Interview: New York times best-selling author Robert Kriegel, Ph.D. to speak at ACTE Las Vegas Convention.

Interview: New York times best-selling author Robert Kriegel, Ph.D. to speak at ACTE Las Vegas Convention. Called by U.S. News & World Report U.S. News & World ReportWeekly newsmagazine published in Washington, D.C. U.S. News was founded in 1933 by David Lawrence (1888–1973) to cover important domestic events; he founded World Report in 1945 to treat world news. The two magazines were merged in 1948. one of this country'sleading authorities in the field of change and human performance, RobertKriegel will be speaking to the ACTE ACTE Association for Career and Technical Education (formerly American Vocational Association)ACTE Association of Corporate Travel ExecutivesACTE Approvals Committee for Terminal EquipmentACTE Anodal Closure Tetanus convention this December on thetopic of "Riding the Wave of Change." His book If it ain't broke ... BREAK IT! was a nationalbestseller, and his book Sacred Cows sacred cown.One that is immune from criticism, often unreasonably so: "The need for widespread secrecy has become a sacred cow"Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Make the Best Burgers made BusinessWeek's bestseller list in its first month of publication. Hislatest book is How to Succeed in Business Without Working so Damn Hard. This all-American athlete and pioneer in the field of sportsmedicine sports medicine,branch of medicine concerned with physical fitness and with the treatment and prevention of injuries and other disorders related to sports. Knee, leg, back, and shoulder injuries; stiffness and pain in joints; tendinitis; "tennis elbow"; and has coached both Olympic and professional athletes and hasprovided color commentary for the U.S. Professional Ski Tour on ESPN ESPN Entertainment and Sports Programming Network .Kriegel, who is a commentator on National Public Radio'sMarketplace, recently make two specials for PBS PBSin full Public Broadcasting ServicePrivate, nonprofit U.S. corporation of public television stations. PBS provides its member stations, which are supported by public funds and private contributions rather than by commercials, with educational, cultural, . Kriegel has also worked as an advertising executive in New York New York, state, United StatesNew York,Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of andtaught in the Executive Management Program at Stanford University Stanford University,at Stanford, Calif.; coeducational; chartered 1885, opened 1891 as Leland Stanford Junior Univ. (still the legal name). The original campus was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. David Starr Jordan was its first president. . An advocate of innovative strategies and out-of-the-box thinking Noun 1. out-of-the-box thinking - thinking that moves away in diverging directions so as to involve a variety of aspects and which sometimes lead to novel ideas and solutions; associated with creativitydivergent thinking ,Kriegel believes in rethinking rules, redefining roles and reinventingthe game. He has brought his bold and creative ideas to groups such asIBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) Corporation, McGraw-Hill, Hewlett-Packard, AT&T and GeneralMotors--and now he will be sharing these ideas with ACTE. Techniques: At the ACTE Convention in Las Vegas Las Vegas(läs vā`gəs), city (1990 pop. 258,295), seat of Clark co., S Nev.; inc. 1911. It is the largest city in Nevada and the center of one of the fastest-growing urban areas in the United States. , you will beaddressing the topic "Riding the Wave of Change." Could yougive Techniques readers a brief preview of what to expect from yourpresentation? Kriegel: No matter what people do, where they do it, what role theyplay, there's one thing we all have in common--change, which ishappening at an incredible rate. When you look at technology, which isconstantly changing, competition, which is getting fiercer, customers,who are being more demanding, or the marketplace, which is being delugedwith mergers and consolidations, everything is in flux. This type of change creates both tough new challenges and excitingnew opportunities. But to take advantage of the new opportunities, youcan't keep playing by the old rules. The truth is, if you keepplaying today's game by yesterday's rules, you won't bearound tomorrow. There are numerous examples of giant companies that becamedinosaurs because they kept playing by the old rules. Companies and people that win are not the ones that respond quicklyto change; they are the ones that create change and new opportunities.They are leaders not followers followerssee dairy herd. , proactive not reactive. I use the metaphor "Riding the Wave of Change," becausein surfing the waves keep coming, which is like change. There are acouple of basic rules in surfing that apply to business. One is you keeplooking outside. That means you don't look at the wave you'reon, you look at the one that's maybe 10 or 15 yards away. So youanticipate the wave that's coming, and then you move before thewave gets to you. So when the wave gets to you, you're already inmotion. Similarly, in business today, you have to keep looking outside, notat what's happening today--it's already too late for that--butat what's going to be happening tomorrow, and start moving towardthose changes today. Techniques: You have a copyrighted term Change-Ready. What do youmean by that and how would you relate it to what is going on ineducational institutions today? Kriegel: Change-Ready means always challenging the status quo [Latin, The existing state of things at any given date.] Status quo ante bellum means the state of things before the war. The status quo to be preserved by a preliminary injunction is the last actual, peaceable, uncontested status which preceded the pending controversy. tofind out what old policies, procedures, strategies and systems havebecome outdated and have become what I call "sacred cows" thatare costing money, taking time and preventing any change and innovation.Change-Ready companies are not only challenging the status quo andcutting out things that no longer work, but they are always looking for Looking forIn the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. bold, innovative, out-of-the-box new ideas "New Ideas" is the debut single by Scottish New Wave/Indie Rock act The Dykeenies. It was first released as a Double A-side with "Will It Happen Tonight?" on July 17, 2006. The band also recorded a video for the track. , new opportunities and newpossibilities. So, in essence, Change-Ready companies are always rethinking therules of the game, redefining their role, and they're looking toreinvent re��in��vent?tr.v. re��in��vent��ed, re��in��vent��ing, re��in��vents1. To make over completely: "She reinvented Indian cooking to fit a Western kitchen and a Western larder"the game. Techniques: In education, but particularly in career and technicaleducation, ever-changing technologies are a challenge. What do you seeas the positive and negative aspects of technological changes? Kriegel: Technological change, if used correctly, is fabulous. Itprovides great learning tools and helps us to communicate better. But Ithink we rely on it too much. People get so enamored en��am��or?tr.v. en��am��ored, en��am��or��ing, en��am��orsTo inspire with love; captivate: was enamored of the beautiful dancer; were enamored with the charming island. by the technologythat they forget that there's a person they're trying to teachor a person they're trying to communicate with. They get allinvolved in the bells and whistles A slang English term for exceptional features in some product. In the computer field, it typically refers to functions in software that may be greatly appreciated by some users, even though they may not be necessary most of the time. and forget the user. I even have a chapter in my book Sacred Cows Make the Best Burgerscalled "The Techno Cow." People can get hypnotized bytechnology and controlled by it rather than being in control of it. So I think it should be used in service of what we do rather thatreplacing what we do. A rule I use when I talk to IT people is: High tech needs hightouch to be highly successful. I have talked to some of the biggest high-tech companies in theworld, and they always talk about the problem they have, which is thatall business is personal. It's a connection, ultimately, of peopleto people, not machine to machine. Techniques: What do you see as the "sacred cows" ofeducation, and how can educators round them up and deal with them? Kriegel: My son is a teacher, and one of the things I've seenis how teachers are just bogged down with "sacred cows"--withpaperwork, with rules that are preventing innovation, but mostly withbureaucracy and things that are holding them back and taking their timeand sapping innovation. I think that's why a lot of really terrific teachers areleaving education, and I think education is the most important area inthis country. But teachers are just beleaguered be��lea��guer?tr.v. be��lea��guered, be��lea��guer��ing, be��lea��guers1. To harass; beset: We are beleaguered by problems.2. To surround with troops; besiege. by bureaucracy, so Iwould talk to them about what are the sacred cows, what are some of theold rules, systems, procedures and policies that are preventing childrenfrom getting valuable education and that are de-motivating teachers.Many are policies that were developed in another era that people arestill adhering to. You want teachers who are excited, who are motivated and whounderstand how kids learn. You want teachers who are creative and have alove of what they're doing, but a lot of the bureaucracy just killsthat. Techniques: Your strategies have been described as "out of thebox." What makes them so bold and innovative, and would they workin educational settings? Kriegel: Being out of the box is just another name for beinginnovative ... of breaking out of old ways of thinking ... of not beingtrapped by old rules, old modes and old modules. The first step is tochallenge your old basic assumptions about the game, because sometimesthe old rules are just limiting your growth, limiting your learning andlimiting your innovation. The most common response to change and new ideas and opportunitiesis not enthusiasm and passion. It's resistance. That's what Icall a fire hose, and it kills innovation, creativity and enthusiasm. Italk about how to overcome fire hosing and resistance, eliminate sacredcows, and find new ways to be innovative and to think out of the box. Look in other areas. Don't only look in education for newideas. Look in the theater. Look in the arts. Look in business. Look insports. You can't tell where new ideas are going to come from. I'm not an expert in education, or even in business. I'man expert in change, in innovation and leadership, and in what preventschange and de-motivates people, and in how people can keep ahead ofchange and create new opportunities and possibilities. And that'swhat I'll be speaking about at the convention.