I find many of us are captive of our own experience, whether we realize it or not. It is not necessarily bad for us to refer to our own experience, but when our experience dominates our thinking while the world is changing so quickly it becomes a problem. For example, we are witnessing many new media and devices such as social media, iPad, Kindle, etc. emerge in the recent years. Though the new media and devices open up many new possibilities, I hear some people resort to the media and/or device they have been familiar with and reject almost outright the new media and devices.
The case in point includes the use of e-books and devices for schools. I personally think this is such a great idea, as students (and I) need not carry heavy books around (the market for backpacks may shrink!), and new media can do many new things. (I am not saying that new media can do everything. We still need to learn to hand write! ) However, I notice some people object to the idea of e-books for school use, partly because the media is NOT something that they experienced as a student.
I think what is important is to go back to the basics of what we mean by “education” and the fundamental objective of “education” and “learning.” I believe we need to make the best use of all the technologies and means to accomplish the fundamental and original objective. It is more of “zero–based thinking” or “start from scratch” to accomplish the objective, making the use of what is available today. It is very different from “follow the way we have done so far” and “replacing it.”
While I was thinking about the role our experience plays in our thinking, I heard about the interesting results of a survey. The survey was the mindset list for the class of 2013, done annually by Beloit College. Most of those who are entering the college this fall were born in 1991! What is familiar to them and has been around for them since birth is very different from what I am familiar with. Doesn’t this result show the need for us to reflect and review our reference to our experience only?
Yoko Ishikura is a Professor at Hitotsubashi University ICS in the Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy in Japan. She has held positions as a professor at the School of International Politics, Economics and Business of Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo, as a consultant at McKinsey and Company Inc. Japan and a visiting professor at Darden School.
Professor Ishikura is a consultant to a number of multinational companies and has been a frequent speaker at management conferences, seminars, and workshops throughout the world. She was a member of the Regulatory Reform Committee for the Japanese government and the International Competitiveness Commission for METI. She is currently a Forum Fellow of the World Economic Forum.
She is the author of Strategic Shift from OR choices to AND paradigm, Building Core Skills of Organization , and the co-author of the following publications: Managing Diversity in the 21st Century, Strategy for Cluster Initiatives in Japan , and Building a Career to the World Class Professionals – all in Japanese. Her books in English include: Asian Advantage, Hitotsubashi on Knowledge Management and Trust and Antitrust in Asian Business Alliances.
Professor Ishikura’s current research interests are focused on global competition, innovation, and knowledge management. She received her BA from Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan; MBA from Darden School, University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia; and DBA from Harvard Business School.
