 The first is need. The second is jugaad. 00:07:26.053 --> 00:07:28.910 Don't worry if it's not a familiar term to you. 00:07:28.910 --> 00:07:32.967 Third is the hacker ethic and the fourth is a sense of agency. 00:07:32.967 --> 00:07:35.420 Right. Very quick examples. 00:07:35.420 --> 00:07:37.898 It's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a reason, 00:07:37.898 --> 00:07:42.432 that invention is indeed the mother of necessity. 00:07:42.432 --> 00:07:46.492 And you get people-powered innovation where the need is greatest. 00:07:46.492 --> 00:07:51.063 So it's no accident that some of the most innovative things that we now see 00:07:51.063 --> 00:07:55.506 now are happening in the developed world in slums and favelas. 00:07:55.506 --> 00:08:00.330 So 85% of mobile transactions have actually originated 00:08:00.330 --> 00:08:02.095 in developing countries. 00:08:02.095 --> 00:08:06.190 And 50% of them were created by users. 00:08:06.190 --> 00:08:08.956 And if you think about it, that's kind of paved the way for things like 00:08:08.956 --> 00:08:12.059 Apple Pay and Samsung Wallet. 00:08:12.059 --> 00:08:15.554 The first use of mobile banking was actually in the Philippines, 00:08:15.554 --> 00:08:20.933 and what people did there was to take pay-as-you-go top-up vouchers, 00:08:20.933 --> 00:08:24.402 take the code from them, text them to their friends and family 00:08:24.402 --> 00:08:29.237 in other parts of the Philippines, and they used it as a kind of currency. 00:08:29.237 --> 00:08:32.552 But they're not just turning air time into money, 00:08:32.552 --> 00:08:35.413 they're turning shit into money too. 00:08:35.413 --> 00:08:38.675 This is a genuine sign, I didn't make this up 00:08:38.675 --> 00:08:40.434 but it says, if you can't read the bottom it says, 00:08:40.434 --> 00:08:42.916 "Shit Business is Serious Business". 00:08:42.916 --> 00:08:45.584 And there's a guy in Lagos in Nigeria 00:08:45.584 --> 00:08:48.778 and Lagos has a big public health problem 00:08:48.778 --> 00:08:52.085 because people are using the streets as a toilet 00:08:52.085 --> 00:08:55.632 but there is a graphic artist called Isaac Agbetusin 00:08:55.632 --> 00:08:59.114 who invented a thing that he called the Dignified Mobile Toilet. 00:08:59.114 --> 00:09:03.143 They look like the kind of Portaloos that you see on building sites 00:09:03.143 --> 00:09:07.444 but he's designed it, built it, delivers it to communities 00:09:07.444 --> 00:09:10.283 and then they charge people ten cents to use them. 00:09:10.283 --> 00:09:15.359 But that's only part of the story, because then the waste is collected 00:09:15.359 --> 00:09:19.637 and turned into biogas which is sold to energy companies. 00:09:19.637 --> 00:09:23.659 It's ingenious. He's getting profit at both ends of the transaction. 00:09:23.659 --> 00:09:26.271 So that leads us to the second characteristic. 00:09:26.271 --> 00:09:28.543 And it's this word jugaad. And if you're not familiar with it, 00:09:28.543 --> 00:09:34.129 it's a Hindi term which kind of means it's making the most of what you've got. 00:09:34.129 --> 00:09:37.924 So I don't know if you can see the photograph on the right. 00:09:37.924 --> 00:09:42.146 That's an ox-powered two-story truck. 00:09:42.146 --> 00:09:44.859 During the rainy season, of course people get drenched 00:09:44.859 --> 00:09:47.949 so somebody found the cabin from an old truck, put it on. 00:09:47.949 --> 00:09:51.185 There are people on the top deck of the truck, people on the bottom, 00:09:51.185 --> 00:09:55.019 and they're staying dry. Making the most of what you've got. 00:09:55.019 --> 00:09:58.683 But it's also this sense of jugaad as meaning "good enough". 00:09:58.683 --> 00:10:04.547 What you see on the left is the world's first clay refrigerator. 00:10:04.547 --> 00:10:07.928 It was created, again, by just an ordinary user. 00:10:07.928 --> 00:10:11.819 And of course it doesn't work as well as a powered refrigerator 00:10:11.819 --> 00:10:13.494 that we might have in the West. 00:10:13.494 --> 00:10:18.165 It's cooled by cold water which cools the clay. 00:10:18.165 --> 00:10:22.570 But when you've got temperatures of 45, 50 degrees in summer, 00:10:22.570 --> 00:10:27.235 it's good enough. It keeps the produce cool enough 00:10:27.235 --> 00:10:30.179 to be used, and it doesn't go off. 00:10:30.179 --> 00:10:33.227 Here's some very quick examples of jugaad as well. 00:10:33.227 --> 00:10:35.699 Guy on the top left, he's frying his breakfast 00:10:35.699 --> 00:10:39.798 while he's listening to his MP3 player. (audience laughing) 00:10:39.798 --> 00:10:44.843 Guys on the top right have designated the compartment a sleeper compartment. 00:10:44.843 --> 00:10:47.475 They took a blanket and put it up as a hammock. 00:10:47.475 --> 00:10:49.322 Guy at the bottom right. This is fascinating. 00:10:49.322 --> 00:10:55.053 He's turned what we call in the U.K. a flip-flop, Australians call them thongs, 00:10:55.053 --> 00:10:57.743 he's turned it into a gun holster. 00:10:57.743 --> 00:10:59.813 I don't know what he's doing with the other flip-flop. 00:10:59.813 --> 00:11:04.901 And the guy on the bottom left has invented a kind of hands-free kit. 00:11:04.901 --> 00:11:06.443 (audience laughing) 00:11:06.443 --> 00:11:08.342 It's just a handkerchief with a mobile phone. 00:11:08.342 --> 00:11:13.071 I hope to God he's cut a couple of holes out in the front. 00:11:13.071 --> 00:11:15.456 But what we're seeing is that jugaad principles 00:11:15.456 --> 00:11:17.643 are now being adopted by Western countries. 00:11:17.643 --> 00:11:21.157 And if you think about it, a company like Google 00:11:21.157 --> 00:11:24.820 when it talks about everything's (mumbles), fail fast and integrate 00:11:24.820 --> 00:11:28.263 that's a kind of jugaad approach to innovation. 00:11:28.263 --> 00:11:30.426 And when jugaad meets the next characteristic, 00:11:30.426 --> 00:11:32.768 I think things get really interesting. 00:11:32.768 --> 00:11:36.336 So when you combine a hacker ethic with jugaad, 00:11:36.336 --> 00:11:39.140 I think you then start or rub up against what I would call 00:11:39.140 --> 00:11:42.016 one of the biggest blockers to people-powered innovation, 00:11:42.016 --> 00:11:46.552 and that's a kind of overly-strict regulatory framework. 00:11:46.552 --> 00:11:51.699 And it's put there on the premise of protecting us and maintaining quality. 00:11:51.699 --> 00:11:54.468 Now I'm assuming you all know the story of Wikipedia, so I'll give you 00:11:54.468 --> 00:11:57.167 the truncated version. 00:11:57.167 --> 00:12:00.066 When it was first started, it was called Newpedia 00:12:00.066 --> 00:12:05.214 and they commissioned a bunch of academics to write articles 00:12:05.214 --> 00:12:08.984 which were then going to be peer-reviewed to maintain the quality. 00:12:08.984 --> 00:12:13.754 And two years into its existence, Newpedia had to close 00:12:13.754 --> 00:12:18.481 cause it had a grand total of 25 articles, cause people had spent all that time 00:12:18.481 --> 00:12:21.662 arguing about whether the article was good enough. 00:12:21.662 --> 00:12:24.490 So it became Wikipedia, and as you know, Jimmy Wales then said, 00:12:24.490 --> 00:12:26.360 "To hell with this. I'll make it open source. 00:12:26.360 --> 00:12:28.429 "Anybody can write this. It will be good enough. 00:12:28.429 --> 00:12:31.383 "And people can hack it and improve it." 00:12:31.383 --> 00:12:34.832 But what's less commonly known is that Wikipedia wasn't 00:12:34.832 --> 00:12:37.342 the kind of direct successor to Newpedia. 00:12:37.342 --> 00:12:43.606 It sort of forked, and alongside Wikipedia was a thing called Citizendium. 00:12:44.866 --> 00:12:49.051 Now, could you just put your hand up if you've ever used Wikipedia? 00:12:49.051 --> 00:12:50.407 Yeah, pretty much everybody. 00:12:50.407 --> 00:12:52.888 Can you put your hand up if you've used Citizendium? 00:12:54.238 --> 00:12:59.075 Yes, and that's because they insisted on peer review. 00:12:59.075 --> 00:13:03.575 And if you go on the Citizendium website, they've got something like 160,000 articles 00:13:03.575 --> 00:13:09.247 which have been commissioned, and 106 of them, I think it is, 00:13:09.247 --> 00:13:13.171 have actually been released for citation. 00:13:13.171 --> 00:13:16.669 So, I don't know what's happening for all the rest, but it seems to me 00:13:16.669 --> 00:13:20.475 there's a lesson here for academic publishing 00:13:20.475 --> 00:13:24.143 because I don't believe peer review, unless it's open source, 00:13:24.143 --> 00:13:30.322 does anything other than obstruct research and innovation and not advance it. 00:13:30.322 --> 00:13:33.197 So here's an example from education, 00:13:33.197 --> 00:13:35.924 which is what I'd consider to be jugaad in the hacker ethic. 00:13:35.924 --> 00:13:39.425 There's a college in London called the School for Communication Arts. 00:13:39.425 --> 00:13:43.450 It's run by a maverick called Marc Lewis, 00:13:43.450 --> 00:13:48.250 and it serves the advertising industry. 00:13:48.250 --> 00:13:53.300 Now, it provides tertiary-level courses but they're not degrees 00:13:53.300 --> 00:13:55.483 because he can't get validated. 00:13:55.483 --> 00:13:57.141 Why can't he get validated? 00:13:57.141 --> 00:14:01.260 Because Marc invites people to hack its own programs, 00:14:01.260 --> 00:14:04.954 and he does it via this. He has a thing called the Curriculum Wiki. 00:14:04.954 --> 00:14:07.945 So if you're in the advertising industry, and you think that there's 00:14:07.945 --> 00:14:12.779 a particular skill which is not being developed, or there's some new processes and practices, 00:14:12.779 --> 00:14:15.765 or if you're a student, or indeed a member of the public, 00:14:15.765 --> 00:14:20.408 you can put up on the Curriculum Wiki what you think should be taught, 00:14:20.408 --> 00:14:23.425 and Marc and his staff there will guarantee to turn that 00:14:23.425 --> 00:14:26.247 into a set of learning outcomes with a syllabus. 00:14:26.247 --> 00:14:29.246 And they'll have it up and running within six weeks. 00:14:29.246 --> 00:14:32.283 Now of course, that means that it can't get validation, 00:14:32.283 --> 00:14:34.759 because in the U.K., universities want to know 00:14:34.759 --> 00:14:37.370 what your program's going to be in five years' time. 00:14:37.370 --> 00:14:40.748 He doesn't know what they're going to be doing in five weeks' time, 00:14:40.748 --> 00:14:43.670 but he doesn't care because all the students get jobs. 00:14:43.670 --> 00:14:46.670 They've got 100% employability rate. 00:14:46.670 --> 00:14:49.762 So that's a case of, I think, the kind of regulatory frameworks 00:14:49.762 --> 00:14:54.551 that we've got coming up against innovation and people-powered innovation. 00:14:54.551 --> 00:14:57.616 And it seems to me that that sense of agency is really important. 00:14:57.616 --> 00:15:00.742 In most examples of formal learning, it seems to me we've promoted 00:15:00.742 --> 00:15:03.307 a kind of learned dependence. 00:15:03.307 --> 00:15:05.767 We're the experts. You're the learners. 00:15:05.767 --> 00:15:08.102 And if you want to progress to the next level, 00:15:08.102 --> 00:15:09.878 then you're going to need us. 00:15:09.878 --> 00:15:13.155 And then along came the biggest, disruptive innovation 00:15:13.155 --> 00:15:17.543 since chewing gum in education, and that's YouTube. 00:15:17.543 --> 00:15:21.593 And everybody suddenly went, "Hmm, maybe we don't need you guys 00:15:21.593 --> 00:15:23.397 "as much as we thought we did." 00:15:23.397 --> 00:15:25.242 And YouTube begat MOOCs. 00:15:25.242 --> 00:15:28.449 And then the new mantra became "Any lecturer that can be replaced 00:15:28.449 --> 00:15:32.960 "by a YouTube video, will be." 00:15:32.960 --> 00:15:38.557 But whilst MOOCs and online learning allow learners to hack their education, sort of, 00:15:38.557 --> 00:15:42.423 they don't yet build community or a sense of learner agency. 00:15:42.423 --> 00:15:45.994 And I believe that building learner agency will be the next big development 00:15:45.994 --> 00:15:50.626 in learning, because that's what we see in social learning now. 00:15:50.626 --> 00:15:53.333 And learners expect that that agency in formal learning 00:15:53.333 --> 00:15:55.354 is also going to be there. 00:15:55.354 --> 00:15:58.482 So, it's not hard to do. 00:15:58.482 --> 00:16:03.186 We just need to adopt social learning's six key motivations 00:16:03.186 --> 00:16:04.818 which I talk about in the book. 00:16:04.818 --> 00:16:07.431 And there's a whole other talk to go through these 00:16:07.431 --> 00:16:09.395 but I'll just quickly list them. 00:16:09.395 --> 00:16:10.842 So, a sense of do-it-yourself. 00:16:10.842 --> 00:16:13.386 There's a great deal of autonomy in social learning. 00:16:13.386 --> 00:16:16.375 You all know that because that's how you communicate. 00:16:16.375 --> 00:16:18.692 I know I'm preaching to the converted here. 00:16:18.692 --> 00:16:20.082 Second is immediacy. 00:16:20.082 --> 00:16:24.098 There's what Lillian Katz called a horizontal relevance about learning 00:16:24.098 --> 00:16:27.093 because you're getting the knowledge that you need now 00:16:27.093 --> 00:16:29.511 to solve the challenge that you've got 00:16:29.511 --> 00:16:33.182 rather than just-in-case at some point in the future. 00:16:33.182 --> 00:16:36.241 There's an obvious sense of collegiality, do it with friends. 00:16:36.241 --> 00:16:38.719 It's now the case that if you're on Twitter or Yammer, 00:16:38.719 --> 00:16:41.742 you've probably got your closest collaborator on the other side 00:16:41.742 --> 00:16:45.281 of the world, rather than on the other side of the office. 00:16:45.281 --> 00:16:49.077 And then, there's a sense of playfulness about all of this stuff. 00:16:49.077 --> 00:16:51.622 Then we get into the contentious ones. 00:16:51.622 --> 00:16:52.757 Do unto others. 00:16:52.757 --> 00:16:56.999 Now, I know that social media has got bullies, got trolls, 00:16:56.999 --> 00:16:59.857 and there are bad people out there who do bad things, 00:16:59.857 --> 00:17:02.117 but that's the stuff that gets reported. 00:17:02.117 --> 00:17:05.336 What doesn't get reported are the million random acts of kindness 00:17:05.336 --> 00:17:08.589 which happen every day because of that sense of generosity 00:17:08.589 --> 00:17:10.619 which is powering the learning. 00:17:10.619 --> 00:17:12.381 And similarly, for the last one. 00:17:12.381 --> 00:17:15.249 There's a high visibility about the learning which is happening 00:17:15.249 --> 00:17:19.138 in the social space which isn't being replicated, I would argue, 00:17:19.138 --> 00:17:21.497 in the formal learning space. 00:17:21.497 --> 00:17:24.615 Companies and universities get very nervous about the learning 00:17:24.615 --> 00:17:28.220 being open to the rest of the world. 00:17:28.220 --> 00:17:32.348 But I think these six qualities of social learning are 00:17:32.348 --> 00:17:37.040 the means by which those communities develop a sense of agency. 00:17:37.040 --> 00:17:40.234 And I'd argue that we need to think about how many of these 00:17:40.234 --> 00:17:43.159 we can bring in to our formal learning programs. 00:17:43.159 --> 00:17:47.370 And it's really encouraging to see the presentations that are scheduled 00:17:47.370 --> 00:17:50.174 for the next couple of days, particularly the ones which 00:17:50.174 --> 00:17:52.005 are about peer learning. 00:17:52.005 --> 00:17:54.127 So they're the four kind of common characteristics 00:17:54.127 --> 00:17:55.873 behind people-powered innovation. 00:17:55.873 --> 00:17:59.055 I'm now, only got a couple of minutes left, so let's just finish 00:17:59.055 --> 00:18:01.531 with perhaps three things that we could do 00:18:01.531 --> 00:18:04.248 to develop more people-powered innovation. 00:18:04.248 --> 00:18:06.845 First is don't be afraid of the pro-am. 00:18:06.845 --> 00:18:10.316 The poster boy these days for the pro-am is this kid. 00:18:10.316 --> 00:18:13.409 Just put your hand up if you recognize this kid. 00:18:13.409 --> 00:18:15.437 Oh, not many. His name's Jack Andraka. 00:18:15.437 --> 00:18:18.336 When he was fifteen, he came up with a biomarker 00:18:18.336 --> 00:18:21.040 for pancreatic cancer because the need was there. 00:18:21.040 --> 00:18:23.838 A close member of his family died of pancreatic cancer 00:18:23.838 --> 00:18:25.932 because it wasn't spotted early enough. 00:18:25.932 --> 00:18:29.644 So Jack came up, did all his research on Google and Wikipedia. 00:18:29.644 --> 00:18:32.501 He calls them "teenager's two best friends." 00:18:32.501 --> 00:18:35.455 And then he reached a point where he needed lab space. 00:18:35.455 --> 00:18:39.093 So he wrote to 200 universities in America 00:18:39.093 --> 00:18:42.633 and 199 of them turned him down. 00:18:42.633 --> 00:18:46.402 They couldn't see what a 15-year-old could possibly tell them 00:18:46.402 --> 00:18:49.977 about pancreatic cancer, I mean, he didn't even have a master's. 00:18:49.977 --> 00:18:52.096 So how would he possibly be able to help them? 00:18:52.096 --> 00:18:55.806 Now fortunately, one did, and that was Johns Hopkins. 00:18:55.806 --> 00:18:59.214 And it's ready to go into production now, this biomarker. 00:18:59.214 --> 00:19:02.468 But here again, he's come up, he's incredibly frustrated 00:19:02.468 --> 00:19:05.104 because he's come up against regulatory framework 00:19:05.104 --> 00:19:07.745 which is not allowing this thing to be made available 00:19:07.745 --> 00:19:10.866 because of the ridiculous clinical trial system that we've got. 00:19:10.866 --> 00:19:13.248 And it's going to be five, possibly ten years, 00:19:13.248 --> 00:19:15.827 before this is now made available. 00:19:15.827 --> 00:19:18.325 And as Jack says, "How many more people are going to die 00:19:18.325 --> 00:19:20.625 "as a result of that?" 00:19:20.625 --> 00:19:22.654 So that's one, don't be afraid of the pro-am, 00:19:22.654 --> 00:19:25.321 and obviously, de-regulate where possible. 00:19:25.321 --> 00:19:27.798 Welcome those education hackers. 00:19:27.798 --> 00:19:31.954 But then finally, I think we've just not got to be in denial about this. 00:19:31.954 --> 00:19:34.972 Since "Open" was published, I've worked with a lot of companies 00:19:34.972 --> 00:19:38.677 and universities, and I go in and I tell them about the risks 00:19:38.677 --> 00:19:40.866 of being dis-intermediated. 00:19:40.866 --> 00:19:44.437 But I sense this kind of collective denial going on. 00:19:44.437 --> 00:19:46.596 And it's understandable because for a long time, 00:19:46.596 --> 00:19:49.043 learners had nowhere else to go. 00:19:49.043 --> 00:19:52.935 And we've had a kind of monopoly for the past hundred years or more, 00:19:52.935 --> 00:19:57.479 but the time to open up education is here and it's now, 00:19:57.479 --> 00:20:01.816 and we have to involve users in redefining what we do. 00:20:01.816 --> 00:20:04.530 So I began by talking about my recent cancer treatment. 00:20:04.530 --> 00:20:10.541 And when I was first diagnosed, I had my first meeting with the oncologist. 00:20:10.541 --> 00:20:12.925 And as you can imagine, I had done a ton of research 00:20:12.925 --> 00:20:16.208 because I'm a hypochondriac, I don't mind admitting it. 00:20:16.208 --> 00:20:18.842 The only consolation about being a hypochondriac 00:20:18.842 --> 00:20:22.977 is that eventually you're proven right. (audience laughs) 00:20:22.977 --> 00:20:29.219 So I was talking to the oncologist, and I said, "What are the alternatives to surgery?" 00:20:29.219 --> 00:20:33.495 "What are going to be the side effects of chemotherapy, if I have to have it?" 00:20:33.495 --> 00:20:35.072 And he was getting more and more frustrated. 00:20:35.072 --> 00:20:37.136 I asked about holistic treatments. 00:20:37.136 --> 00:20:38.998 Eventually, he kind of snapped at me, and he said, 00:20:38.998 --> 00:20:43.794 "Look, just have the surgery. Don't overthink this." 00:20:43.794 --> 00:20:47.621 Now, when a doctor tells you to not overthink it, 00:20:47.621 --> 00:20:51.358 I would strongly recommend you find another doctor, 00:20:51.358 --> 00:20:52.934 because that's the kind of Apple philosophy. 00:20:52.934 --> 00:20:55.280 "You know, we've done all the research and the design. 00:20:55.280 --> 00:20:58.468 "You should just be grateful that we're letting you buy it." 00:20:58.468 --> 00:21:02.917 But one of these forums that I was on, the one I was telling you about 00:21:02.917 --> 00:21:06.836 that are operating kind of on the boundaries, 00:21:06.836 --> 00:21:10.760 go on there regularly, and this oncologist joined in on the conversation. 00:21:10.760 --> 00:21:12.502 And people woke up smart, and they said, 00:21:12.502 --> 00:21:16.109 "But we never get professionals coming on this forum." 00:21:16.109 --> 00:21:18.138 And the oncologist said, "Well, it's really important 00:21:18.138 --> 00:21:19.934 "that this dialogue takes place." 00:21:19.934 --> 00:21:21.745 And I remember what he said. 00:21:21.745 --> 00:21:26.930 He said, "Those who seek answers need to be part of the solution." 00:21:26.930 --> 00:21:30.589 So I hope you'll think how you can bring more people-powered innovation 00:21:30.589 --> 00:21:35.358 into your own learning programs, and enable people to be part of the solution. 00:21:35.358 --> 00:21:36.705 Thanks very much for listening. 00:21:36.705 --> 00:21:38.260 (applause) 00:21:45.540 --> 00:21:49.073 - David, thank you very much, indeed. You're great, at 23 minutes, 00:21:49.080 --> 00:21:51.271 so thank you very much indeed for making that happen. 00:21:51.271 --> 00:21:53.823 And some of these questions actually will be applicable 00:21:53.823 --> 00:21:57.064 for Cory and for Ian as well, so you may want to pick them up 00:21:57.064 --> 00:21:58.713 in your remarks too. 00:21:58.713 --> 00:22:01.215 But let me just reflect some of the comments that we've been getting, 00:22:01.215 --> 00:22:02.437 and there you can see the address. 00:22:02.437 --> 00:22:03.890 I can take many more if you want. 00:22:03.890 --> 00:22:06.654 This one from Alejandro Molini. 00:22:06.654 --> 00:22:12.561 The shift to a new age of opportunity, what exactly is this shift towards? 00:22:13.961 --> 00:22:15.601 - Well, I think that's a bigger question. 00:22:15.601 --> 00:22:20.624 That's a question that I asked myself when I looked at the overall theme for today. 00:22:20.624 --> 00:22:26.190 But certainly as far as the thing that I was talking about, for me 00:22:26.190 --> 00:22:29.514 it is this shift towards knowledge is becoming more open. 00:22:29.514 --> 00:22:33.626 It's a curious kind of battle which is constantly taking place 00:22:33.626 --> 00:22:38.007 cause I think Cory will be talking to some extent about institutions 00:22:38.007 --> 00:22:41.775 and how they're making it difficult for that knowledge to be shared. 00:22:41.775 --> 00:22:45.890 But I think what we've seen over the past ten years, is a desire 00:22:45.890 --> 00:22:48.242 for people to have more control over their lives, 00:22:48.242 --> 00:22:52.172 and the implication behind all that, which is why I think dis-intermediation 00:22:52.172 --> 00:22:55.647 is such a powerful implication. 00:22:55.647 --> 00:22:59.122 If you're part of the music industry, you never thought that you'd be done out. 00:22:59.122 --> 00:23:02.309 If you were a travel agent, you never really thought that people 00:23:02.309 --> 00:23:04.463 would want to organize their own holidays. 00:23:04.463 --> 00:23:08.422 If you're a taxi driver, you probably didn't see Uber coming. 00:23:08.422 --> 00:23:10.573 But that to me is part of that shift. 00:23:10.573 --> 00:23:14.645 - What about this comment from Maria Ebro? 00:23:14.645 --> 00:23:19.047 A very interesting talk, but how do you ensure confidentiality? 00:23:19.047 --> 00:23:22.844 How do you balance control versus innovation? 00:23:22.844 --> 00:23:26.420 - Yep, there is no easy answer to that. 00:23:26.420 --> 00:23:33.019 And when I talk about regulatory frameworks, of course you wouldn't want 00:23:33.019 --> 00:23:36.398 to get on a plane and wonder if the pilot was actually somebody 00:23:36.398 --> 00:23:39.033 who previously was sitting in the back row. 00:23:39.033 --> 00:23:42.838 There are some needs for that regulatory framework, 00:23:42.838 --> 00:23:44.504 but I think we've gone too far. 00:23:44.504 --> 00:23:49.430 And now that knowledge is everywhere, it's possible that 00:23:49.430 --> 00:23:51.910 the next big breakthroughs in a lot of these areas 00:23:51.910 --> 00:23:53.232 will come from laypeople. 00:23:53.232 --> 00:23:57.026 I just think that what happens currently is that we shut those people out 00:23:57.026 --> 00:24:01.630 of the conversation, and we need to work with them, as Proctor & Gamble did. 00:24:01.630 --> 00:24:05.906 - But do you see this as a genuinely serious problem, the issue of balancing 00:24:05.906 --> 00:24:07.842 control and innovation? 00:24:07.842 --> 00:24:11.160 - Well absolutely, but we were just talking about this earlier when we 00:24:11.160 --> 00:24:15.405 were talking about the Google DNS thing, and Google then potentially have access 00:24:15.405 --> 00:24:18.654 to a lot of confidential information. 00:24:18.654 --> 00:24:22.039 There's almost a sense in which, I think, the younger generation, 00:24:22.039 --> 00:24:29.310 anybody under the age of 20-25 has almost given up on the notion of confidentiality. 00:24:29.310 --> 00:24:34.719 I think people, and it's not always in their best interests, but I think people 00:24:34.719 --> 00:24:40.523 are recognizing that perhaps they've just got to give some of that information away, 00:24:40.523 --> 00:24:43.182 and you have to trust some of those organizations, 00:24:43.182 --> 00:24:45.179 but there's no easy answer to this. 00:24:45.179 --> 00:24:49.813 I think it's constantly in play, it's constantly in flux, this tension. 00:24:49.813 --> 00:24:52.556 - All right, I'm trying to reflect as many of your thoughts as are coming to me 00:24:52.556 --> 00:24:55.195 at the moment, so we're moving all over the place. 00:24:55.195 --> 00:24:58.734 What about this from Alex Anesteciadas. 00:24:58.734 --> 00:25:05.013 Where do we see people-powered innovation going now? 00:25:05.013 --> 00:25:08.581 - I'd love to see more of it in education because I think it is one of the areas. 00:25:08.581 --> 00:25:10.060 - How can that be achieved? 00:25:10.060 --> 00:25:14.211 - How can it be achieved? It can be achieved by strategic decisions 00:25:14.211 --> 00:25:16.953 by organizations that they're going to work with. 00:25:16.953 --> 00:25:20.713 I just started working with the largest bank in Ireland, and they took 00:25:20.713 --> 00:25:26.158 a conscious decision their services hadn't changed much in about 30 years. 00:25:26.158 --> 00:25:30.118 And so they need people to help them redesign those services. 00:25:30.118 --> 00:25:33.525 But that has to come from the senior management, 00:25:33.525 --> 00:25:37.709 recognizing that in most cases, the rate of innovation 00:25:37.709 --> 00:25:40.353 cannot possibly keep up with the demand for change 00:25:40.353 --> 00:25:42.990 that customers are exercising. 00:25:42.990 --> 00:25:45.792 - There's a comment here which is really based around the generational challenge, 00:25:45.792 --> 00:25:49.299 I suspect, from Ben Fisher. 00:25:49.299 --> 00:25:53.520 How do we get all teachers now to work with this new reality, the new media, 00:25:53.520 --> 00:25:56.447 the new digital space, to work with these new opportunities? 00:25:56.447 --> 00:25:59.435 And it's something which I'm sure Cory and Ian would address as well. 00:25:59.435 --> 00:26:01.174 Your view, David, at the moment. 00:26:01.174 --> 00:26:08.163 - What I always say, and I do a lot of work in schools, and when people are trying 00:26:08.163 --> 00:26:11.642 to bring in new innovations, particularly technologically-based ones, 00:26:11.642 --> 00:26:16.176 is work with the enthusiasts and don't waste your time with the people 00:26:16.176 --> 00:26:20.008 who are just not going to want to change no matter what happens. 00:26:20.008 --> 00:26:22.568 We were having a conversation with a colleague from Australia. 00:26:22.568 --> 00:26:24.489 (applause) 00:26:24.489 --> 00:26:29.856 I can see people have got the scars where they've tried. 00:26:29.856 --> 00:26:33.105 Colleague last night had just that problem. 00:26:33.105 --> 00:26:37.360 You know that there are some people, and you can see the challenge. 00:26:37.360 --> 00:26:42.435 They're in their 50s, 60s, and they've just decided they've learned enough stuff. 00:26:42.435 --> 00:26:43.954 You know, it's like the Homer Simpson thing. 00:26:43.954 --> 00:26:46.628 Every time I get a new piece of information, some more stuff 00:26:46.628 --> 00:26:49.292 has got to go out of the brain to make way for it. 00:26:49.292 --> 00:26:51.935 - You're being very defeatist, aren't you? 00:26:51.935 --> 00:26:55.769 - I'm not. I'm just know that if you want innovation to happen, 00:26:55.769 --> 00:26:57.732 you've got to protect it and nurture it, 00:26:57.732 --> 00:27:01.748 and that the best way to do that is to create a safe space for innovation. 00:27:01.748 --> 00:27:05.099 So I've worked in schools that will create these innovation pods, 00:27:05.099 --> 00:27:08.474 and they have a simple rule where they say, "You don't have to be part 00:27:08.474 --> 00:27:11.477 "of this innovation if you don't want to. The only thing you can't do 00:27:11.477 --> 00:27:15.206 "is to say anything or do anything which is going to prevent it from taking place. 00:27:15.206 --> 00:27:19.395 "If you don't want to be part of it, then at least step out of the way." 00:27:19.395 --> 00:27:23.290 So I think that, because it's really hard 00:27:23.290 --> 00:27:25.869 to get new innovations to happen in education. 00:27:25.869 --> 00:27:31.619 Education has always progressed incrementally, and the problem is now, 00:27:31.619 --> 00:27:34.485 the world's moving so fast that that incremental shift 00:27:34.485 --> 00:27:36.160 isn't going to cut it anymore. 00:27:36.160 --> 00:27:38.448 - This is coming through as a theme which I'm sure is in the back 00:27:38.448 --> 00:27:41.348 of almost everyone's mind in the audience here, all the delegates, 00:27:41.348 --> 00:27:44.271 but this is continuing this, David. 00:27:44.271 --> 00:27:48.871 How can we integrate the shift in the organization's core as mainstream? 00:27:48.871 --> 00:27:52.290 How can we change the working way of people, 00:27:52.290 --> 00:27:54.700 change, appreciate the opportunities? 00:27:54.700 --> 00:27:57.638 I'm interpreting now, this question. 00:27:57.638 --> 00:28:00.947 - Well, again I come back to involving the learners. 00:28:00.947 --> 00:28:06.367 I've kind of been involved in music education for a while 00:28:06.367 --> 00:28:09.570 because I was a musician before I got a real job. 00:28:09.570 --> 00:28:17.883 And one of the programs I introduced was pretty radical 00:28:17.883 --> 00:28:20.195 because it was about starting with the kids' musical interests, 00:28:20.195 --> 00:28:22.641 and at the time, teachers said, "But we don't know anything 00:28:22.641 --> 00:28:24.210 "about hip-hop." 00:28:24.210 --> 00:28:26.320 And I'd say to people, "Yes, but you've got a pair of ears. 00:28:26.320 --> 00:28:28.116 "You can help these students." 00:28:28.116 --> 00:28:32.526 I think what happens is that when educators see the impact 00:28:32.526 --> 00:28:36.417 that it's having on students, that innovation is having on their lives, 00:28:36.417 --> 00:28:41.734 you hope that most of them will accept the need to change. 00:28:41.734 --> 00:28:44.600 And in the process of changing, it seems to me that 00:28:44.600 --> 00:28:46.852 you're not just changing the pedagogy, 00:28:46.852 --> 00:28:50.645 you're changing the relationship with your students. 00:28:50.645 --> 00:28:55.665 And that is the big emotive pull, it seems to me, for educators. 00:28:55.665 --> 00:28:58.560 When you become a learner alongside those students, 00:28:58.560 --> 00:29:02.296 that fundamentally changes the nature of that relationship. 00:29:02.296 --> 00:29:07.964 But we've become so used to seeing educators as the experts 00:29:07.964 --> 00:29:12.080 that most people are terrified of taking that particular hat off 00:29:12.080 --> 00:29:13.951 and putting the learner hat on. 00:29:13.951 --> 00:29:17.646 - All right, David, one last question. 00:29:17.646 --> 00:29:20.807 When will companies step up to the plate, based on something 00:29:20.807 --> 00:29:25.952 you were saying earlier, and truly hire based on competence and not degrees? 00:29:25.952 --> 00:29:27.570 That's from Daniel Evans, last question. 00:29:27.570 --> 00:29:31.910 - Yeah, well, Google has now got, I think, Cory would know this. 00:29:31.910 --> 00:29:35.357 Is it 14% of their hires now don't have a degree? 00:29:35.357 --> 00:29:38.447 - I don't know the number, but what they've decided 00:29:38.447 --> 00:29:41.765 is that they can get around the tight labor market, 00:29:41.765 --> 00:29:43.886 where they're competing with Facebook for every new hire 00:29:43.886 --> 00:29:46.872 and bidding them up, by hiring people Facebook wouldn't hire, 00:29:46.872 --> 00:29:49.484 people without degrees who nevertheless do good work. 00:29:49.484 --> 00:29:51.609 And they did double-blinded experiments internally 00:29:51.609 --> 00:29:54.084 with their HR department that showed that the degrees 00:29:54.084 --> 00:29:55.624 were irrelevant to the performance. 00:29:55.624 --> 00:29:58.300 And so, they're doing what's commercially smart. 00:29:58.300 --> 00:30:00.911 - Yeah, and I think there's a kind of trickle-down effect, 00:30:00.911 --> 00:30:05.579 so Ernst & Young have said they are no longer going to hire people on degrees. 00:30:05.579 --> 00:30:08.921 They've got other ways of assessing their competence and capability. 00:30:08.921 --> 00:30:12.344 So I think we'll start to see this, increasingly so. 00:30:12.344 --> 00:30:18.077 And also, as the currency of the degree, as what it means, diminishes, 00:30:18.077 --> 00:30:22.351 and I do believe it will diminish, I think that people will start to say, 00:30:22.351 --> 00:30:27.659 "Well, hang on, why are we simply hiring on the basis of a degree?" 00:30:27.659 --> 00:30:32.326 So, I think it will take time, but it's on its way and it's inevitable. 00:30:32.326 --> 00:30:34.546 - All right, David, thank you very much indeed. 00:30:34.546 --> 00:30:35.510 - Thank you. 00:30:35.510 --> 00:30:38.441 (applause)