I wrote this vision statement in 1991 and it was published as a part of the first EDINEB book. When I look back at it now, I am surprised and a bit disappointed. I am surprised that the technology has moved so far so rapidly. There is nothing in the statement that cannot be technologically done now, and even more is possible. I am disappointed, however, that our schools have not moved to take more advantage of technology and really enhance the learning process. There can be much speculation for the lack of movement, from entrenched faculty self interest to bureaucratic rigidity. Whatever the reason, however, I continue to hope that educational institutions will move toward a richer and more effective learning model. If they do not, I fear that those in corporate universities and for profit institutions, where much innovation is currently taking place, will become the preferred suppliers of learning.

Now for the 1991 statement.

 

Education 2000

I woke up this morning to find that the world had changed. Almost without my realizing it, we had moved from the industrial age into the information age. The dominant technology had changed from the machine to the computer; the primary output from goods to information; the strategic resource from capital to knowledge; the primary energy source from fossil fuel to the mind.

As I look around at the organizations we work in, and the way we manage those organizations, I also see changes. Global perspective is no longer a buzz word; it is a reality. No longer are we limited by the need to travel physically; we travel electronically. We routinely communicate and collaborate with individuals around the globe on a real-time basis.

Fewer of our organizations emphasize the traditional hierarchies and controls typical of the industrial age. Increasingly, organizations are typified as fluid networks. We find ourselves as members of a temporary work team, drawn together to accomplish a specific purpose and, as that problem/opportunity is handled, reforming with another set of collaborators to manage the next opportunity. Concurrent engineering has become not just a way to introduce products, it has become a way to organize and manage organizations.

Our leaders also have changed roles. Rather than supervisors, directors, and controllers, they are enablers and energizers. They communicate incessantly, energizing the organization with a clear vision of the future -- a vision developed not independently but collaboratively, drawing upon the best of minds from the broadest of perspectives. They don't try to motivate. Rather they redefine organizations to remove suppressive constraints to enable members to release their inherent motivation.

As a long-time educator, my attention is drawn to our business schools. How are they educating these leaders? They seem to combine elements of the old and the new.

Changes in the physical setting are most striking. No longer do we see rows of desks, lined up to listen to the authority in the front. Rather, we see flexible spaces cluttered with electronic technology, where students and faculty meet to exchange ideas, to collaborate, to learn from each other.

The collaboration is not restricted to business disciplines. Students, and business oriented faculty, discuss the potential impact of the biotechnological revolution with the BioChemist. They attempt to make sense of the changing political face of Eastern Europe with the Political Scientist. From the Anthropologist, they gain insights into the impact of culture on individual behavior. The education is strongly multi-disciplinary, integrating understanding from a breadth of disciplinary perspectives. While there is acquisition of knowledge, the emphasis is on critical thinking and reasoning skills.

The old concept of apprenticeship has reemerged. Students learn by doing - doing under a set of tutors that constantly help them understand the "whys" as well as the "hows" and generalize their learning to other contexts -- somewhat reflective of the educational system that earned Oxford and Cambridge such high regard. But, students are no longer limited to interaction with local faculty. They listen to the most inspirational lecturers at a time most useful to their learning by accessing the HyperMedia available on their electronic learning system. In their video-conferences they pick the brains of the worlds leading thinkers. They consult with the global authorities as they work through their projects.

As students work on the learning projects typical of apprenticeship, they continually form and reform collaborative learning teams, and frequently the teams include members from around the globe. They "travel" constantly, interacting with and developing an understanding of cultures throughout the world, and they do so instantaneously and with little cost. Their learning community is truly a global community, not restricted by geography, accessed through electronic technology.

Have I really been asleep like some modern-day Rip Van Winkle? Or is the world we will face in the 21st Century already upon us?

John E. Stinson
1991