Here are a few memorable observations from the meeting of the international panel in Aachen. (If I don’t write this stuff down, I’ll never remember it.)
Klaus Henning: SAP decided to raise their consulting rates in Europe 15% across the board a few months back. Customers would have none of it. SAP understood the mechanics but was oblivious to cultural issues.
From the previous session: global dilemmas.
A very telling SWOT analysis from the previous international session.
Petra Dassen: Majority of the people in the Netherlands have mixed backgrounds. Cities are being overwhelmed by Muslim immigration.
Stephen Downes: Canadians invented the net! Tim Bray. Wayne Hodgins. George Siemens.
Annika Lantz-Friedrich
Ron Dvir: Dialogues House in Amsterdam would be the last thing to go at ABN Amro.
Norbert Kailer: SME (small-medium enterprise) as hotbed of innovation.
Michael Ritzau, BET: Energy is as important as food. ROI is an old-school concept. The challenge is balancing change and stability. Employees need the autonomy to innovate collectively.
Patrick Rau: When a robot tells a group of Japanese to leave the room, they start packing. When a robot tells a group of Americans to leave the room, they assume the robot is broken.
Karl-Erik Sveiby: Practical wisdom = traditional topics learned through experiential means. For pilots, soldiers, and doctors to become competent, we expect them to practice. We turn business people loose with no practice at all. This is pathetic.
Vladimir Tepliakov: Rusnano Corporation has a 300 million Euro grant to develop nano tech by 2015.
Tarja Irene Tikkanen: Real competence encompasses attitude, know how, and emotion.
Eilif Trondsen: Data visualization.
Matti Vartiainen: Issues for globalized collaborative working environments
Fred Zijlstra: The skills to participate in work are ever more complex. Some people won’t make it. The elderly, dropouts, disabled, mental breakdowns: we need jobs for sidelined people.
Aachen is the crown city of Charlemagne. Some are calling him the “first European,” for his empire included Germany, France, the Netherlands, Northern Italy, Northern Spain, and more.
Pilgrims voyage to Aachen every three years to see relics such as the dress Mary was wearing when she gave birth to Jesus. (It’s in one gold box in the cathedral, Charlemagne’s in the other.)
Aachen claims to have held Germany’s first Christmas Market, and it’s a beauty. Music, food, Christmas decorations, gluhwein, and tens of thousands of boisterous people.
Slideshow of Aachen photos
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Dear Mr. Cross,
thank you so much for giving us such a nice and quick feedback. We are working on documenting all your good and precious inputs.
Thank you!
Ursula