Business
An Individual is an Island. A team player is The WorldOver the next few months Business Class News is going to be having various conversations with Michael Stiener, Executive Director of BEST Robotics Inc. BEST is an organization that is dedicated to programs that teach students how to work together as teams and give them the experience of the various components of developing a project from design, testing, production, and marketing. A couple of weeks ago Michael spoke with our publisher, Karl Woolfenden and they discussed the topic of training for the future and the importance of getting our students comfortable working as teams and supporting each other to see the best results. It became obvious that this was not a one segment conversation and there are supporting topics that need to be discussed. Training in its traditional sense is developing skills that allow an individual to perform and complete tasks that are essential to a project or job function. Michael wanted to discuss a skill that is quite complex but is something that needs to be learned for today's work environment, and fits with the project model of Fit, Flat and Fast that organizations are using to advance innovation. In the interview you will hear Michael talking about various organizations that use this model, and how this skill impacts the results of projects and the team members involved. The skill Michael talks about is Cognitive Resilience, which Karl remembered from his military training, and in that context, it was about stress mitigation in extreme circumstances, but Michael explained that in this fast-paced world, workplaces, and job roles need to have individuals understand how to cope with situations they may be placed within to make them effective and healthy. Michael talks about the cognitive resilience grid and he explains about the elements that are involved in this essential skill. Capacity Growth Mapping Ambiguity Compassion and Empathy Optimism Self-Efficacy Greater Good Karl talked about culture and if this needs to be part of the overall corporate culture, and Michael talked about BEST Culture and had an amazing answer. As we continue these conversations, we are going to build a more complete picture of “Training for The Future” and why this is so important as we grow our talent pool.