OCT — DEC 2012 ISSUE 6
INTERVIEW WITH ADAM GILMORE, NASA, USA
future-proofing young leaders Launching them into the future
1 Halogen360
From the Executive Director’s Laptop
Patrons
Teo Chee Hean Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Home Affairs; Co-ordinating Minister for National Security Michael Palmer Speaker, Parliament of Singapore; Member of Parliament, Punggol East SMC; Partner, Harry Elias Partnership
Board of Directors
[Chairman] Lim Soon Hock Founder and Managing Director, PLAN-B ICAG Pte Ltd [Treasurer] Bill Padfield Chief Executive Officer, Dimension Data Asia Pacific Pte Ltd Chan Heng Wing Senior Advisor, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Non-Resident High Commissioner to the People’s Republic of Bangladesh Cho Pei Lin Managing Director, Asia PR Werkz Pte Ltd Soon Sze-Meng Director of Cross-Border Business, APCEMEA Visa Worldwide Pte Ltd Martin Tan Co-Founder and Executive Director, Halogen Foundation Singapore
Editorial Team [Editor] Jael Chng
[Sub-Editors] Daphne Lee Faith Luo Jinghui [Designer] Peter Oh
Contributors Adam Gilmore, Darlene Uy, Darrel Kon, Jamie Seah, Karen Lee, Martin Tan, Nick Pan, S. Manogaran, Sean Kong, Soon Sze-Meng
Halogen360 is a quarterly publication of Halogen Foundation Singapore. Halogen360 is distributed free to 2500 people, including ministers, partners, educators, volunteers, donors, and in the National Youth Council and *SCAPE. Copyright is held by Halogen Foundation Singapore. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. To provide comments or request free copies of this publication, please email singapore@ halogenfoundation.org. Printed by NuColour Pte Ltd For advertising enquiries or media, contact Jael at jael@halogenfoundation.org To find out more about Halogen and the programmes we offer, please visit our website at www.halogen.sg or scan this:
Future is always a far-fetched term. No pun intended. With many Singapore National Conversations going on in different parts of the island, our collective focus is solely on one thing: our future. I remember when I was a teen, I loved the Back To The Future trilogy where a relatively younger Michael J. Fox travelled through time and space, tinkered with time-space continuum and lived to tell the tale. Believe it or not, the date on the time machine of the future was 21 October 2015. And that is just three years away for us today. When the creators of Back To The Future envisioned the future, 2015 was 30 years from when the film was released in movie theatres in 1985. The world we live in is not quite what the film portrayed it out to be. We still can’t travel in time, we don’t have laser guns nor can our cars run on banana skins and trash (which would have been pretty cool). Much of our technology we take for granted today did not even exist eight years ago. The Internet was in its infancy for mass consumers. Facebook, Twitter and iPhone weren’t even available. The first iPad (now into it’s fourth generation) did not even exist three years ago. Such is the pace of technology and such is the urgency of asking ourselves this important question: “Are we future-proofing our young leaders?” For us at Halogen, the goal of building young leaders to practically change the world in issues they believe in is one we take seriously. We ask ourselves if we are getting them ready for a different world than we have today, and if we have inculcated time-tested values and competencies that will future-proof these young leaders whom we seek to inspire and influence. In this issue, we seek to raise various perspectives of the future. We have the former chief engineer of NASA and current Deputy Branch Manager, Adam Gilmore, to share his perspective from a work environment that is as futureoriented as it gets. We have S. Manogaran, Director of Singapore Academy of Teachers to share his perspectives on the future of teaching. We also took this opportunity to share about the ABCs of Youth Leadership Development as you start preparing for 2013 which we hope you will find useful. This issue is about the future. A future that we are extremely excited about. We hope you will enjoy reading this issue as much as we had publishing it. A better future together,
Martin Tan
Co-founder and Executive Director Halogen Foundation Singapore
SPOTLIGHT 2
The ABCs of Youth Leadership What are the key ingredients needed for a leadership development framework? By Martin Tan
Can any youth leadership development framework be filtered down to something as simple as ABC? Not really. Leadership development is a fairly complex undertaking. There are, however, some basics to bear in mind when reviewing any leadership programme or framework; these five things are as easy as ABCDE.
A
is for Ability
Any leadership programme must develop a young leader’s different leadership competencies. We all look to leaders who have the ability to manage difficult situations, resolve team conflicts or articulate clearly the objective of any project or task. These are competencies and abilities that can be learned and should be nurtured.
B
is for Belief
Each young leader should build an inner compass, or as Stephen Covey, the author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, puts it, an inner voice which guides their actions and mission. Our beliefs are core to how we see ourselves as persons, and how it influences us as leaders. The more a young person knows his or her beliefs, the more confident the leader will be about himself and his abilities.
C
is for Character
Character is of utmost importance in a leader. An incompetent leader may run a company into losses but a leader of bad character will run a company into ruin. Every leadership programme or framework should aim to build character and values in young leaders so that they can lead both themselves and others well.
D
is for Direction
E
is for Empathy
Leaders must take people forward. The ability to show the way is a hallmark of great leaders. They must know the direction where the team or organisation should go. The ability of a framework to help each young person learn how to set those directions and lead people there will help build better young leaders in the long run.
Leadership programmes should not only build the minds and hands of young leaders, it should also build their hearts to feel for those around them. Leaders lead people and the more leaders care for their followers, the better leaders they become. Being able to nurture a heart for the needs of the world will set our young leaders apart in our schools, for the benefit of society. These five components are what Halogen believe wholeheartedly that any leadership development framework or programme should include. Our goal is not to provide just another programme, but rather to facilitate life changing experiences in building young leaders who will practically change the world in issues they believe in. ABCDE. Developing a framework may be complex but its core should be foundational. For us at Halogen, it serves as a structure in working with schools. But we also add one more letter—F. Because we think that aside from having ABCDE in a framework, we should also have FUN.
Martin Tan is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Halogen Foundation Singapore. He has a big heart to build young leaders and is also passionate about families.
3 YOUTH BITS
What Motivates a Mill
For a person born between the late 1970’s to early 2000’s, what shapes the work habits and aspirations? We find out eight interesting facts By Karen Lee
What is their leadership style? Expect Millennials to ask “why” and help them to see that their efforts matter. Millennials’ leadership styles are different than the generations before them, as reflected in the table below1. A great example is billionnaire Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, who has been described as one who “expects debate” (challenging of authority), “isn’t sentimental” (pacey), and “pushes people” (ambitious).2
Generation
Leadership Style
Boomers
Hierarchical, collective mindset, sharing wisdom, conservative, measured
X
Fair, competent, straightforward, collaborative, experimental within boundaries, reluctant respect for authority
(Born 1946 to 1964)
(Born post-war, 1965 to late 1970’s)
Y/Millenials
(Born late 1970’s to early 2000’s)
Challenging of authority, innovative, individualistic, pacey, short-term focus, ambitious
Why are they tech-savvy? Millennials are vocal and want to be heard via social media, on all sorts of issues including politics. They are, and will become, active citizens.3 As of 2011, 80% of Singaporeans aged 25-34 are on social network Facebook, and 70% of all Singaporean Facebook users are Millennials between 13-34 years of age.4 In addition, the 2012 Pre-U Seminar was conducted in a new interactive format, signifying a shift in methods used to engage young Singaporeans and encourage them to express their views.5
3
A positive push for the millennials?
There is a danger that Millennials may get so caught up in staying connected online that they may miss real-life lessons. Helping them develop emotional intelligence qualities such as self-awareness, introspection, empathy and empowerment may prove crucial in determining their future successes. For example, could we encourage them to set aside time to disconnect from technology, take time to meditate or reflect on the week, or perhaps take action in community service projects to build empathy and develop compassion for others?6
4
What do they look for in a job?
“Post-materialism” proponents—millennials tend to be less concerned about fulfilling basic needs as they have never had to worry about money.7 According to a 2011 Visa study, the “most endorsed life outlook” for Millennials aged 18-28 in Singapore was to enjoy the simple things in life.8 Yet, they have lofty career aspirations, often seeking overseas postings to developed countries, less so developing nations/ areas. Millennials are also more likely to “choose where they want to live, then find work there”.9
5
What are some of their professional qualities?
They can be high maintenance and high risk but also produce high output. They thrive in social environments, are good team players, multi-task well, know how to employ technology productively, focus on personal development, want accelerated paths to success, do not fear authority and demand “immediate gratification of making an immediate impact by doing meaningful work immediately.”10
YOUTH BITS 4
lennial?
eir attitudes, preferences,
6
Where do they hope to work?
Millennials still aspire to work at large multi-nationals, despite nearly 80% of students thinking of starting their own businesses.11 Here are the 2012 Top 10 employers that graduates most want to work for in Singapore:12
Rank
7
Company
1
2
Goldman Sachs
3
Singapore Airlines
4
J.P Morgan
5
Credit Suisse
6
Barclays
7
Deutsche Bank
8
Monetary Authority of Singapore
9
Singapore Tourism Board
10
Development Bank of Singapore
8
Are they altruistic?
Millennials have “heightened awareness of world issues, even if they do not act on it.” Up to 72.5% agreed they “felt strongly” on issues such as animal welfare and poverty, but only a third (32.1%) were actually doing something about it.14 With this snapshot, how might we engage and help develop our nation’s Millennials? By knowing their preferences, attitudes, leadership styles and preferences, plus the unique challenges that will continue to face them, what new ways of thinking or leading might we as educators consider adopting to better equip Millennials as leaders? Feel free to share your thoughts with us, including approaches that you have tried and their results, by emailing singapore@halogenfoundation.org. Karen Lee was a marketer in her past life and has lent her expertise to Halogen as a volunteer. She has a short attention span, but only because she loves new experiences like simulated skydiving, DJing and scuba diving.
What do they rate as important in their life?
Millennials view professional and career development, personal development and work-life balance as top consideration factors when applying to jobs.13 They expect to work longer hours at their first job, but also get paid more (S$3,157/month versus S$2,933 in 2010).
1 Talent and the Generations, Roffey Park 2 http://articles.businessinsider.com/2012-01-25/tech/30662019_1_mark-zuckerberg-andrewbosworth-facebook 3 “Generation what next?” By Serene Luo, Linette Lai, Nicholas Teo, The Straits Times, 25 Jul 2012 4 “Social, Digital and Mobile in Singapore,” We Are Social, December 2011. 5 “DPM Teo accepts student’s apology for blog post”, Channel NewsAsia, 8 Jun 2012. 6 Engaging the Millennials. By Bill George, Huffington Post Business, June 23, 2010. hOp://www. huffingtonpost.com/bill---george/engaging-the-millennials_b_623108.html 7 “Generation what next?” By Serene Luo, Linette Lai, Nicholas Teo, The Straits Times, 25 Jul 2012
8 Connecting with the Millennials - A Visa Study, 2011 9 “Generation what next?” By Serene Luo, Linette Lai, Nicholas Teo, The Straits Times, 25 Jul 2012 10 “How will millennials manage?” By Jim Heskett, Harvard Business School, 2 Aug 2007. 11 “Nearly 80% of students think of founding their own business”, Channel NewsAsia, 22 Aug 2012. 12 Singapore’s Ideal Employers 2012 Student Survey, Universum 13 “Singapore’s Top Employers for 2011,” AsiaOne, 17 Nov 2011 14 “Generation what next?” By Serene Luo, Linette Lai, Nicholas Teo, The Straits Times, 25 Jul 2012 15 Wikipedia.org
5 FEATURE
Future-Proofing our Young Leaders With the rapid pace of change in technology and our environment, what will the future look like in the next five years? Do we have the essential skills and mindset to tackle the fundamentals and remain relevant? H360 offers viewpoints from an educator, student, parent and working professional to four possible scenarios of the future
H360: Parents and educators alike often ask: “How can education change with the times, how do students cope with the increasing workload and what knowledge is key for the years ahead?” S. Manogaran, executive director of the Academy of Singapore Teachers shares why it is important to lay the foundation of a strong character, as education changes with the times.
S.Manogaran, currently the executive director of the Academy of Singapore Teachers, has been in the education service for more than 30 years. He has served as a school principal, cluster superintendent and the CEO of the Singapore Indian Development Association (SINDA), a self-help group.
“The empires of the future are the empires of the mind.” This was the prophesy of Sir Winston Churchill in a speech at Harvard University in 1943. And how right he was! From time immemorial, education has always been about developing the character, much less the mind. Witness the early schools started by the various religious organisations around the world throughout history. However, the Industrial Revolution in the mid-nineteenth century spawned the growth of schools as we know them today, dictated by the engineering philosophy of Frederick Taylor. Taylor’s principles of scientific management may still ring a bell or gongs of approval by some people. The modern school system, founded on the principles of efficiency and mass customisation, aimed to produce workers who could function efficiently, not necessarily effectively, on the factory floor. A good worker was one who complied with instructions and produced the necessary output to serve the profit motive of the company. You need not be a ‘thinking’ worker. Thinking was the preserve and privilege of the few leaders at the top who were known mysteriously as ‘management’. Fast forward to 2012. The political, economic, social and technological shifts over the last 50 years have created
FEATURE 6 havoc to how society was organised, led and educated. The twin drivers of globalisation and technology have had far greater impact on human society than at any time in history. Most fundamentally for education, the Taylorian principles now appear like the ruins in Greece and Rome— relics of the past to be studied by historians and to be preserved and admired in heritage centres! To navigate the challenges of the present and future work place, our students will require several qualities, chief among which include a strong sense of self confidence, self-directedness and a penchant to learn, relearn and upgrade their knowledge and skills. Above all, our students must be anchored in the ethos and values of integrity, trust and respect for others. It is interesting that in 2008, Howard Gardner published “5 Minds for the Future” where he focussed on three intellectual qualities: The Disciplinary, Synthesising and Creative Minds and two Character Minds: The Respectful and Ethical Minds. All that is expected of our students will apply to our teachers as well!
it is also equally unproductive to spend too much time thinking of the future. The danger of the latter lies in the fact that one can become too preoccupied with indulging in aimless thought or over-stressing oneself with regards to future predicaments. I have decided that I will cross the bridge when I get to it. A friend once commented that I should not burn myself out while trying to get things done. According to her, I have my entire life to do what I love. The future will, in due time, descend upon us. Mankind has much to be exhilarated about. As we move further into the 21st century, the rapid growth of scientific discoveries and sporting achievements will continue, with technological advancement promising medical cures, greater international cooperation leading to potential solutions for our collective problems, and a plethora of other possibilities. In order to embrace and be part of our collective future, we should be rooted in and live in the present, focussing on the now, which inevitably serves as priming for the future. I am excited.
Churchill and Gardner may have lived at different times but they definitely agree on the importance of the power of knowledge, built on the foundation of strong character.
H360: Many questions confront the youth of today, chief among them are: “What do I want to be when I grow up? and “how do I get there?” A Halogen Foundation volunteer, 17-year-old Jamie Seah from Hwa Chong Institution, shares her aspirations and philosophy for the future.
Jamie Seah is a 17-year-old student in Hwa Chong Institution. She is an avid aficionado of tennis and superheroes, and takes interest in poetry plus climate change and hunger advocacy.
Many a time I have ruminated upon the future—my university and career prospects, places that I have yet to visit with my family, and above all, whether I will possess the capability in a year’s time to conquer the ‘A’ level examinations. To be entirely honest, I have no idea where I am headed in a few years’ time. The future is a behemoth, no doubt, and I am certainly apprehensive. I have found myself wishing for time to speed up and propel me into college-hood, lamenting the vast differences between life now and the relatively more enjoyable days of before. But upon further deliberation, I have come to the conclusion that it is pointless to dwell on the past, but
H360: What are the essential skills-set for the future and how do we handle the challenges of a fast-paced digital world that has made convergence the buzzword for most of us? Nick Pan, a tech-savvy father of three children aged two to 10, believes that starting web literacy from young has its advantages.
Nick Pan has been building websites since 1996 and is currently providing strategic solutions in a digital marketing agency. Together with his wife Pearl, they are parents to 3 daughters. You can find him at http://nickpan.com.
I used to learn about new songs from the radio, television or from the cool friends I have in school, but nowadays I am learning about them from my kids. “Prince Tag” from Jessie J, “Super Bass” from Nicki Minaj and “1000 Years” from Christina Perri just to name a few. The best part is that my 10-year-old daughter Clié learnt about these popular songs from kids just like her doing covers on YouTube from another part of the world. The future is arriving faster than we know it and the world is getting smaller, much smaller. This hyper-connected world is the only world our kids know about. To my 2-year-
7 FEATURE old Clara, Elmo lives in every smartphone, tablet, desktop, laptop and even our television at home. Sometimes I ask: Are our kids ready for it? How do we go about teaching them web literacy? I still have friends believing online scams like the one where Starbucks was supposedly giving out $100 vouchers on Facebook. How will our kids be able to discern what is real and what is not? More importantly, how do we get them to stay away from the bad online neighbourhood? We cannot wait for mainstream web literacy classes for children to happen. It will be too late. As a parent, I feel that other than teaching the basics like spelling on a weekly basis, we should also spend time teaching our children how to access the rich source of information that is available online. It is as integral as learning how to use a pen, how to read and how to count money. My 8-year-old daughter Cleo loves watching kids on YouTube play with their toys and making stories with them. It is just like how we used to play when we were young, but with the addition of undersea internet cables, videography skills, and post-production know how, etc. So in the very near future, the skill-sets our kids should have might not be the ones we currently think they need. Right now for my kids, I think knowing how to use the Internet is important and eventually I would want to teach them how to start creating digital content and sharing them online.
H360: Young professionals in the workplace are learning to manoeuvre themselves in a workforce that is fluid and many consider changing their jobs within two to three years. How can one cope with workforce mobility coupled with knowledge transfer that moves as quickly? Soon Sze-Meng, regional director of Cross Border Business, APCEMEA, Visa Worldwide Pte Ltd shares some key lessons.
Soon Sze-Meng is a regional director in Visa Inc focussing on the cross-border business for its Asia-Pacific, Central Europe, Middle East and Africa markets. He previously worked in McKinsey & Co. and Monitor Group in the United States, China, India and South East Asia covering the consumer finance, retail and packaged goods industries. He has been a board member at Halogen Foundation Singapore since 2009.
Change in the corporate world has accelerated with increased interactions across markets and industries. To adapt to changes of work scope and responsibilities working in small, large, local or global companies, you have to learn constantly, build relationships and lead adeptly. First, learn constantly. An updated industry or functional knowledge is critical to contribute effectively. The pace of learning continues after school, and for some, accelerates. Someone who made the effort to learn faster and then apply the knowledge in the workplace is always valued. Learn because you are curious and want to do a better job. For example, a successful senior marketing leader must now be an expert in social media even though the Internet did not exist when she first started work! Second, build relationships. Build respectful professional relationships with your team members and peers, but also outside your team and with more junior and senior colleagues. Some will become life-long friends. Take the first step and reach out. Lunch is too precious to just eat on your own or with your team all the time. I learnt that people do not care how much you know until they know how much you care. If you want to go far, you have to bring others along. But to bring others along, you must first know what excites them. Third, lead adeptly. Lead by doing well in current tasks, but also actively find areas where there are gaps in leadership. For example, if there is a new need to coordinate well with another department and no one else is doing so, then step up and develop the process to do so. Why wait? Practise situational leadership by adapting your leadership and management approach for different personalities and situations. Everyone is different. Therefore, be adaptable. If you want to take up more responsibilities, do learn constantly, build relationships and lead adeptly, because you can be sure that there will always be changes in the corporate world.
TEACHER’S TOOLKIT 8
What Key Competencies Do Youth Need to Thrive in the 21st Century? Is your school’s leadership framework effective? Find out with the Youth Leadership Indicator Survey By Sean Kong
What are the key drivers that will shape the landscape of the future workforce? This is a key question facing many educators and employers. How can we adequately prepare our young people with the necessary skill sets and qualities for the future workforce? The Institute for the Future, a research center based in Palo Alto California and specialising in long-term forecasting and quantitative futures research methods, embarked on a study which identified key factors that will shape that future landscape: 1. Extreme longevity: Increasing global lifespans change the nature of careers and learning 2. Rise of smart machines and systems: Workplace robotics nudge human workers out of rote, repetitive tasks 3. Computational world: Massive increase in sensors and processing power make the world a programmable system 4. New media ecology: New communication tools require new media literacies beyond text 5. Superstructured organisations: Social technologies drive new forms of productions and value creation 6. Globally-connected world: Increased global interconnectivity puts diversity and adaptability at the center of organisational operation. In order to excel in the new landscape, relevant skill sets will be required. Are our current leadership development frameworks impactful and effective? To find out, Halogen is pioneering a tool—the Youth Leadership Indicator Survey (YLIS). In partnership with the Centre for Creative Leadership (CCL®) and National Youth Council, we are creating a benchmark survey that seeks to support your school’s quest to: • Identify key leadership competencies • Measure the current impact of your leadership programmes • Assess your current leadership development framework for the future With that as the backdrop, Halogen conducted several focus group discussions with employers, managers and senior education officers to find out which qualities they believe are essential to excel in the future workforce. The focus group
discussions resulted in selecting 35 qualities essential for young people to thrive; having these 35 qualities would not just make them a good future worker, but also a good future leader. With these 35 qualities, we approached the Centre for Creative Leadership. They devised a survey tool, the YLIS, to assess how each student fares on each of the qualities. This survey was then filled in by almost 600 youths aged 13 – 18. From the data collected, we found that the five qualities youths see their strengths in are embracing multiculturalism, integrity, respect, learning from mistakes and humility. The five qualities they see themselves weakest in are in managing ethical dilemmas, critical thinking, handling criticism, patience and pressure. They were also differences in how boys and girls ranked their self-perceived qualities. From the findings, we see that boys perceive themselves to be significantly stronger in communication, delegation, drive, global awareness and resilience. Girls, on the other hand, perceive themselves to be stronger in authenticity, collaboration, motivating others, responsibility and role modelling. These findings are just preliminary and help to give insight into what students perceive to be their own strengths and weakness in terms of these future qualities. Further studies are being conducted to further validate these data points. In its current form, the YLIS serves as a data collection tool which will contribute a larger sample size to the study. Schools that wish to contribute their students’ responses to aid in this study are welcome to do so. In return, a report will be generated for the school, highlighting the top and bottom qualities and the major differences by age and gender. We hope the report will give insights as to how their school is helping to develop their students in terms of these essential qualities, as much as it would help in furthering our cause for developing a robust assessment tool that teachers can use in the near future. If you would like to participate as a school, share any thoughts or be part of our research development group, we welcome you to email us at singapore@halogenfoundation.org. Sean Kong is the Head of Lab at Halogen, overseeing research, curriculum and training development. Apart from loving youths, he loves the outdoors and adventure. His dream is to sail across the Indian Ocean.
9 OPINION
Innovating or Educatin
The answer might just be both, says Dep By Adam Gilmore
The rocket that first sent humans to the moon was not developed by engineers who dreamt of and prepared for such work their entire lives. Rather, the moon was a celestial body, for which walking on it seemed unfathomable just 10 years before Armstrong’s first steps. Not all innovators of the future, however, will have the will of their nation behind them in pursuit of something extraordinary. But innovators of tomorrow will be the first to benefit from the titanic shift in information accessibility we witnessed in the last 15 years. Accessing the information is only the first step, however. Learning how to apply that information effectively can be the difference that will change the landscape of society in ways we cannot even imagine. Innovators are Tinkerers. Today, learning a wide range of skill-sets is at our fingertips. Want to learn how to repair your car? Go to your favorite auto repair blog. Want to learn how to diagnose your medical symptoms? Go to WebMD. Want to learn engineering? Go to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) OpenCourseWare. Where do you and your students go to learn innovation? Innovation is not a skill that is easily learned from others. It does not have to come from a “market need” and it shouldn’t be expected to come from a meeting space designed to foster innovation. If you look at the backgrounds of history’s most famous innovators, you find curious individuals motivated to teach themselves. Their learning style almost always involved an intense ‘field’ application; the learning and the doing were practically synonymous.
Can we teach this type of behaviour? I believe we can, but not through a short course or a simple read. Rather, it is a culture that can be developed if we consciously decide to do so. Formal Education Can Teach Innovation. I believe education should place less emphasis on the traditional factual-based learning and more on application-based learning. Students do not rely exclusively on their teachers for complex subject matter anymore than patients rely exclusively on their doctors for diagnosing symptoms. Rather, they can and do find supplemental information much more efficiently than any generation before. So educators have to change their focus as well.
RIGHT: Believing in science as a tool for diplomacy, Adam has inspired children to take interest in engineering and technology-based careers, both locally and internationally. Using locally available materials and interactive studentled demonstrations, Adam has taught over 11,000 children in Nepal, India and the Philippines alone.
OPINION 10
Education ng Innovation
puty Branch Manager at NASA, Adam Gilmore
Educators should place a larger emphasis on the tangible application of information in the classroom rather than the information itself. In contrast with homework focused on practicing classroom material, homework should shift toward more guided self-learning. Accordingly, “classroom” time should have more focus on the application of that learning. This means more time in labs, from horticulture to chemistry to biology to information technology to mathematics. More time in long-term projects. More time persuading. More time running a mock business. More time investigating. More time planning. More time interacting with the community. More time learning to be an innovator.
Isaac Newton once said, “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants”. Never before have so many people had such an opportunity to build upon the work of our predecessors and present day peers. The Internet age has given us unprecedented access to information. It is on us to apply that information and foster widespread innovation in ways we cannot even comprehend. Perhaps by the time I retire, I will be able take a morning stroll on the surface of Mars, have lunch near the rings of Saturn, and return to my Texas home in time for dinner.
Educators should be place a larger emphasis on the tangible application of information in the classroom rather than information itself.
above: Adam interacting with children at an event he organised, the NASA Science Caravan, where he travelled throughout the Philippines in 2010 for two weeks to inspire children in about 20 schools to take an interest in math and science.
Adam Gilmore works for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, USA. As NASA is looking to commercialise its astronaut transport services to the International Space Station, Adam currently leads a team in assessing one company’s viability. Previously, he was a Division Chief Engineer in the Space Shuttle programme, a role he held until the Space Shuttle’s final flight in 2011. He also worked closely with NASA’s international partners during the construction of the International Space Station.
11 HALOGEN HAPPENINGS
Leaders Building Lea
Polytechnic students receive a one-week apprenticeship in leadership, busin By Darlene Uy
ABOVE: BizAcademy participants with their mentors and panel members who judged their business plan which addressed the issue of revisitorship at the social entreprise, Dialog
In times past, young men learned trades from masters. The apprentices shadowed their teachers for years, sometimes one-to-one, learning the secrets to becoming successful in their craft. Apprenticeships with renowned masters were highly treasured, and apprentices in turn worked hard to prove their worth. In today’s world, the formal education system has largely replaced this. How then does one learn things that are not written in textbooks? How does one get started in business without important connections? Aiming to give a leg up to youths, BizAcademy Singapore was conducted on 11–15 June this year. The weeklong programme was an apprenticeship in business, leadership and technology. Since 2005, Salesforce Foundation has seen more than 300 BizAcademy graduates all over the world— from San Francisco to Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, London and other cities. This year marked a re-launch of BizAcademy in Singapore, with Halogen Foundation Singapore co-organising it with Salesforce Foundation. salesforce.com, named by Forbes magazine as the Most Innovative Company in the World in 2011, is a leader in cloud computing. For this programme, ten polytechnic students were selected after a screening and interview process. Seven were from Nanyang Polytechnic, two from Temasek Polytechnic, and one from Singapore Polytechnic. Throughout the five days, they learned about Marketing, Sales, Strategic Planning, and Finance from salesforce. com employees as well as external speakers such as TK Ng (entrepreneur and president, Side Effects Software
Asia Pacific), So-Young Kang (CEO, The Awaken Group) and Mark Wee (director, ONG&ONG). With the theme of “Go Social!”, the apprentices also heard from social entrepreneurs Lee Min Xuan (co-founder, Playmoolah), Glen Ng (general manager, Dialogue in the Dark Singapore) and Shaun Koh (chief troublemaker, Syinc) on the thrills and challenges of running a social enterprise. Complementing the business knowledge with leadership lessons, Martin Tan, (co-founder and executive director) and Jael Chng (head, Social) from Halogen Foundation shared about the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership and what the future looks like for these young leaders.
LEFT: Co-Founder of Playmoolah, Lee Min Xuan, sharing about her experience as an entrepreneur.
Playing the part of mentors to the apprentices, ten salesforce.com employees volunteered and dedicated their time, experience and expertise to give the students a peek into the real workplace and business world. This culminated in the apprentices drafting a business plan for Dialogue in the Dark Singapore which they
HALOGEN HAPPENINGS 12
aders
ness and technology with Salesforce Foundation at BizAcademy
gue in the Dark.
presented to a panel comprising of top executives from the business and non-profit arenas. They were Bill Padfield (CEO, Dimension Data Asia-Pacific), Yang Cher Ming (CIO, NatSteel Holdings), Bernise Ang (founder, Syinc), Martin Tan (co-founder and executive director, Halogen Foundation Singapore), Lynette Seah (vice-president, Finance and Strategy, saleforce.com Asia-Pacific) and Zakir Ahmed (vice-preisdent, Corporate Sales, salesforce. com Asia-Pacific). At the end, participant Nur Khaliesah Subhi summed her learning experience by saying, “I used to be a really shy person. I don’t really mingle around with friends. But after this programme, I can see that I’ve been more confident, I talk to people, and I feel great about it! Also, I’ve always wanted to start up my own business but I really don’t know how or where to start. This programme has showed me how, such as by having a vision and prototype, and looking at finance and budgets. One thing I’m afraid of is failure. But though this programme, I’ve been taught that failure is a point to success. So I’m now more brave. I’ll try again and again till I succeed.”
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Having all the talks conducted by various speakers from different industries really helped a lot in this programme. Most of the time you can only have a chance to participate in it when there are seminars or speeches, but here at BizAcademy you really do get to know them, hearing stories from them… They were all inspiring in their own ways and they taught me a lot about what it takes to be a real social entrepreneur. Miss Lee Min Xuan’s sharing of life experiences made me realise that the best things in life can be done when you’re still young… Definitely inspired me to go out there and change the world!
There were times I thought I couldn’t do it, I wanted to quit, but no… That’s the purpose of why I am here, that’s the intention that put me here today. I want to do the challenge, I want to learn from the challenge. It is true things were intense and we don’t really have much time to make it perfect and flawless. But we nailed it!
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Vaishnavi Naidu, BizAcademy apprentice from Singapore Polytechnic
RIGHT: Each apprentice had a salesforce.com staff as a mentor who guided them through the week by answering queries and helping them understand more about the business world.
Darlene Joy Uy is passionate about educating young leaders through the Halogen Academy. She is an avid reader so chances are, you’ll find her with her Kindle.
13 TEACHER’S TOOLKIT
Challenge The Process How can teachers encourage their students to think ahead? By Sean Kong
“Singapore students lack drive and the willingness to try new things to succeed.” These were the comments by Minister Heng Swee Keat on his observations of how employers felt of Singapore students, soon after he became the Minister of Education (MOE). With this insight, MOE embarked on introducing “Critical and Inventive Thinking” as one of the components of the 21st Century Competencies and Desired Student Outcomes since 2010.
How can teachers nurture a culture and mindset of Challenging the Process? Teachers can help by generating small wins in these ways: • • •
Being able to think differently to come up with creative solutions is one of the skill-sets that employers look for in their workforce. Leadership gurus James Kouzes and Barry Posner have conducted over 20 years of research and found this to be one of the key practices to being an effective leader. Through the years of research, they developed The Leadership Challenge® which espouses The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership®, which is a key leadership training tool that Halogen Foundation Singapore has been coaching students and teachers in. The practice encompassing coming up with creative solutions is what they call the practice of Challenging the Process. It is explained in the two following commitments: 1. Search for opportunities by taking initiative and by looking outward for innovative ways to improve. 2. Experiment and take risks by generating small wins and learning from experience. Challenging the Process is not just about creative thinking. It is about challenging conventional assumptions, finding solutions to problems from various arenas outside of their expertise, experimenting and taking risks, learning from mistakes, and ultimately finding new ways and ideas of doing old things in a more creative yet efficient way. In order for students to practice Challenging the Process, they need to be in an environment which they feel is safe to take risks, make mistakes and learn from them. Teachers play an integral role in cultivating such an environment to nurture the appetite of students to dare to take risks, fail, and learn from failure. Students need people who trust them, strong and supportive relationships, a nonjudgmental attitude amongst peers, and the celebrating of small successes.
• • • •
Break down big problems into small, doable pieces Make a model version of what you are trying to do so you can see whether it will work Keep things simple even when visions can be grand Do the easy parts first. Help the group discover that they can do it. Accumulate “yes”es. Ask for agreement to do the first thing, then the second, and so on. Experiment. Try, fail, learn, and then try again Celebrate. When you reach milestones, take the time to congratulate one another.
By generating small wins, the cost and consequences of failure is reduced and students will be more willing to experiment and try new things. When we equip students to Challenge the Process, they will be equipped with a valuable leadership practice that experts agree is a muchneeded quality to excel in the workforce of the future.
Students need people who trust them, strong and supportive relationships, a non-judgmental attitude amongst peers, and the celebrating of small successes. An interesting activity that can be done for all age groups (including teachers) to teach how Challenging the Process works, is the Marshmallow Challenge. One of the key learning outcomes for this activity is that of challenging assumptions. This activity is simple, inexpensive, yet fun for crowds of all ages. For more information, slide presentations on debriefing the Marshmallow Challenge, or a debriefing video, visit http://marshmallowchallenge. com. Have fun!
PARTNERSHIPS 14
*SCAPE Underground
The Retail Entrepreneurship Programme @ *SCAPE for local entrepreneurs By Darrel Kon
*SCAPE, in partnership with DBS Remix, officially launched *SCAPE Underground on 20 October 2012, the latest youth development programme by *SCAPE. It is a new entrepreneurship programme that aims to engage and develop the aspiring entrepreneurial youths of Singapore. *SCAPE Underground is the latest addition to *SCAPE’s landscape to provide opportunities for youth entrepreneurs to craft a name for their lifestyle and fashion brands rights at the heart of Orchard Road. Why is there a need for this? This is what both Halogen and *SCAPE believe are important: Entrepreneurship. We believe entrepreneurs need to be effective leaders in order to build an organisation from the ground up. Whether you see yourself as an entrepreneur or not, nurturing an entrepreneurial mindset which looks for opportunities, dares to take risks and try, is important. The Retail Entrepreneurship Programme @ *SCAPE is a unique business training programme offered to all tenants of *SCAPE Underground. It provides young local entrepreneurs the opportunity to interact with and learn from established retail entrepreneurs. In this programme, *SCAPE is partnering with several educational institutions to provide aspiring local entrepreneurs an extraordinary experience of being able to pursue an education in retail and entrepreneurship while running their own business. Also, as an integrated “work and study” programme, the hours of the educational seminars are customised so as to not interfere with the business hours of the budding local entrepreneurs. It is ideal for those looking for a place to take their latest creations from online shops and bazaars to the real shopping world. A fine example is Rocket, one of the tenants at *SCAPE Underground. Rocket is a fashion collaboration between four students (Josiah Chua, Serene Lin, Grace Supandy and Catherine Chew) from LASALLE College of the Arts. Led and conceptualised by Josiah, Rocket aims to introduce vibrant, refreshing and youthful merchandise through their own designs. Rocket is one of the two winners of the DBS Remix
Innovative Business Award, a competition jointly organised by *SCAPE and DBS Remix. Josiah is driven by his passion for design and actively participates in design competitions. At the 2012 Triumph Inspirational Award, Josiah came up tops with his unique creation titled “Punkcelain”. He went on to represent Singapore in the international round held in Shanghai in October. Being one of the top students in LASALLE’s fashion design course, Josiah was a natural choice by his lecturers to take up a shop space in *SCAPE Underground. Excited by the opportunity to showcase his designs and propelled by the energy of a youth entrepreneur, Josiah approached three of his friends to come together to launch Rocket. Ms Lynette Lee, Managing Director of *SCAPE Co. Ltd., shared: “We hope to give our young entrepreneurs a place to grow their business ideas at *SCAPE through our ecosystem of facilities, programmes and partners. We understand that entrepreneurship is a tough journey and yet a passion for some of Singapore’s youths. *SCAPE is all about empowering our young people to express their individuality and to embrace their passions and interest, and we wish to be able to give our entrepreneurs a good start at *SCAPE.” For more enquiries or information on *SCAPE Underground, please visit www.scape.com.sg/underground. Darrel Kon is a Project Director at *SCAPE. He spearheaded *SCAPE’s youth retail entrepreneurship programme. *SCAPE is a non-profit organisation dedicated to create an environment to engage youths and develop interest group youth leaders who will come forward, take charge and find solutions to pursue their dreams and ambitions, while working with people from both the private and public sectors. *SCAPE is constantly looking for ways to engage and develop youths, growing and nurturing the talent of Singapore’s future. With *SCAPE Underground, *SCAPE wants to be an Incubation Hub to provide the physical space and programmes for training budding entrepreneurs and supporting local designers. Since the middle of this year, Halogen has had the opportunity to partner with *SCAPE, a fellow non-profit organisation dedicated to creating an environment to engage youths and develop interest group youth leaders who will come forward, take charge and find solutions to pursue their dreams and ambitions, while working with people from both the private and public sectors. Apart from occupying an office space on the fifth floor of *SCAPE at Orchard Link, we partner *SCAPE closely in co-marketing and business development initiatives, such as conducting on-premise workshops for educators and youths. Straits Times, 25 Jul 2012