By Lisa Hochgraf
My husband is a technologist. An electrical engineer and a professor at RIT, he lives and breathes trying out new hand-held devices, learning how to program the new 3-D printer in his campus department, and designing the new audio engineering lab on campus.
I, on the other hand, have called myself "Lisa the Luddite"--with Luddite meaning "a person opposed to increased industrialization or new technology." Unlike the Luddites in English history, I have never actually gotten together with other people to destroy technology. That said, check out my museum piece phone:
But last month at the CUES schools near Boston, this Luddite was learning. I borrowed my son's iPod Touch, downloaded the Bizzaboo app that had been prepared with the schools' schedule and other information, and tweeted through that app via TheRealCUES. Another rarity, I texted with my onsite colleagues. (Yes, from the museum-piece phone.)
What brought about all this readiness to learn and do new things with technology? And how could it possibly matter to CU leaders?
In the case of Luddite Lisa, this learning came about because of a certain feeling of getting old and not wanting to be too much behind the times and because of rubbing elbows with the 20-something members of the CUES team who do all of this stuff well.
Luddite Lisa's learning matters if you have staff of all ages who need to be lifelong learners. What can you do to motivate them? Can you catch them when they are open to learning? Will putting them with the right people help?
It also matters for your interactions with members. Can you catch them with a new CU product or service and ask them to try it at a time when they are most open to learning? And, what people do you have on your team who are best suited to help them?
And, finally, what about your own learning? When are you most open to new things? And who do you trust to help you learn them?
Lisa Hochgraf is a CUES editor.
Read Lisa's coverage of the CUES Schools in Boston on CUES Skybox.
And read additional coverage from the CUES School of Risk Management.
