Brief Overview/Summary
The lesson this week was also about BioBusiness revolution, except instead we touched more about Agribiology, environmental life sciences and industrial biotechnology. First off we started with a quote from Norman Borlaug, about how an adequate food supply was indispensible to the growth of civilization. We then talked about the various colours associated with the BioBusiness industry, red signifying biomedical sciences, green for agriculture, blue for marine biotech and lastly white for industrial biotech.
For agribiology, we discussed about how the farmist has a greater set of skills compared to the farmer, we debated on whether should we continue on with genetic modification(GM). Food security was also touched on, having adequate food supply to meet our needs, given that Singapore is totally dependent on it's neighbours, could agribiology possibly be a feasible solution? We also talked about the reason why most of the food we eat are not labelled with GM, due to the US being a economic giant forcing other countries to adopt the same policies even though some are not following suit.
Next up, we touched on environmental sciences, we learnt about the potential and possibilities that waste management has, how it will become one of the biggest markets in the future. This was followed by bioremediation, which is any process that uses microorganisms, fungi, green plants or their enzymes to return the natural environment altered by contaminants to its original condition. Industrial life sciences were next, we talked about related technologies such as flash pyrolysis, taking human/plant remains and compressing them under pressure to create biofuels, whereby the cost for a barrel of biofuel is around $60-65.
Interesting Observations and Ideas
Reading 5 stated that the world's population is expected to reach 9.1 billion by 2050, but the main concern is whether there would be enough land, food and water for everyone. Technology and innovation has always managed to stay ahead in the game of feeding the world, but we should not take it for granted and additional steps have to be taken to ensure that this continues. Policies and institutions have to be created so that there is sustainable global food security. If there isn't enough food supply for everyone, then it is likely that the food supply would be dominated by developed countries, leaving the rest to suffer and we cannot allow this to occur.
I felt that the presentation by Anneliese about 'The tower garden' was very applicable to creating a sustainable food supply for everyone. Some of my peers in class pointed out several issues with it's feasibility, such as the culture in Singapore will not generate much success for this idea. However, given that Singapore is beginning to have an ageing population and there will be more people who are retired, why not encourage them to start their own tower gardens? Every 7-8 weeks when the vegetables are grown, a person working in public service can come to collect them. At the end of every year, they could possibly get monetary rewards from the government. It may seem like a small and insignificant effort, but if we can be pioneers of this idea and possibly influence others to follow suit, it can create a ripple effect that may prove to be beneficial to humanity as a whole.
One of the phrases mentioned by Prof Shahi, "It is not inconceivable that we may one day develop efficient home bioreactors for converting household biological wastes into energy for powering our household appliances" was one that I found very interesting. This was a perfect example of a circular model, utlising what we no longer need to create energy that we need. No longer will we have to dump our wastes into the environment leading to environmental degradation. This can be coupled with other alternative energy sources such as solar power, if there is a concern that the power generated may not be sufficient, solar power could power the house in the day, while biofuels could do so at night.
One of the videos showed that humans were no more than parasites, we only destroy rather than create. It was not so obvious in the past before the industrial revolution, but it is becoming more apparent now. There may come a time when we can reduce the amount of resources we consume and wastes that we dump onto the environment, but for now I will have to agree with the video.
Key Takeaways
If you do not experiment, test or validate, we will never grow and learn. Monsato is a very fine example of this phrase, they were responsible for the production of RBGH, which increased the production of milk in cows, but side effects included infection which created pus in milk. However, they are also responsible for the many innovations leading to increase in agricultural production in USA. Innovations like these are exactly what we need to generate global food security, even if they may go wayward at times.
The world has seen a rise in urban population from 29 percent to 61 percent, mainly brought about by Latin America, Asia, Africa. There are too many people in the rural environments, more people need to move to urban environments. Before this lesson I always though it was the urban environments that were too overcrowded and rural people should continue staying at rural environments. However, I was proven wrong as the people at rural environments have even lesser space compared to those in urban environments and this in turn is affecting the agricultural productivity. The reason why urban environments are seen as overcrowded instead is because there urban environments can only grow so fast to cater to the urban population.
The whole world would probably be more efficient if everyone was vegetarian, 70 percent is used as feed but only 25 percent of meat is provided. Many people, in particular meat lovers, would probably disagree with this approach and I am no exception. However, what if we could put animal cells into crops, such that the crops would taste like meat?
Issues for Discussion
In the late 70s, there was an oil shortage due to OPEC, and oil prices rised significantly, hence people started looking at alternatives and the electric car came to my mind instantly.However, when oil prices dropped the impetus faded. Were there any similar occurences happening after this incident? How about last year when the oil prices skyrocketed again? I felt that this issue was not addressed in the lesson.
Ratings
I would rate this lesson an 8 as there were many things I learnt from the lesson itself, the readings and the presentations, one of which is that GM promotes monoculture farming and the same crops would drain on the same nutrients.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
TWC Lesson 6
Brief Overview/Summary
The lesson was about the BioBusiness Revolution, the impacts it had on various sectors. BioBusiness is already an important part of the global economy, constituing 25% of global GDP and employing 40% of the global workforce. This may be so, but more than 50% of the employees in the BioBusiness are engaged in low wage subsistence farming, something which the world leaders need to look at in order to maximise the actual benefits that BioBusiness can bring.
BioBusiness is a summit based opportunity, with the potential to bring relevant fields to the same level which may originally be in the valley. Turn low value industries into high value industries. This lesson also had plenty of videos, one of which depicting how people in the future will deal with medicine based on plenty of touch screen. Dr Shahi talked about how most people would had laughed at this idea being implemented in the next decade before the IPhone and IPad was marketed, showing how people's perception can change easily simply with one innovation, or one which was kept secret from the masses.
Interesting Observations and Ideas
From reading 5, there are plenty of direct benefits to be dervied from the continued funding of biomedical technology. These benefits are not taken into account in standard measures of aggregate economic output. Despite new medical technology, there is increased spending on health care, this is because the benefits of innovation is rising slower than the cost. Dr Mark is also concerned about the threat to innovation as the process of medical innovation has become more lengthy and costly, as shown by one of the youtube videos, when the time taken for a drug in research to go out onto the market will usually take 14 years. This means that people will still suffer from the lack of the drug while money is continuously poured into the project. Even when the drug goes out onto the market, there will still be lag time due to the lack of knowledge on the part of the consumers.
New policies will have to be implemented to review our current procedures, consumers will have to be better informed by setting up of guidelines and initiatives, as well giving consumers a more rapid access to generic drugs. We have to encourage high value innovations and get more value from our current products. We must find better ways to keep modern care affordable, while still encouraging medical innovation. As Dr Shahi wrote at the whiteboard, BioBusiness is likely to be the means to which we achieve sustainable development and we have to capitalise on such means.
Among the various sectors of BioBusiness, Biofarming is one which has plenty of potential for growth. First of all, it can enable rural farmers to have better farming output by using modern Agro-Equipments and technical knowledge. Secondly, as it was mentioned in class, we can use living plants and animals to produce the drugs or materials we need via Biofarming, such as producing the material for spider's web from a goat.
Key Takeaways
The saying "prevention is better than cure" has probably been heard of thousands of times, but it can not be more applicable for the medical industry than now, when so much money is being pumped, just so to make drugs accessible to people. Billions of dollars can be saved, simply by promoting a healthier lifestyle through exercise and better eating habits, which could be spent elsewhere such as helping the rural farmers or developing biofuels to the next level. The reason why this is not being done in the US now is because of the lobbying that the pharmaceutical companies do to the politicians, therefore the agendas that should be forwarded are not being done so.
The presentation done by Elaine was about NanoMedicine, one which I found extremely intriguing. Most of the smallest cells in our bodies are nanoscale objects, thus with nanobots the effectiveness of treating a particular ailment without damage to the rest of our bodies could be much higer. Such technology is not simply limited to treatment, diagnosis could also be improved by leaps and bounds, while such nanobots that could help to repair tissues could also be made available on ambulances, thus increasing the chances of survival of the patient before he reaches the hospital. However, one of the arguments mentioned in class was that the functions that such nanobots can perform can possibly be achieved by our own cells, is there really a need to generate such unnecessary technology and introduce something artificial into our body? Would it not be better to find ways rather to stimulate the cells in our very own body to do the functions that we intended the nanobots to achieve?
I feel that nanotechnology has immense potential in other areas than medicine, where problems can arise like how to remove the nanobots from our body after their work are done. Nanotech is already at use in consumer products ranging from stain-resistant and anti-wrinkle textiles in clothing, smart clothing can be developed that could measure our heart rate, blood pressure, sugar levels and vital signs. Nanotechnology can also be used to protect our environment, nanobots can be programmed to eat up or break up particles of pollutants such as oil spills and turn them into harmless substances.
Issues for Discussion
In one of the videos that we watched, Bioindustry Organization, the leading bio organization in the world has the belief that biotech is capable of feeding the world, fueling the world, using nature to change the world, improving the human condition. I was very interested in finding out more about how biotech can use nature to change the world, which was not really or directly addressed in the lesson.
Personal Ratings for Session
I rate this lesson a 7/10. The lesson talked about the BioBusiness broadly and all the areas it has influenced, but I felt that it did not go indepth adequately. On the whole, I still enjoyed the lesson and I was extremely amused by a certain skype incident which happened during class.
The lesson was about the BioBusiness Revolution, the impacts it had on various sectors. BioBusiness is already an important part of the global economy, constituing 25% of global GDP and employing 40% of the global workforce. This may be so, but more than 50% of the employees in the BioBusiness are engaged in low wage subsistence farming, something which the world leaders need to look at in order to maximise the actual benefits that BioBusiness can bring.
BioBusiness is a summit based opportunity, with the potential to bring relevant fields to the same level which may originally be in the valley. Turn low value industries into high value industries. This lesson also had plenty of videos, one of which depicting how people in the future will deal with medicine based on plenty of touch screen. Dr Shahi talked about how most people would had laughed at this idea being implemented in the next decade before the IPhone and IPad was marketed, showing how people's perception can change easily simply with one innovation, or one which was kept secret from the masses.
Interesting Observations and Ideas
From reading 5, there are plenty of direct benefits to be dervied from the continued funding of biomedical technology. These benefits are not taken into account in standard measures of aggregate economic output. Despite new medical technology, there is increased spending on health care, this is because the benefits of innovation is rising slower than the cost. Dr Mark is also concerned about the threat to innovation as the process of medical innovation has become more lengthy and costly, as shown by one of the youtube videos, when the time taken for a drug in research to go out onto the market will usually take 14 years. This means that people will still suffer from the lack of the drug while money is continuously poured into the project. Even when the drug goes out onto the market, there will still be lag time due to the lack of knowledge on the part of the consumers.
New policies will have to be implemented to review our current procedures, consumers will have to be better informed by setting up of guidelines and initiatives, as well giving consumers a more rapid access to generic drugs. We have to encourage high value innovations and get more value from our current products. We must find better ways to keep modern care affordable, while still encouraging medical innovation. As Dr Shahi wrote at the whiteboard, BioBusiness is likely to be the means to which we achieve sustainable development and we have to capitalise on such means.
Among the various sectors of BioBusiness, Biofarming is one which has plenty of potential for growth. First of all, it can enable rural farmers to have better farming output by using modern Agro-Equipments and technical knowledge. Secondly, as it was mentioned in class, we can use living plants and animals to produce the drugs or materials we need via Biofarming, such as producing the material for spider's web from a goat.
Key Takeaways
The saying "prevention is better than cure" has probably been heard of thousands of times, but it can not be more applicable for the medical industry than now, when so much money is being pumped, just so to make drugs accessible to people. Billions of dollars can be saved, simply by promoting a healthier lifestyle through exercise and better eating habits, which could be spent elsewhere such as helping the rural farmers or developing biofuels to the next level. The reason why this is not being done in the US now is because of the lobbying that the pharmaceutical companies do to the politicians, therefore the agendas that should be forwarded are not being done so.
The presentation done by Elaine was about NanoMedicine, one which I found extremely intriguing. Most of the smallest cells in our bodies are nanoscale objects, thus with nanobots the effectiveness of treating a particular ailment without damage to the rest of our bodies could be much higer. Such technology is not simply limited to treatment, diagnosis could also be improved by leaps and bounds, while such nanobots that could help to repair tissues could also be made available on ambulances, thus increasing the chances of survival of the patient before he reaches the hospital. However, one of the arguments mentioned in class was that the functions that such nanobots can perform can possibly be achieved by our own cells, is there really a need to generate such unnecessary technology and introduce something artificial into our body? Would it not be better to find ways rather to stimulate the cells in our very own body to do the functions that we intended the nanobots to achieve?
I feel that nanotechnology has immense potential in other areas than medicine, where problems can arise like how to remove the nanobots from our body after their work are done. Nanotech is already at use in consumer products ranging from stain-resistant and anti-wrinkle textiles in clothing, smart clothing can be developed that could measure our heart rate, blood pressure, sugar levels and vital signs. Nanotechnology can also be used to protect our environment, nanobots can be programmed to eat up or break up particles of pollutants such as oil spills and turn them into harmless substances.
Issues for Discussion
In one of the videos that we watched, Bioindustry Organization, the leading bio organization in the world has the belief that biotech is capable of feeding the world, fueling the world, using nature to change the world, improving the human condition. I was very interested in finding out more about how biotech can use nature to change the world, which was not really or directly addressed in the lesson.
Personal Ratings for Session
I rate this lesson a 7/10. The lesson talked about the BioBusiness broadly and all the areas it has influenced, but I felt that it did not go indepth adequately. On the whole, I still enjoyed the lesson and I was extremely amused by a certain skype incident which happened during class.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
TWC Lesson 5
Brief Overview/Summary
The lesson this week focused on Information and Communication technologies(ICTs), how it has developed and will continue to, shaping the world in the process of doing so.
We discussed about the various forms of ICT, before talking about why they have the potential to become an important driver for world change This is due to the fact that they had now become more interactive between individuals, thanks to the emergence of the internet. We also talked about some of the dangers and problems of ICTs, such as security/privacy issues.
Interesting Observations and Ideas
I found one of the topics of the individual oral presentation very interesting, it was on the topic on netspeaking. As a person who used to game regularly, I thought I understood most of the internet lingo that was used these days. However, when some of the sentences were displayed on the screen, I had close to no clue on what some of them were trying to say. Although throughout the course of this module we have been constantly talking about having a future where everyone could understand each other, what if it comes to a point in the future where people who speak the same language may not even understand what the other person is trying to say? A fine line has to be drawn for a person's use of internet lingo, when it is too excessively used more time is actually used to type it out, as well as for the person to decipher the sentence.
Another interesting thing I found was in reading 2, when it was talking about several new technical capabilites that are now emerging, and their uses must be matched to needs. One of them was precise local spatial data, it can create new possibilities for engineering and market efficiencies. The article talked about linking a sensor in an automobile air filter to the network, to give a precise guide to the sources of various pollutions. What if such a technology was used in every aspect related to pollution? It will be much easier for the governments to implement taxation for such pollution, this might be key to a circular model for sustainable development.
Key Takeaways
From reading 2, I realised how empowered I was by the internet to help those who are less fortunate. With Facebook, Twitter or a Blog, I can complete the job of ubiquitous connectivity and access, form a local microcredit organization to transfer money or find a sponsor to provide for the neccessities of the less fortunate. Many such similar projects have already been initiated, but every individual's efforts goes a long way into changing the world.
I learnt the proper definition of Cloud Computing, how I am using it without knowing I am, and how it has the potential to change the way businesses work in the future, as well as the dangers attached to the benefits.
The world of the future may still be separated by physical boundaries, but it will become more connected than ever before by ICTs, people who are situated in a particular place may no longer be of the same nationality, but of the same interest.
Issues for Discussion
We are currently unable to realise the full potential of the ICT revolution as management techniques are still suited to industrial revolution, in the sense of a command and control structure. Unless we start changing the way we work with people, we will not capture the full potential. What are some of the ways in which we can change? I felt that this issue was not adequately addressed.
I felt that reading 2 had a lot of issues to be discussed, one of them was about learning how to reform education to match complex systems arising through ICTs. In a society like Singapore where almost every average household has more than one computer, what are some of the changes we can implement to the education system?
Personal Ratings for Session
I felt that this lesson was a 9/10. Going in depth into a specific topic has certainly helped me gain more insight into the current issues that are forcing a global change, whereas the previous lessons were more broad based and skimming through certain issues.
The lesson this week focused on Information and Communication technologies(ICTs), how it has developed and will continue to, shaping the world in the process of doing so.
We discussed about the various forms of ICT, before talking about why they have the potential to become an important driver for world change This is due to the fact that they had now become more interactive between individuals, thanks to the emergence of the internet. We also talked about some of the dangers and problems of ICTs, such as security/privacy issues.
Interesting Observations and Ideas
I found one of the topics of the individual oral presentation very interesting, it was on the topic on netspeaking. As a person who used to game regularly, I thought I understood most of the internet lingo that was used these days. However, when some of the sentences were displayed on the screen, I had close to no clue on what some of them were trying to say. Although throughout the course of this module we have been constantly talking about having a future where everyone could understand each other, what if it comes to a point in the future where people who speak the same language may not even understand what the other person is trying to say? A fine line has to be drawn for a person's use of internet lingo, when it is too excessively used more time is actually used to type it out, as well as for the person to decipher the sentence.
From reading 2, I realised how empowered I was by the internet to help those who are less fortunate. With Facebook, Twitter or a Blog, I can complete the job of ubiquitous connectivity and access, form a local microcredit organization to transfer money or find a sponsor to provide for the neccessities of the less fortunate. Many such similar projects have already been initiated, but every individual's efforts goes a long way into changing the world.
I learnt the proper definition of Cloud Computing, how I am using it without knowing I am, and how it has the potential to change the way businesses work in the future, as well as the dangers attached to the benefits.
The world of the future may still be separated by physical boundaries, but it will become more connected than ever before by ICTs, people who are situated in a particular place may no longer be of the same nationality, but of the same interest.
Issues for Discussion
We are currently unable to realise the full potential of the ICT revolution as management techniques are still suited to industrial revolution, in the sense of a command and control structure. Unless we start changing the way we work with people, we will not capture the full potential. What are some of the ways in which we can change? I felt that this issue was not adequately addressed.
I felt that reading 2 had a lot of issues to be discussed, one of them was about learning how to reform education to match complex systems arising through ICTs. In a society like Singapore where almost every average household has more than one computer, what are some of the changes we can implement to the education system?
Personal Ratings for Session
I felt that this lesson was a 9/10. Going in depth into a specific topic has certainly helped me gain more insight into the current issues that are forcing a global change, whereas the previous lessons were more broad based and skimming through certain issues.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
TWC Lesson 4
Brief Overview/Summary
The first half of the lesson was about drivers of world change. To start out, we discussed about some drivers of world change. There were some that caught my eye, such as Germs as well as competition. Next to them were certain quotes by famous people of the past, where the class debated on what they truly meant.
We moved on to the readings for 4a after that, reading 1 talked about the various drivers of change to 2060, some of which were similar to those already mentioned in the powerpoint slides, but there were others as well like food security and demographics. Demographics is becoming particularly important, as Prof Shahi mentioned in class, in 2007 almost 50% of the global population were living in urban areas. The demands of people living in urban areas are certainly different from those in rural areas and this will definitely drive a change in the world, possibly to reduce wastage of resources for sustainability.
The individual oral presentations were next, Maneeha gave a presentation about how carbon dioxide may actually not be the cause of global warming, which many of us had extreme reactions towards, but it was a very interesting perspective to bring in nonetheless.
The second half of the lesson was about change management and change leadership. A leader is the one who has a vision, a leader does not have to be detail oriented, but a manager does. For responding to change, Prof Shahi talked about 3 options for change, we can be spontaneous and make it happen, or simply react when it happen, or wonder what happen only when it strikes us. We also discussed briefly about how to lead a change and how to manage one, in which a pessimism time curve was shown.
We were supposed to talk about the readings next, but many of us did not have the chance to read the articles in detail so a very brief summary about every reading was given instead. The last oral presentation followed about leadership and change management. In my opinion, I felt that if change management was being promoted, the entire context of it is meant to be surrounded by innovation and to be receptive to ideas. If a leader or manager chooses to be closed minded, they are simply contradicting the entire concept of what they are trying to do thus they are bound to fail. As 4b reading 1 showed, 75% of all organizational change programs fail, largely due to the fact of employees feeling left out and lacking the motivation as a result. If such the ideas of such employees are well received rather than being thrown out of the window, they will feel a sense of belonging as they are contributing something.
Interesting Observations and Ideas
One issue got me thinking deeply, it was about Germs and how it was a major driver of change, namely the black plague, responsible for both the dark ages and renaissance of Europe. However, it got me thinking about how different societies tend to undergo major changes whenever something disastrous happens. For example, the great depression of the 1930s, led to the rise of the keynesian theory, which gave governments a solution for economic downturns, though it has been proven in the 1970s that it does not always work for all instances. It also gave a reason for the United States to join World War 2, beginning the process of turning them into the superpower of the world. When darkness engulfs you, it is only the beginning and not the end, the light(or in this case change) will come eventually, I inadvertently thought about this phrase.
I thought about China as well, how it is now booming after spending most of last century as a communism driven and closed off country. It appeared very similar to the case of the dark ages and renaissance of Europe. The both of them were cases of falling stars, closed perspective, not interested in learning from others, or investing in new ideas. After opening up, they profited immensely, Europe became a dominant power and China is now a threat to the throne held by United States. Does this mean that in order to have changes shift hugely in our favour, we have to become falling stars first for a prolonged period of time? I would think that such cases no longer apply to our modern society, where it is increasingly competitive and it will be very difficult to catch up once you have fallen behind.
Another interesting observation was that in 4a, reading 4, our common perception of Africa would be that the countries there are largely undeveloped, and even if they are, they are lagging behind the rest of the developed countries. However, what I found out was that Zambia was developing very fast, ideas and changes happening there were occuring over a span of about 10 years, whereas it took Singapore about 40 years to do so. This could be because Zambia had many models of countries which successfully developed to follow, or because it had many endowments such as land as its main resource which Singapore lacked. Some of the drivers of changes affecting Zambia were also affecting other developed nations, such as sustainable construction, skills training and development for staff, as well as making the supply chain management more efficient.
Key Takeaways
The phrase by George Bernard Shaw "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man." was one that really stuck onto me. I finally understood why there were times in the past during projects, when my group decided to ignore my idea for another person's proposition, simply because he was being unreasonable and did not want to give in. When you become unreasonable, you can force people to think about things in a different way. There will be times when using such approach will be more effective than being reasonable instead, such as when the group is going round in circles during discussion and it is imperative to reach a conclusion fast. However, drawing a line on when to use or not to use such an approach is difficult and requires practice as well as experience.
Knowing about the pessimism time curve in 4b can really help in the process of doing projects. During the uninformed optimism, it is important that we still keep our feet on the ground. When the informed pessimism arrives, possibly due to the realization of how much work actually has to be put into the project, we have to strive on as it will only get better. As informed realism arrives and our pessimism is reduced, we will know that the finishing point is near.
Issues for Discussion
I was really intrigued by Maneeha’s presentation on global warming as it offered another perspective from a different school of thought. Although some time was already was already devoted among the class to discuss the topic, perhaps we could go more in depth into the topic and find out about the other school of thoughts on global warming.
Personal ratings for session
I rate this lesson a 9, I was able to grasp all the concepts being mentioned in class and there were many interesting issues brought up. The presentations also provoked plenty of discussion among the class and I got to hear to opinions of many others.
The first half of the lesson was about drivers of world change. To start out, we discussed about some drivers of world change. There were some that caught my eye, such as Germs as well as competition. Next to them were certain quotes by famous people of the past, where the class debated on what they truly meant.
We moved on to the readings for 4a after that, reading 1 talked about the various drivers of change to 2060, some of which were similar to those already mentioned in the powerpoint slides, but there were others as well like food security and demographics. Demographics is becoming particularly important, as Prof Shahi mentioned in class, in 2007 almost 50% of the global population were living in urban areas. The demands of people living in urban areas are certainly different from those in rural areas and this will definitely drive a change in the world, possibly to reduce wastage of resources for sustainability.
The individual oral presentations were next, Maneeha gave a presentation about how carbon dioxide may actually not be the cause of global warming, which many of us had extreme reactions towards, but it was a very interesting perspective to bring in nonetheless.
The second half of the lesson was about change management and change leadership. A leader is the one who has a vision, a leader does not have to be detail oriented, but a manager does. For responding to change, Prof Shahi talked about 3 options for change, we can be spontaneous and make it happen, or simply react when it happen, or wonder what happen only when it strikes us. We also discussed briefly about how to lead a change and how to manage one, in which a pessimism time curve was shown.
We were supposed to talk about the readings next, but many of us did not have the chance to read the articles in detail so a very brief summary about every reading was given instead. The last oral presentation followed about leadership and change management. In my opinion, I felt that if change management was being promoted, the entire context of it is meant to be surrounded by innovation and to be receptive to ideas. If a leader or manager chooses to be closed minded, they are simply contradicting the entire concept of what they are trying to do thus they are bound to fail. As 4b reading 1 showed, 75% of all organizational change programs fail, largely due to the fact of employees feeling left out and lacking the motivation as a result. If such the ideas of such employees are well received rather than being thrown out of the window, they will feel a sense of belonging as they are contributing something.
Interesting Observations and Ideas
One issue got me thinking deeply, it was about Germs and how it was a major driver of change, namely the black plague, responsible for both the dark ages and renaissance of Europe. However, it got me thinking about how different societies tend to undergo major changes whenever something disastrous happens. For example, the great depression of the 1930s, led to the rise of the keynesian theory, which gave governments a solution for economic downturns, though it has been proven in the 1970s that it does not always work for all instances. It also gave a reason for the United States to join World War 2, beginning the process of turning them into the superpower of the world. When darkness engulfs you, it is only the beginning and not the end, the light(or in this case change) will come eventually, I inadvertently thought about this phrase.
I thought about China as well, how it is now booming after spending most of last century as a communism driven and closed off country. It appeared very similar to the case of the dark ages and renaissance of Europe. The both of them were cases of falling stars, closed perspective, not interested in learning from others, or investing in new ideas. After opening up, they profited immensely, Europe became a dominant power and China is now a threat to the throne held by United States. Does this mean that in order to have changes shift hugely in our favour, we have to become falling stars first for a prolonged period of time? I would think that such cases no longer apply to our modern society, where it is increasingly competitive and it will be very difficult to catch up once you have fallen behind.
Another interesting observation was that in 4a, reading 4, our common perception of Africa would be that the countries there are largely undeveloped, and even if they are, they are lagging behind the rest of the developed countries. However, what I found out was that Zambia was developing very fast, ideas and changes happening there were occuring over a span of about 10 years, whereas it took Singapore about 40 years to do so. This could be because Zambia had many models of countries which successfully developed to follow, or because it had many endowments such as land as its main resource which Singapore lacked. Some of the drivers of changes affecting Zambia were also affecting other developed nations, such as sustainable construction, skills training and development for staff, as well as making the supply chain management more efficient.
Key Takeaways
The phrase by George Bernard Shaw "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man." was one that really stuck onto me. I finally understood why there were times in the past during projects, when my group decided to ignore my idea for another person's proposition, simply because he was being unreasonable and did not want to give in. When you become unreasonable, you can force people to think about things in a different way. There will be times when using such approach will be more effective than being reasonable instead, such as when the group is going round in circles during discussion and it is imperative to reach a conclusion fast. However, drawing a line on when to use or not to use such an approach is difficult and requires practice as well as experience.
Knowing about the pessimism time curve in 4b can really help in the process of doing projects. During the uninformed optimism, it is important that we still keep our feet on the ground. When the informed pessimism arrives, possibly due to the realization of how much work actually has to be put into the project, we have to strive on as it will only get better. As informed realism arrives and our pessimism is reduced, we will know that the finishing point is near.
Issues for Discussion
I was really intrigued by Maneeha’s presentation on global warming as it offered another perspective from a different school of thought. Although some time was already was already devoted among the class to discuss the topic, perhaps we could go more in depth into the topic and find out about the other school of thoughts on global warming.
Personal ratings for session
I rate this lesson a 9, I was able to grasp all the concepts being mentioned in class and there were many interesting issues brought up. The presentations also provoked plenty of discussion among the class and I got to hear to opinions of many others.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Brief Overview/Summary
Tuesday was my first TWC lesson with Prof Shahi, and I must say, it was certainly different from anything I had experienced before.
For the first part of the lesson we went into the topic of building a sustainable model for technology and industrial development. How the old economic model of industrialisation used by so many developed countries must cease to be used, as the emerging economies will attempt to build on their previous examples. The United States accounts for only 5% of the global population but consumes 30% of the world's resources, this is a largely disproportionate amount. As the need to create technologies that can sustain the environment increases, it will also lead to the green tech revolution picking up more steam.
Next up was the individual presentation, Bernadette brought up a very interesting topic on Urban Aquaponics, which was an example of the cyclical industrial model brought up at the start of the lesson. It showed how much potential was inside the area of sustainable technology, and that more innovation and expertise was needed.
Yu Hui was second with her presentation of the new clean technology in Israel, which was vital to the country as it was surrounded by middle eastern countries and could be forced to provide their own energy in times of war.
The 2nd half of the lesson was about technology and innovation management. We generate large amounts of ideas everyday, but only a minimal amount of them will have to potential for great success. Innovation is all about doing something different, and it must be done consistently as well, because others will constantly want to emulate your example. A process which was unheard of by me, the R-D-A process was mentioned as well, it represented a much more realistic picture of the mindsets of successful businessmen and entrepreneurs alike. The R and D process is commonly known to everyone, but the application process was something implicit but yet indispensible in order for the product to be highly demanded in the economy.
Leon then gave a very unique one word per page presentation on the growth of google and how it has come to impact our everyday lives. We went on to discuss about how google has all information on our searches, which places the company in a very powerful position, be it to do good or evil. Currently, google has used the information to do good, but there is no telling what may happen should a malicious 3rd party get their hands on it, countless people will be victim to exploitation.
Interesting Observations and Ideas
The phrase on the whiteboard "Sustainability requires a shift from linear to circular thinking" brought about somewhat of a revelation to me. It finally dawned on to me that degradation problems still persists because we are unable to break out of the old linear industrial model, where economic development and environmental thinking were at loggerheads with each other. In this model, as an unaware consumer, I might just utilise several thousand pages of paper without realising how many trees were cut down from it. Every individual in the linear chain were simply concerned for their own well being and not for the whole big picture.
A new circular model, where every party is responsible or will feel the repercussions for the actions of another party has to be come into place. Either a middle ground has to come into place between the need for economic growth and environmental conservation or we have to wait for green technology to develop to the next level. Developing countries will have to start finding ways to head to the service based industries without going through industrialisation.
One of the queries for the presentation of Urban Aquaponics was also of great debate, the feasiblity of such an idea in Singapore. Singapore is a place with many fish farms, both fresh and saltwater. Should we adopt the technique for these farms, we could definitely save on the consumption of freshwater and increase the production of vegetables. It is different from hydroponics in a sense that it does not simply involve plants, but fishes as well, so to write the idea off simply because hydroponics cannot work in Singapore is wrong. Of course, this will not be sufficient to sustain Singapore on its own, but we will be less reliant on others. Granted, as my peers had pointed out, the issue of cost still has to be sorted out, with the most possible solution via further innovation to cut cost.
Key Takeaways
Perceptions have to be changed in order to create a sustainable planet for the future, as individuals we can do our part, but not without the help of the governments and large corporations. This has to work both on a micro and macro level.
The valley, summit and cloud opportunities concept was one I am sure everyone in the class would take back. We always look to the sky as the limit, it will be where dreams and ideas are formed, amidst the clouds, yet to be truly completed. The summit is currently where some of the world's most successful innovators, such as Apple stand. The world is their oyster, they control large amount of the various industries they operate in, or even multiple industries. However, should they cease to innovate, their competitors will soon catch up with them and squeeze them down to the valley, where everyone is clamouring to stand out and it is tough to do so. Examples of valley to summit, such as the French fighting for the rights for the term "champagne" are far and few between.
Research is like a giant tank that is stored in our head, constantly growing exponentially with ideas, many of our ideas remain in the embryonic stage. Sometimes all our ideas will remain in that stage if we do not voice them out or attempt them. The trick is to sieve out the diamonds among the giant piles of ideas, and work on them, this can only come with experience, through the process of trying to make an idea work
Issues for further discussion
Those in power are always resistant to change, that is why the world's most powerful leaders rarely get anything truly fruitful done on environmental issues, be it due to fear from suffering an economic backlash or pressure from large corporations. What are some of the ways in which we can change this? Will developing a circular economic model and asking them to adhere to it be sufficient, what if they refuse to change for profit reasons or they are unconvinced?
Having technology as well as being market driven are the main drivers of innovation, but in the lesson we discussed them as seperate entities. If you have funding, then you can afford to come up with an innovation based on technology. However, are they really two seperate entities? Looking at some of the most highly demanded innovations in the world recently, such as the IPhone, it was created based on both market demand as well as technology. Will technology alone be sufficient as a driver of innovation?
The hot-air car which was brought up in lesson reminded me of the electric car in the 1970s, even though it was invented then, the large corporations which still relied on fuel based cars bought over the idea and kept it secret. This carried on for the next few decades until the need to be more environmental friendly became more apparent. Are there currently any ideas that mirror that of the electric car in the 1970s which are being kept secret by large corporations?
Personal Ratings
I rated the lesson a 7, a broad spectrum of topics were covered, it was my first lesson so the influx of information was too great at times and I could not absorb everything. I hope that in subsequent weeks when I get used to the pace of the lesson, I will be able to absorb useful insights from both the prof and my peers.
Tuesday was my first TWC lesson with Prof Shahi, and I must say, it was certainly different from anything I had experienced before.
For the first part of the lesson we went into the topic of building a sustainable model for technology and industrial development. How the old economic model of industrialisation used by so many developed countries must cease to be used, as the emerging economies will attempt to build on their previous examples. The United States accounts for only 5% of the global population but consumes 30% of the world's resources, this is a largely disproportionate amount. As the need to create technologies that can sustain the environment increases, it will also lead to the green tech revolution picking up more steam.
Next up was the individual presentation, Bernadette brought up a very interesting topic on Urban Aquaponics, which was an example of the cyclical industrial model brought up at the start of the lesson. It showed how much potential was inside the area of sustainable technology, and that more innovation and expertise was needed.
Yu Hui was second with her presentation of the new clean technology in Israel, which was vital to the country as it was surrounded by middle eastern countries and could be forced to provide their own energy in times of war.
The 2nd half of the lesson was about technology and innovation management. We generate large amounts of ideas everyday, but only a minimal amount of them will have to potential for great success. Innovation is all about doing something different, and it must be done consistently as well, because others will constantly want to emulate your example. A process which was unheard of by me, the R-D-A process was mentioned as well, it represented a much more realistic picture of the mindsets of successful businessmen and entrepreneurs alike. The R and D process is commonly known to everyone, but the application process was something implicit but yet indispensible in order for the product to be highly demanded in the economy.
Leon then gave a very unique one word per page presentation on the growth of google and how it has come to impact our everyday lives. We went on to discuss about how google has all information on our searches, which places the company in a very powerful position, be it to do good or evil. Currently, google has used the information to do good, but there is no telling what may happen should a malicious 3rd party get their hands on it, countless people will be victim to exploitation.
Interesting Observations and Ideas
The phrase on the whiteboard "Sustainability requires a shift from linear to circular thinking" brought about somewhat of a revelation to me. It finally dawned on to me that degradation problems still persists because we are unable to break out of the old linear industrial model, where economic development and environmental thinking were at loggerheads with each other. In this model, as an unaware consumer, I might just utilise several thousand pages of paper without realising how many trees were cut down from it. Every individual in the linear chain were simply concerned for their own well being and not for the whole big picture.
A new circular model, where every party is responsible or will feel the repercussions for the actions of another party has to be come into place. Either a middle ground has to come into place between the need for economic growth and environmental conservation or we have to wait for green technology to develop to the next level. Developing countries will have to start finding ways to head to the service based industries without going through industrialisation.
One of the queries for the presentation of Urban Aquaponics was also of great debate, the feasiblity of such an idea in Singapore. Singapore is a place with many fish farms, both fresh and saltwater. Should we adopt the technique for these farms, we could definitely save on the consumption of freshwater and increase the production of vegetables. It is different from hydroponics in a sense that it does not simply involve plants, but fishes as well, so to write the idea off simply because hydroponics cannot work in Singapore is wrong. Of course, this will not be sufficient to sustain Singapore on its own, but we will be less reliant on others. Granted, as my peers had pointed out, the issue of cost still has to be sorted out, with the most possible solution via further innovation to cut cost.
Key Takeaways
Perceptions have to be changed in order to create a sustainable planet for the future, as individuals we can do our part, but not without the help of the governments and large corporations. This has to work both on a micro and macro level.
The valley, summit and cloud opportunities concept was one I am sure everyone in the class would take back. We always look to the sky as the limit, it will be where dreams and ideas are formed, amidst the clouds, yet to be truly completed. The summit is currently where some of the world's most successful innovators, such as Apple stand. The world is their oyster, they control large amount of the various industries they operate in, or even multiple industries. However, should they cease to innovate, their competitors will soon catch up with them and squeeze them down to the valley, where everyone is clamouring to stand out and it is tough to do so. Examples of valley to summit, such as the French fighting for the rights for the term "champagne" are far and few between.
Research is like a giant tank that is stored in our head, constantly growing exponentially with ideas, many of our ideas remain in the embryonic stage. Sometimes all our ideas will remain in that stage if we do not voice them out or attempt them. The trick is to sieve out the diamonds among the giant piles of ideas, and work on them, this can only come with experience, through the process of trying to make an idea work
Issues for further discussion
Those in power are always resistant to change, that is why the world's most powerful leaders rarely get anything truly fruitful done on environmental issues, be it due to fear from suffering an economic backlash or pressure from large corporations. What are some of the ways in which we can change this? Will developing a circular economic model and asking them to adhere to it be sufficient, what if they refuse to change for profit reasons or they are unconvinced?
Having technology as well as being market driven are the main drivers of innovation, but in the lesson we discussed them as seperate entities. If you have funding, then you can afford to come up with an innovation based on technology. However, are they really two seperate entities? Looking at some of the most highly demanded innovations in the world recently, such as the IPhone, it was created based on both market demand as well as technology. Will technology alone be sufficient as a driver of innovation?
The hot-air car which was brought up in lesson reminded me of the electric car in the 1970s, even though it was invented then, the large corporations which still relied on fuel based cars bought over the idea and kept it secret. This carried on for the next few decades until the need to be more environmental friendly became more apparent. Are there currently any ideas that mirror that of the electric car in the 1970s which are being kept secret by large corporations?
Personal Ratings
I rated the lesson a 7, a broad spectrum of topics were covered, it was my first lesson so the influx of information was too great at times and I could not absorb everything. I hope that in subsequent weeks when I get used to the pace of the lesson, I will be able to absorb useful insights from both the prof and my peers.
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