Standardized Tests & Talent Mismatch
Do you remember that “whiz-kid” in your grad/undergrad class who was expected to be the next Bill Gates or Warren Buffet? And do you remember that “invisible” guy who was just happy to score a “B” and was destined to flip burgers for the rest of his life? And do you know where there are today? Be prepared to be surprised. Malcolm Gladwell talks about how standardized tests go horribly wrong when uncovering the most promising talent for the job – what he calls the “Mismatch Problem”. And as the complexity of workplace grows in the future, hiring the “Best Talent” will need new measures.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1826319553476411296
About Malcolm Gladwell:
Malcolm Gladwell specializes in surprises — counterintuitive truths discovered by clever researchers, obscure historians, and ordinary people observing the world. In his first year as a staff writer at the “New Yorker in 1996, he captivated readers with an article titled “The Tipping Point,” which grappled with a mysterious sudden drop in New York City crime, by applying the principles of epidemiology to policing. “The Tipping Point” ultimately became a book and has remained on the New York Times best-seller lists for years.
Meanwhile, Gladwell has gone on to explore similar mismatches — mammography and fighter jets (it’s all about seeing), pit bulls and racial profiling, Wayne Gretsky and Yo-Yo Ma — writing cross-disciplinary articles that illuminate hidden facts about group behavior, business and individual selves. Gladwell began 2007 with a controversial look at the Enron case, distinct from all the reportage that’s come before.
Tags: Bestseller, Bill Gates, Business, Business, Group Behavior, Invisible Guy, Malcolm Gladwell, Standardized Tests, Talent, Talent, Tipping, Warren Buffet, Wayne Gretsky, Whiz Kid, workplaceWhy we know less than ever about the world
Alisa Miller, head of Public Radio International, talks about why — though we want to know more about the world than ever — the US media is actually showing less. Eye-opening stats and graphs.
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About Alisa Miller:
Alisa Miller is President and CEO of Public Radio International. She oversees the development of some 400 hours of programming a week, bringing challenging radio programs to millions of listeners. She is responsible for making PRI programs such as This American Life accessible through satellite radio, and for spearheading the development of new programs such as the new show The Takeaway. And yes, she is the first woman to take the helm of a public radio network.
Miller is an advocate for a global perspective in news programming. She notes that, even while society becomes more globally interconnected, “Americans seem to know less and less about the world around them.” (Symptoms include the closure of foreign news bureaus — and the increasing share of broadcast time devoted to Britney Spears.) Diversity in reporting, she says, is not just important — it is vital for everyone who seeks to understand and act for good in an interdependent, increasingly complex world.
Tags: Alisa Miller, Business, Diversity, First Woman, Global Perspective, Google, Helm, Listeners, Miller Head, news, Pri Programs, Public Radio Network, Radio, Radio Programs, Satellite Radio, society, Takeaway, This American LifeSimple designs that could save millions of lives
Fumes from indoor cooking fires kill more than 2 million children a year in the developing world. MIT engineer Amy Smith details an exciting but simple solution: a tool for turning farm waste into clean-burning charcoal.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1586848844467352161
About Amy Smith:
Mechanical engineer Amy Smith’s approach to problem-solving in developing nations is refreshingly common-sense: Invent cheap, low-tech devices that use local resources, so communities can reproduce her efforts and ultimately help themselves. Smith, working with her students at MIT, has come up with several useful tools, including an incubator that stays warm without electricity, a simple grain mill, and a tool that converts farm waste into cleaner-burning charcoal.
The inventions have earned Smith three prestigious prizes: the B.F. Goodrich Collegiate Inventors Award, the MIT-Lemelson Prize, and a MacArthur “genius” grant. Her course, “Design for Developing Countries,” is a pioneer in bringing humanitarian design into the curriculum of major institutions. Going forward, the former Peace Corps volunteer strives to do much more, bringing her inventiveness and boundless energy to bear on some of the world’s most persistent problems.
Tags: Amy Smith, B F Goodrich, Business, Collegiate Inventors, Design, electricity, Energy, genius, Goodrich, Innovation, Innovation, Invent, Lemelson Prize, Local Resources, Macarthur Genius, Mechanical Engineer, MIT, Peace Corps Volunteer, Persistent Problems, Prestigious Prizes, Simple, Simple Solution, Useful ToolsDangers of Blogging… for Men
Investor and prankster Yossi Vardi delivers a careful lecture on the dangers of blogging. Specifically, for men.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3778795351933902219
About Yossi Vardi:
Joseph “Yossi” Vardi has helped more than 40 startups see the light of day, among them Mirabilis (makers of ICQ) and the video companies Scopus and BrightCove. He’s a strategic advisor to Amazon and AOL, and a venture partner of Pitango, one of Israel’s largest VC funds.
He’s a lively presence in the world of tech startups, with an absurd sense of humor and a refreshing set of values (restated in a much-commented-on TechCrunch post in October) that drive his approach to new investments. The takeaways: Judge the individual over the business plan; and don’t shy away from an entrepreneur who has failed before: “It makes them want to win even more,” he said.
Tags: Amazon, AOL, Blogging, Business, Business, Collaboration, Entrepreneurs, Humor, Investments, Investor, Pitango, prankster, Presence, Sense Of Humor, Tech Startups, Vc Funds, Venture Partner, Video Companies, Yossi VardiSimplicity patterns
The MIT Media Lab’s John Maeda lives at the intersection of technology and art, a place that can get very complicated. Here he talks about paring down to basics.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7387582649714290541
About John Maeda:
John Maeda is a programmer and an artist — and is committed to blurring the lines between the two disciplines. As a student at MIT, studying computer programming, the legendary Muriel Cooper persuaded him to follow his parallel passion for fine art and design. And when computer-aided design began to explode in the mid-1990s, Maeda was in a perfect position to influence and shape the form, helping typographers and page designers explore the freedom of the web.
He jokes about himself as “the guy who makes the flying letters.” But behind this joke is a deep insight into the way good programming can create new forms of good design — the guiding principle of Web 2.0, where type and images can behave in brand-new ways to communicate and amuse.
He’s the author of several books, including his latest, The Laws of Simplicity, and the retrospective MAEDA @ MEDIA.
Tags: Breakthrough, Business, Design, Design, Fine Art, Guiding Principle, Intersection, John Maeda, MIT, Muriel Cooper, Page Designers, Passion, Programmer, Simplicity Patterns, Technology, Typographers
