Change--Learning--Training--Innovation and the "New Economy"

Change requires learning and learning requires change.  It's one of the cycles that are intimately intertwined.  In "the new economy" many organizations (large and small) are not funding professional support for the changes and the learning they need to make to survive.

One of the approaches I have taken to support organizations with this problem is to create a series of business tools supporting change and making them available on eBay.  These tools can be self-help tools or can be the focus for a DrM-Resources Service.

Contract recruiters have been approaching me for support in utilizing social networking services as a support for both collaboration and knowledge management.  There are many ways to use these services to support sharing and knowledge management for organizations with all levels of numbers of employees and large and small budgets.

What characteristics of the "new economy" signal that most organizations need to learn and to change?  For starters, we have close to 10% unemployment across the USA.  Millions of jobs have been lost and President Obama, in speaking about job creation, has not focused on high end jobs which have been sacrificed when organizations have had to cut back on their employees.

As in previous times, companies need to do more with less.  What is not like previous times is that the customers and providers that companies have relied on are no longer there--or are no longer there with the same resources they once were.  How many companies do you know who are living on their reserves and waiting for the economy to "recover."  We have heard that we are experiencing a "jobless recovery" in our economy.  To be honest, I'm not really sure what that is supposed to mean.

Organizations and individuals and families need income to cover their expenses--now and for the future and the past (debt).  Jobs were the way most families generated the income.  Unemployment insurance and lower-paying jobs don't generate the income needed for expenses.  While social security payments did not go up this year, expenses have continued to climb.

Organizations, families, and individuals now need to "reinvent" themselves to succeed in the "new economy."  Reinvention requires learning and change.  We are back to the beginning of this post.  It is a cycle and organizations, families, and individuals can benefit from support while going through this cycle of learning and change.

(See the follow-up posts about Learning and Change from February 20, 2010, and February 21, 2010.)