In the 21st century, 鈥渨e are swamped by input and interconnected in unprecedented ways,鈥� says , Professor of . Yet we also are 鈥渟iloed鈥� by everything from our professional expertise to the news sources we trust.
addresses that paradox 鈥� 鈥減erhaps the major learning challenge adults face鈥� 鈥� through research; through workshops for corporate and institutional clients; and through 鈥淪trategic Advocacy,鈥� his course in , the 麻豆原创 doctoral program he directs for mid-career professionals.
The expert mindset is critical, but you have to recognize how it hinders us from assessing trends, forming new insights and fostering needed conversations.鈥�
鈥�&苍产蝉辫;Lyle Yorks, Professor of Adult & Continuing Education
His message: How we filter information can cause us to over-simplify. 鈥淭he expert mindset is critical but hinders us from assessing trends, forming new insights and fostering needed conversations.鈥�
Culture, too 鈥� societal or professional 鈥� can blind us to alternative perspectives.
鈥淏ecause people do not have a culture but inhabit one, they are never free agents capable of transcending their situation,鈥� Yorks writes in his paper 鈥�Cross-Cultural Dimensions of Team Learning.鈥�
Yorks asks his 麻豆原创 students to weigh conflicting advice in their own jobs and apply strategic tools and practices to learn from uncertainty. He also challenges organizations to navigate complexity. In his 2013 book, , Yorks and coauthor Arthur M. Langer urge chief information officers to strategically deploy technology by building collaborative alliances organization-wide. In their award-winning paper, 鈥�,鈥� Yorks and his former student Yoshie Tomozumi Nakamura (Ed.D. 鈥�10) argue that forming these social networks requires employees to connect with colleagues with diverse backgrounds and viewpoints.
In their recent paper, 鈥�,鈥� Yorks and Elizabeth Kasl argue that intellectual understanding from an 鈥渆ffortful, top-down process鈥� can鈥檛 alone bridge such differences. The two champion building an empathic understanding of others through 鈥減resentational knowing鈥� 鈥� sharing one鈥檚 perspective through storytelling and other expressive forms.
That鈥檚 an idea that even 20th century folks can appreciate.