Symposium on the Economics of Ignorance
Symposium on the Economics of Ignorance
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2021
03h00 to 07h00 and 13h00 to 17h00 EDT (New York time)
LDA partners with The Hale Center to offer The Symposium on Economics of Ignorance.
The Symposium was inspired by Veronika Shestakova’s research and presentations on Machiavelli’s book The Prince and the cost of ignorance in terms of the inability to innovate. She proposed the Symposium as a venue for discussion on the economic implications of ignorance, drive discussions among international learning and development leaders, and develop methods for bridging the skills gap in the workforce and the wealth gap in societies.
The Symposium is original in content and approach. It is the second event designed to convene professionals in training, organizational development, and performance improvement to address the economic implications of ignorance. A major cost of ignorance is a workforce unable to think critically, innovate, and adapt to changing demands. A consequence or long-term impact are nations unable to compete on the world stage and a society unable to sustain itself.
The Symposium is also unique in its approach. Unlike other forums that feature a series of speakers, the Symposium will use skilled facilitators to interview experts and thought leaders from business, the military, social service organizations, and academia and then guide discussions among attendees about the implications of the information shared. The outputs are actionable ideas. The intent is to provide a platform for engaging leaders with a broad scale of perspectives than those typically offered by other venues.
The Symposium is global. While sessions are not repeated, all are recorded for attendee viewing post-conference. And the program is split into two parts. The first half is scheduled to align with European, African, Asian, and Australian timezones. The second half is aligned with the Americas and their respective timezones. But all attendees are welcome to attend all sessions or watch via the recordings.
Invited speakers and facilitators represent a wide range of perspectives that include diversity in geography, industry, and purpose. They will share their research findings, best practices, successes, and failures. Program facilitators will guide attendees in discussing the implications and feasibility of the actions.
Program Agenda and Presenters
WHY A SYMPOSIUM ON IGNORANCE?
How does ignorance of how climate change, poverty, education, inclusion, healthcare, and other global challenges impact learning and development professionals? How can L&D impact these problems? Too often we avoid this conversation because there are political implications for doing so. This made sense in the past, but no longer. Ignoring ignorance is just feeding many of these continuing world-wide issues.
L&D is on the from-lines. We have the greatest opportunity beyond our schools to have a positive effect on how people think and consider the world around them. We also have a responsibility to foster good critical thinking skills and evidence-based approaches to learning.
This Symposium explores how better rigor in thinking and more accountability among those of us in a position to teach critical thinking can change the world for the better. Each speaker explores a specific global challenge and how we can think about that problem from a multi-disciplinary and critical perspective. We then will engage in how we can apply what the speaker shared practically to each of your own worlds.
WHO IS THE SYMPOSIUM FOR?
You, if you want to shape the conversation. This is not about politics. It is about our being prepared to guide the conversation. Events over the past two years magnified our global interdependence, the power and threat of technology, the pervasiveness of institutionalized ignorance, and the clout of social media. We are witnessing a war on science and critical thinking. Talking about Post-Covid is still a long way off and growth at any cost can no longer be the goal. We must help others comprehend the social, environmental, and economic forces that are shaping the global marketplace. But it begins with us, otherwise we will be left out of the conversation.
WHY TWO PARTS?
The Symposium occurs in one day, but it is in two parts to better enable participation by a global audience. The whole program is virtual and live. It is also recorded. Both parts will have speakers addressing this year's themes; however, the specific content and speakers will be different.
LAST YEAR'S TOPICS:
Rotary's 4-way test: Is it true? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build good will and better friendships? Is it beneficial to all concerned?
The Coast Guard's findings on how technology and social media affect critical thinking.
How innovation is the new currency.
How companies establish and maintain a culture of collaboration that fosters innovation.
Hale Associates specializes in performance improvement focusing on evidence-based certification and credentialing, performance-based curriculum, measurement and evaluation, and sustaining initiatives. Hale consults with corporations and credentialing agencies on the design and validation of programs and standards used to qualify people and learning products. Hale's processes are documented and recognized for being comprehensive and practical.
Hale's team explain complex ideas so people understand their relevance. They have developed useful models for implementing new programs, identifying organizational needs, defining and assessing competencies, and integrating performance management with learning and development. They work with Senior Leaders, Human Resources, Training, Facilities, Purchasing, and other staff functions to help them align their processes and services with those of the larger organization.