sábado, 23 de mayo de 2009

Creatividad y estilos musicales



Cuando se habla de creatividad, resulta a veces difícil discernir la auténtica creatividad de la innovación, que consistiría más bien en la aplicación práctica de una idea creativa. En el vídeo de hoy, una actuación clásica de David Bowie cuando aún no había empezado con sus constantes cambios de estilo, tanto musicales como visuales. Aquí el debate sigue abierto 40 años después: ¿ Es un artista creativo, o simplemente un artista camaleónico, que se adapta a su entorno, simplemente exagerando los rasgos más llamativos de la tendencia del momento ? Lo dejamos a su buen juicio. De todas formas, esto no le resta nada de mérito a esta canción clásica que escribió en 1.971, y que interpreta conjuntamente con el ya fallecido Mick Ronson, guitarrista eminentemente creativo y de sonido inconfundible.

Frase del día
38. A painting in a museum probably hears more foolish remarks than anything else in the world.
Edmond Jules Goncourt

domingo, 17 de mayo de 2009

Más sobre creatividad


Ya que nuestro próximo libro va de creatividad (publicación prevista para después del verano), iremos publicando varias entradas sobre creatividad. De paso, ya que ayer tuvo lugar la gala anual de Eurovisión, donde "artistas" de medio pelo cantan canciones de medio pelo, hoy proponemos un vídeo de Dr.Feelgood, clásico exponente del llamado "pub rock", interpretando una canción de verdad y cuyos miembros -ya relacionado con el texto de la entrada de hoy- no necesitan de ir al gimnasio o seguir dietas esotéricas para mantenerse en forma; basta con moverse un poco con energía :)


Extracto de "Tentative management"

Están muy de moda esos aparatos de gimnasia, para perder peso y fortalecer la musculatura, en 4 semanas y sin esfuerzo.

Dato: los músculos se fortalecen porque están sometidos a un esfuerzo inhabitual y han de responder a esa orden del cuerpo (el dolor....). Con lo cual, es sencillamente imposible fortalecer músculos sin dolor. Es el dolor el que nos indica que el cuerpo está endureciendo las fibras, y creando otras suplementarias para ayudarnos a responder a esa nueva exigencia.

Otro ejemplo, “¡ adelgace sin privarse de nada !”. A ver, esto es un problema de aritmética básica. Exceptuando los casos patológicos (desorden hormonal, etc....). Si ingreso 3.000 Kcal al día, y mi organismo consume 2.000 Kcal, ¿ qué pasa con esas 1.000 Kcal sobrantes?. Pues el organismo las almacena bajo forma de grasa, que es la forma más compacta de almacenar energía.

Me objetarás, amigo lector, que si no le suministro esas 3.000 Kcal, mi cuerpo me indica que tiene hambre. Esto es un atavismo, de la época en la que no imperaban los cánones de belleza actual, y el organismo almacenaba todo lo que podía, en previsión de épocas de hambruna. Aunque te sirva de poco consuelo, pregúntate de cuándo datan los cánones de belleza que seguimos hoy en día. Verás que nos va a costar mucho tiempo – generaciones – acostumbrar nuestros organismos a nuevos comportamientos.

Volviendo a las 1.000 Kcal, ten en cuenta, amigo lector, que unas 1.000 Kcal sirven para andar un montón de kilómetros en bicicleta. La gran duda es: qué me hace sufrir más, la sensación de hambre por esas 1.000 Kcal de menos, o los 50 Kms que he de andar en bici para perderlos una vez que las haya acumulado.

De paso, no entiendo por qué los gimnasios no conectan un alternador a las maquinas de ejercicio. Cada usuario de esas máquinas de tortura produce digamos que 200 vatios. Si tengo a diez culturistas a la vez, produzco 2 KW. Me da para el consumo de 100 bombillas de 20 vatios. Supongo que lo suficiente para tener mi gimnasio perfectamente alumbrado de forma gratis.


Frase del día

72. If half the lawyers would become plumbers, two of man's biggest problems would be solved.
W.Shakespeare

viernes, 15 de mayo de 2009

Creatividad vs viejos hábitos



El vídeo de hoy es de The Undertones, clásicos del rock del Ulster, concretamente de Londonderry; y es una metáfora de la crisis que nos azota; aunque todo esté muy sombrío, pongámosle una banda sonora positiva; condición necesaria, aunque obviamente no suficiente para salir de la crisis.

Un extracto de "Tentative management"

Los yacimientos de creatividad se ocultan en muchos lugares. Amigo lector, nunca te has planteado el porqué de los teclados de PCs máquinas de escribir. Visto desde fuera, parecen diseñados contra todo sentido común. ¿ Cuál es la lógica que ha llevado a colocar las teclas de una forma tan ortopédica, que nos ralentiza tanto?

Una primera idea – evidente - consistiría en pensar que alguien colocó las teclas al azar. Otros pensareis que el que diseñó el teclado simplemente se equivocó a la hora de definir cuáles eran las teclas más utilizadas.
Otros pensareis que el que diseñó el teclado era de nacionalidad austro-húngara, manejando un idioma tan extraño que las teclas más utilizadas pudieran ser una combinación de z, x, w y q, etc....

La realidad es más sencilla. Estos teclados fueron diseñados hace un siglo, en la época de las viejas máquinas de escribir – las Remington de toda la vida -.

¿ Y qué pasaba por aquél entonces? Pues que las mecanógrafas tecleaban con rapidez. ¿ Y qué pasaba cuando tecleaban con algunos de los primeros teclados? Pues sencillamente, las varillas se trababan, porque la máquina de escribir no estaba preparada para aceptar un ritmo de teclado tan elevado.
Solución: vamos a colocar las teclas de tal forma que la gente tenga que teclear más despacio, buscando las letras en lugares ilógicos, intentando no hacerse un lío.

Un siglo después, cuando ya no hay ni varillas, ni elementos mecánicos que intervengan en el proceso de redacción, seguimos con un teclado que es – diciéndolo suavemente – un insulto a la inteligencia.

Me objetarás, amigo lector, que tampoco es para tanto. Al fin y al cabo, que tecleemos un poco más despacio o un poco más rápido, ¿ qué más da?

Veamos....

Supongamos que ese diseño tan poco ergonómico implique una pérdida de un 25 % - seamos positivos - en la rapidez de teclado de todas las personas que a diario utilizan un teclado QWERTY (o AZERTY, lo mismo da). Bien.....

De cuántas personas estamos hablando ¿ 10 millones (uno de cada 600 humanos, ¿ parece razonable?).

Cuál es el coste anual de cada una de esas personas para sus respectivas empresas. Digamos 20.000 €. El 25 % sería 5.000 € / año. Multiplicado por 10 Millones de personas, eso nos da, 50.000 millones de €.

¿ Esto es mucho, es poco? No lo sé, pero a lo largo de los últimos 20 años, ya hemos desperdiciado 1 billón de €. Todo esto debido a la pervivencia de un diseño antiguo – acertado en su época pero no cuestionado desde entonces.

En realidad, sí ha habido y sigue habiendo intentos de diseñar teclados realmente económicos, pero de momento ninguna ha cuajado. Y así seguimos.....

Amigo lector, ves que no es simplemente paranoia galopante. Pero, a modo de ejercicio, te puedes plantear el porqué conducimos por la derecha (esto tiene una explicación relacionada con los carricoches y el uso del látigo, pero te dejo investigar.....), por qué empleamos un volante, porqué los cables de teléfonos tienen ese diseño y se enredan tanto, porqué las bicicletas, etc.... etc.....

Tal vez descubras cosas insospechadas...



Frase del día

65. What is the robbing of a bank compared to the founding of a bank?
Bertolt Brecht

martes, 12 de mayo de 2009

Lo que el coaching NO es



Hoy en día, todo el mundo hace "coaching" sobre cualquier tema. Además, existen varias escuelas de pensamiento y también distintos enfoques "técnicos". En mi caso particular, diplomado Procoach en Londres, es un enfoque más "operativo" del coaching. De todos modos, hay una serie de puntos en común a todos los enfoques; y hay equivocaciones que no deberíamos cometer: aquí va un decálogo.

El vídeo de hoy nos acerca a una rareza musical, poco conocida fuera de Louisiana; es la llamada música "cajun".


An excerpt from "Empowerment through coaching", escrito con Manuel Ferrández

What coaching is NOT


It turns out obvious that, despite the multitude of changes occurring in the business world, most managers have not substantially modified their way of acting. Many people don’t have an accurate idea of what, in practice, means "coaching". Therefore, coaching turns into one of those fashionable ideas, which, in practice, are often discarded with contempt. Nevertheless, coaching is no magic, so hereafter we want to wipe out some erroneous concepts.


1 - Coaching cannot be defined

Actually, coaching is a well-defined process, which possesses a starting point and a finishing line. What’s different is that the heart of the process is the potential of the person. That’s why it’s so demanding to gauge; although, as we already anticipated, it’s not impossible.

2 -Coaching is psychotherapy

Frequently, managers elude initiating a coaching process because they are afraid that entering that unfamiliar world demands them to turn into some kind of psychologist. They surmise that they will have to dive into the darkest inner secrets of the coachee. Actually, somehow, they must appeal to some basic psychological tools in order to deal with the behaviors they might encounter. But having studied psychology is not a compulsory requirement for being a good coach. It’s just necessary to be prepared for managing personal and emotional questions. Truth to be said, it’s not that easy, because normally our education, typically business or technical education, has not prepared us for that; but let’s not relinquish any hope.

3 - Coaching is about making people feel happy

Many managers think that coaching means doing what they already do, but taking in account the "feelings" of their people, due to the fact that when they are required to do coaching, they center on the human being. Actually, although managing is, simplifying to the max, making people do things, coaching consists of helping the individuals manage the problems by themselves. As a collateral effect, it is most true that they will be more happy and motivated, but that was not the initially intended outcome.

4 - Coaching and mentoring are the same thing

A coach doesn’t construct emotional links. A mentor does. If someone doesn’t fulfill a commitment, a mentor might say: “You have disappointed me”. On the other hand, in the same situation, a coach would say: “This is what you said you would do, and you are not doing it”. Coaching always sustains on sheer facts.

5 - A coach is someone who encourages

Any coaching process begins with an analysis, shared, of the strong points and of the improvement points. Coaching is very much orientated to action. A coach doesn’t only praise the efforts; he helps his coachees understand what they have to change in order to reach their professional goals. So, sometimes he praises the positive outcome of a specific action, and sometimes he highlights what has not been done and where posterior efforts are to be put.

6 - Coaching demands a lot of time and resources

Managers dread that coaching is very demanding in terms of time, and consequently that diverts them from initiating such a process. But, for a good manager it will be enough to devote five odd percent of his labor day to coaching work. And finally, he will discover that this effort, seen as an investment, eventually helps him save time. In the long term, the remuneration is high. You help the individuals understand and integrate how to solve their problems by themselves. A coaching process can last between three months and two years, true, but it’s a part-time job, and it depends on what we want to obtain from the coachee.

7 - It applies to all kinds of situations and businesses

Well, it depends... Actually, a magic recipe doesn’t exist. Later on, we will explore what circumstances are the most appropriate and what are not. We can already hint that this has to see with the motivation, according to Maslow’s pyramid, level of the person at a specific moment.

8 - Not everybody can receive coaching

If a relation of coaching doesn’t work, for instance, if anybody involved in such a process doesn’t respond as expected, probably it’s due to the fact that the coach is making the wrong moves. But if eventually coaching really doesn’t work, it’s compulsory to discover what blocks the coachee, without assuming that the whole responsibility belongs to him. If someone doesn’t respond to a coaching process, probably some problems exist in the relation. Before assuming that it’s impossible to fix it, it would be suitable to change coach.

9 - The well-trained coachees will leave the company

Some managers are afraid that if they help someone develop himself and reach his professional goals, this will inspire that individual to look for new horizons. It’s most true that some individuals will want to leave and, whatever their motive, it will be impossible to stop them. However, all human beings possess hidden resources. As soon as they start discovering them, realizing how they can use them within their current company, they get enthusiastic and therefore are less prone to look for external adventures.

Though it’s always possible that some employees might leave the company in a quest for new challenges, many others will feel indebted with the company and will be more faithful to a company that’s interested in the professional development of its employees. And that’s not just positive thinking.

10 - Coaching is not concerned by profitability

Here it’s important to be careful. We were commenting on it initially, do you remember? We talked about the ROI of coaching.
Many managers consider coaching to be a “minor skill”; i.e. something that doesn’t produce an immediate rise in the figures. Actually, coaching generates results, notably more consistent than many other people management approaches.

From a qualitative point of view, the HOW, coaching develops creativity in the individuals. It encourages them to be more flexible, to adapt themselves to new situations. And the response from the coachees can induce, without any kind of doubts, a substantial effect on the income of a company. Nevertheless, it’s also true that it’s important to optimize the resources devoted to coaching. They must be those, which, time given, will provoke a great impact in the company. Coaching supposes an investment in someone; and it will provide real results, but not in the short term.


La frase de hoy
47. Realize that if you have time to whine and complain about something then you have the time to do something about it.
Anthony J. D'Angelo

sábado, 2 de mayo de 2009

Formas de aprendizaje en un entorno OTEL



El vídeo de hoy es de Bryan Ferry, en una versión del clásico apocalíptico de Dylan. Otra vez, cuando nos invaden con programas televisivos tipo "Fama" u "OT", vale la pena recapacitar y volver a educar nuestros gustos -en este caso musical- y capacidad de valoración de prestaciones. Esta metáfora es también un mensaje hacia clientes: ¿ Por qué he de conformarme con mediocridades en lugar de buscar lo "best in class" ?


An excerpt from "The paper bridge"

There are three basic types of effective learning depending on the increasing degree of complexity: learning of representations, learning of concepts and learning proposition.

Learning representation:

It consists “ of being done by the meaning of sole symbols (generally words) or by what those represent ”.
It is a question of learning, what the isolated words or symbols mean. “

It means learning the particular symbols that represent or are effectively equivalent to the specific modals.

This type of learning links itself with the acquisition of the vocabulary. In the learning process of representations it is necessary to distinguish two aspects:

· The learning before the concepts.
· After the training of concepts.

In the first one, the words represent objects or events. The word is equal to the concrete and specific image of what such modals mean.

We wont enter here any debate, as this is not our domain of expertise, but linguists know well that depending on the language, the process of associating words and concepts differ from one language to another. Those who are fluent in German know how much that language for instance appeals to literal descriptions, when most of the indo European languages have a more symbolic way of constructing and associating words and concepts.
But, as the poet would say, that’s a different story.

What’s significant for us, is that the adult – or the child – when he grows up, learns new vocabulary to represent concepts.

Learning concept:

It is the second type of effective learning. This concept is defined as “ objects, events, situations or properties that possess attributes of common criterion and that are designated by means of some symbol or sign ”.
The concepts also represent symbols and individual words, but there is a major degree of abstraction depending on a few common attributes of criterion. They arise, so, from relating certain objects, events, etc. with common attributes, to all of them.

We assume two forms for the learning concept: one, training of concepts from the concrete experiences, similar to the learning representation, and, second, the consistent assimilation of concepts in relating the new concepts to the already existing ones in the participant forming conceptual structures.

Learning proposition:

It consists of “catching the meaning of new ideas expressed in the shape of propositions ”, that is to say, expressed in a phrase or sentence that contains several concepts.

Some specialists indicate that “ the propositions are two or more concepts tied in a semantic unit... Using a rather coarse metaphor, the propositions are the "molecules" with which the meaning is constructed and the concepts are the "atoms" of the meaning. Whatever, what is important for us, from an OTEL point of view, is the importance of logic between experiences, concepts, analysis and integration?

Put in other words, an OTEL session must be very cautious about the logical flow of activities, in order to avoid the repetitive learning (negative) effect, where things don’t flow e out naturally from the participant.

This type of learning can be done, combining or relating individual words between them, each one with a different modal, and combining them in such a way that the result (the proposition) is more than the sum than the meanings of the individual concepts.

Logically, in both previous types of learning it is a matter of representations or unitary concepts, whereas in the learning proposition intervene several concepts that relate to themselves and to the cognitive structure of the participant to produce a new consolidate meaning.

All of this can sound quite obscure, to put it mildly. Being practical, what we can say is that, on having implied relation of concepts, the acquisition of the propositions can be done only thru assimilation.



Frase del día
37. A man is a critic when he cannot be an artist, in the same way that a man becomes an informer when he cannot be a soldier.
Gustave Flaubert