Session 11 objective was to understand and learn some frameworks used to forecast and understand disruptive changes. Some of the common models used were brainstorming, forecasting from past statistics and scenario planning.
While session 11 gets more technical and less exciting, it was one of the most meaningful lessons taught. In the readings, the best takeaway I had was the framework using roadmaps. As contrast to brainstorming and other models, usage of roadmaps is new. It is often used in Western country but not so much adopted in the East. In fact, there is much value to it. It is designed to help us layout the road plan with the big picture in mind. It then places the respective milestones based on the time where it is expected to complete. Thereafter, as our guest professor explained, we can compare the timeline between the various roadmaps of social, technological or economical.
Using these roadmaps, we can predict whether the timeline coincide with each other. The value I understand from this is for example, when the market demands voice activated technology, are the technology able to keep up with it? If not, the technology needs more boosting. Vice versa, if we expect our Omni touch to be ready in market in 2 years, is the market ready to embrace this new technology? Have similar technology or transitional technology been implemented? These are all important processes to ensure the smooth implementation of products.
While session 11 gets more technical and less exciting, it was one of the most meaningful lessons taught. In the readings, the best takeaway I had was the framework using roadmaps. As contrast to brainstorming and other models, usage of roadmaps is new. It is often used in Western country but not so much adopted in the East. In fact, there is much value to it. It is designed to help us layout the road plan with the big picture in mind. It then places the respective milestones based on the time where it is expected to complete. Thereafter, as our guest professor explained, we can compare the timeline between the various roadmaps of social, technological or economical.
Using these roadmaps, we can predict whether the timeline coincide with each other. The value I understand from this is for example, when the market demands voice activated technology, are the technology able to keep up with it? If not, the technology needs more boosting. Vice versa, if we expect our Omni touch to be ready in market in 2 years, is the market ready to embrace this new technology? Have similar technology or transitional technology been implemented? These are all important processes to ensure the smooth implementation of products.
Although we are not in the corporates yet, we are still able to adapt this roadmap framework for our use. For example, it can be used to map out the course process in the entire semester so we are aware of the respective milestones to complete. Otherwise, different roadmaps can be drawn for each member, thus ensuring the smooth coordination of the project rather to avoid wasting time on hold ups. I look forward to possibly using this framework in future and sharpening it for personal use.
Another interesting concept I learnt was the concept of genetic diversity. The book written by CK Prahalad mentioned briefly the importance of genetic diversity. He recommended for companies to innovate, there is need to cross-breed CEOs. Rather than hiring CEOs from competitors, there is value in hiring a CEO from a totally different industry. By doing so, you are bringing new concepts and ideas to the corporation. This concept of cross-breeding was made famous by CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs. He was well-known for his multi-field talent, ranging from arts to technology. Because of his talent, he was able to create the high technology yet sleek and intuitive iProducts.
However, the course did not mention much about this concept of cross-breeding. It would have been a good experience to understand the framework to utilize this cross-breeding. Even CK Prahalad admits that this is a difficult process and might not yield any results. Thus, this topic deserves much more discussion for us to achieve more.
This lesson concludes course Technology and World Change. It has been a good experience to understand the changes, drivers of changes and most importantly, to understand and estimate the impacts of these changes. However, it would have been wonderful if Professor was able to run through a case study of how he will predict or forecast a disruptive change in the future. Although students have been presenting and Professor Gurinder has been adding in the forecast since Lesson 1, it would have been very interesting and enriching to see a Professor yet a business consultant handle such questions. We will have a great deal to learn from the way a professional will first analyze the issue, break it down and step-by-step analysis to the issue. The freshness of the angle and the techniques used will definitely be out of the league for almost any students, giving us a fresh and high-level perspective of issues. Also, such an analysis will probably make the lesson more interesting and engaging.
Lastly, because I hope for such an eye-opening experience, I will rate this course a 9/10. It would have been complete with this new perspective. It was partly our fault however because we failed to finish reading all the reading materials. In particular, even after the course, I hope to make an effort to complete reading the course materials, especially week 11 reading materials because they contain a lot of valuable information and tools that will help us in future.
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