If colleges were businesses they would be right for hostile takeovers, complete with serious cost-cutting and painful reorganizations.
US News and World Report
Overarching theme in this book is the need for lifelong, continuing education. But, few colleges are meeting this need. They seem to be frozen due to the oncoming Edupocalypse or educational disruption. They can’t adapt quickly.
Just one example of change: My daughter is taking online college classes for her mechanical and robotics engineering degrees. No brick and mortar – just online. Welcome to the future of education.
Let’s look at two universities that hope to shape the management and technology of the Future of Work. Harvard Business School wants to set the benchmark on Managing the Future of Work™. Why?
“The nature of work is changing. As companies grapple with forces—such as rapid technological change, shifting global product and labor markets, evolving regulatory regimes, outsourcing, and the fast emergence of the gig economy—they must overcome challenges and tap opportunities to attract, retain, and improve the productivity of their human assets. … Tackling the changing nature of work will require companies to move beyond outdated workforce development models and human resource practices.”[i]
MIT wants to develop the tech benchmark for Engineering the Future of Work:
“The remarkable progression of innovations that imbue machines with human and superhuman capabilities is generating significant uncertainty and deep anxiety about the Future of Work. … But there’s no question that we face an urgent sense of collective concern about how to harness these technological innovations for social benefit.”[ii]
Work Lesson Earned: Every higher education institution is sweating the Future of Work. They know education may be the next disruptive sector. Even elite universities know If they can’t add real student value, lower educational costs, and help students be job-ready, they’re burnt toast.
[i] Managing the Future of Work, HBS web site, https://www.hbs.edu/managing-the-future-of-work/about-the-project/Pages/default.aspx, 2019.
[ii] ‘MIT Addresses 3 Questions’, https://workofthefuture.mit.edu/, 2019.