School is Out

by Kevin Roberts

It sometimes feels like I've run the full gamut of school-related experiences - from being kicked out of school at 17, to being invited back as a Governor. I frequently speak to students at universities around the world, but having an eternally curious granddaughter like Stella in my life has piqued my interest in the way primary schools approach the first few years of learning.

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem we're doing our children justice in this regard. Despite being one of the richest countries on earth, America's education system is notoriously rife with difficulties. A recent in-depth report from Cambridge University on UK primary schools suggests a grim focus on state-determined curriculum and assessment is dampening childrens' appetites for learning. The researchers recommend a new approach where formal learning begins age 6 (rather than 5), and that younger children be left to learn through play. I've spoken here before about the importance (and fun!) of free-ranging play outdoors, and I think this principle remains the same in the classroom. Of course core frameworks are important - as long as they allow great teachers to inspire their young pupils to experiment, keep asking "why?", and start coming up with their own answers. Sure, sometimes they'll get it wrong. Sometimes they'll get their hands dirty. But if their curiosity is sparked, they'll develop a love and appreciation for learning as adventure that will last a lifetime.

I like the approach taken by President Obama in a recent speech to young American school children. Always big on hope and inspiration, the President pointed to where the best kind of education leads - discovery, innovation and creation. Not just retaining facts and ticking off boxes, but being able to take what you've learnt and use it to make something exciting and new that benefits everyone. His concluding questions put the future firmly in the hands of his young listeners:

"So today, I want to ask you, what's your contribution going to be? What
problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make?"

Fittingly, a bunch of open-ended questions best answered with imagination, not just textbooks.


Image source: http://defencedebates.wordpress.com/category/my-feedback-to-you/

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Kevin Roberts is the CEO worldwide of The Lovemarks Company, Saatchi & Saatchi. For more information on Kevin, please go to www.saatchikevin.com. To see this blog at its original source, please go to www.krconnect.blogspot.com.

The World is Not Flat - Now What?

With rising fuel costs and inflation continuing to run in double digits in countries like India and China, the falling dollar, and rising oil prices pushing up transportation costs, is the world really flat as Thomas L. Friedman claimed in 2005?

With the cost of shipping a container from China to the USA nearly tripling by some reports from $3,000 to $8,000 and cargo ships dropping their top speeds by 20% during the crossing to save fuel (decreasing speed to market and just-in-time capabilities), will companies continue to globalize their supply chains?

Will some companies reverse the globalization of their supply chains?

And, of course, the most obvious question for readers of this blog...

Does this introduce new innovation opportunities for companies and advisors who can envision ways to profit from these new market characteristics?

Of course it will. Entire methods of production for different manufactured goods may be completely revised, only to be revised again if the price of oil and the dollar suddenly move in the opposite direction in a big way.

So maybe the opportunity here (if it has not already been implemented), is the transformation not from a global manufacturing process to one with fewer shipping points, but from a more rigid process to one that can be more flexible. Creating the ability for a manufacturer to switch between multiple manufacturing scenarios depending on what is most cost-effective. For example:


USA (raw materials) -> Vietnam (raw material processing) -> China (bulk assembly) -> Mexico (final assembly) -> USA (retail)

to

USA (raw materials) -> China (all processing and assembly) -> USA (retail)

to

USA (raw materials) -> Mexico (raw material processing) -> China (all assembly) -> USA (retail)

to

USA (raw materials) -> Mexico (all processing and assembly) -> USA (retail)

Thoughts?