When done right, it brings impressive business outcomes. However, according to McKinsey, 70% of all digital transformation initiatives do not reach their goals. Most leaders know that tech is essential to business but don't know what they really need to know about technology to succeed in the digital age. Leaders don't need to learn code to succeed. Instead, they need to learn how to work with people who code. It means becoming a digital collaborator and learning how to work with developers, data scientists, user experience designers and product managers.

Digital transformation is everywhere

Most ambitious leaders are working under severe time constraints.  The best return on your time investment is to become a digital collaborator. Learn how to get a holistic view of how a software product is made and who does what on a tech team.

A digital collaborator

Non-digital professionals often don’t know that some problems can be solved easily by technology as they’ve never discussed them with a technologist. The best way to learn anything quickly is to put yourself in a situation where not doing it is not an option. Set up a weekly meeting with technical specialists and your team to discuss what they’re working on and how it impacts scale, efficiency, and customer satisfaction. This conversation will lay the foundation for effective collaboration.

Remove choice

There is a persistent myth of coders creating a billion-dollar company in a garage. However, there are ample examples of non-technical professionals that drive technological change. <ul><li>Non-technical founders like Katrina Lake of Stitch Fix and Brian Chesky of Airbnb have created innovations and massive shareholder value driven by technology.</li><li>Liberal arts graduate Colin Beirne helped found Two Sigma Ventures.</li><li>Bruce Daisley started his career selling radio advertising but helped take Twitter global as its vice president for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.</li></ul>

Learn how other people did it

The biggest difference between how technical and non-technical teams work:<ul><li>Technical teams iterate and learn. They test a hypothesis rather than create a perfect end product for a customer. </li><li>Non-technical teams focus on perfection. </li></ul>This difference can create tensions and misunderstandings. Non-technical teams want to discuss and plan every feature for every possible outcome, which will frustrate technical teams, who want to “move fast and break things.”Thinking in terms of experimentation within a time frame and budget can help in digital innovation.

Understand different working styles

You only need about 30% fluency in a handful of technical topics to develop your digital mindset.<ul><li>Learn core tech terminology. Understand the difference between acquiring digital context versus digital fluency. </li><li>Concepts such as user-centric design, APIs, and cloud computing are often not understood by non-technical leaders. Taking a course is a great way to invest in your leadership capital.</li></ul>

Learn concepts rather than skills

While most leaders now know that tech is a vital part of business, many are wondering what they really need to know about technology to succeed in the digital age. Coding bootcamps may appeal to some, but for many leaders, learning to code is simply not the best investment. It takes a long time to become a proficient coder, and it still doesn’t give you a holistic overview of how digital technologies get made. The good news is that most leaders don’t need to learn to code. Instead, they need to learn how to work with people who code. This means becoming a digital collaborator and learning how to work with developers, data scientists, user experience designers, and product managers — not completely retraining. The author presents four ways for non-technical leaders to become digital collaborators.

education

Learning & Education

computerscience

Computer Science

Coding Isn’t a Necessary Leadership Skill — But Digital Literacy Is

There is a growing emphasis on social responsibility. Several recent studies found that consumers are less likely to buy from brands they believe are unethical and more likely to consider organisational values in their purchasing decisions.

Consumers support ethical brands

Organisations that establish a code of conduct but don't provide ethics training are unlikely to see much behavioural change. Advantages of ethics training for employees:<ul><li>Trust and enhanced teamwork among employees  </li><li>A stronger, organization-wide sense of responsibility for dealing fairly with customers, suppliers, and service providers </li><li>A positive organizational culture with enhanced employee morale</li><li>Loyalty from consumers who value and reward ethical business practices</li><li>A better brand reputation and the avoidance of costly scandals or litigation </li></ul>

Ethics is about making integrity-based decisions

<ul><li>Unethical behaviour can have a real financial impact on an organisation. More than half of the largest corporate bankruptcies were the result of unethical business practices.</li><li>Having a reputation of unethical business practices can hinder an organisation to attract and retain talent.</li><li>82% of professionals say they'd take a lower-paying job to work for an organization with more ethical business practices.</li></ul>

Unethical behaviour has a financial impacts

Organizational ethics involves making individual and group decisions within the boundaries of organizational values and guidelines. Ethics training typically covers the following topics:<ul><li>The organization’s code of conduct and cultural values</li><li>Common ethical dilemmas</li><li>The ethics of customer relations</li><li>Diversity training topics</li><li>Data privacy and protection </li><li>Regulatory and compliance requirements</li><li>Ethical employment practices</li></ul>

Developing ethics training for employees

Ethics must first be fostered by leaders. Ethics training can help leaders become more open-minded and receptive to employees' concerns. It can train them to:<ul><li>Lead in a way that shows trust and models accountability</li><li>Foster a culture of integrity and ethical conduct</li><li>Communicate the company's values</li><li>Notice the signs of a toxic workplace, such as bullying and harassment  </li></ul>

Ethics training best practices

Offering ethics training for employees at all levels helps them develop the capacity to assess a situation and act with integrity.

philosophy

Philosophy

corporateculture

Corporate Culture

How to develop effective ethics training for employees

LeBron worked for his strength, agility, impeccable history of injury avoidance, and an outstanding 54% field goal percentage during his 14th NBA season. Athletes train. Musicians train. Performers train. But knowledge workers don’t.

Knowledge Workers Should Imitate Athletes

Similar to how LeBron structures his training to win NBA championships, knowledge workers should train to build skills, complete projects, and increase their productive power. Armed with an effective system, we’ll learn faster and have more fun doing it.Even among the most ambitious individuals, learning plans are rare. Most people are reactive. They don’t plan. Like surfers in a violent ocean, they surrender to their environment.

WHAT DOES A LEARNING PLAN LOOK LIKE?

Start by writing down a positive vision for your future. Learn in three-month sprints and commit to a new learning project every quarter.Even the longest projects are simply a collection of short-term tasks. Knowing that you should break down the project into daily increments, and create a series of daily and weekly goals to learn the skills required to complete the project.

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO? 

Build a video game for yourself. Like a game, productive projects have multiple levels.Follow the Goldilocks Principle: not too easy, not too hard. The learning project needs to be challenging enough to demand focus, but easy enough to make consistent progress. You can then enter the optimal state of learning.If you get stuck, “video game” is too hard. When this happens, you should stop. Work on a smaller step or retreat to a manageable challengeShare your learnings, it's the best way to speed up your feedback loops,which will help you learn faster and improve based on the feedback you receive

Daniel Gross’ framework for learning

The more you learn, the easier it is to learn. Pick the right projects, and you’ll develop a personal network effect, where each new skill increases the value of skills you already have. 

David shares why athletes should be your inspiration for learning. Read here.

Learn Like an Athlete

Every time we are thrown into any type of uncertainty, we’re forced to use time and energy to figure things out, making sense of what is entirely new. This is required whether the shift is deliberate (you decide to make a change in your life), or if it’s thrown upon us (a layoff or a global pandemic, for example). Our ability to move through and continue to perform optimally during these times is grounded in the attributes that we bring to the table — not necessarily our skills.

During times of uncertainty, our skills often take a back seat

Trust is more than an emotion. It’s a belief, and belief is an emotion that has been rationalized or justified. To believe anything, we must decide to do so. We cannot make anyone trust us. All we can do is behave in a way that allows that person to decide to trust us.Empathy, accountability, and authenticity are not skills that we are taught and learn; they are attributes that we develop. While a lot of the skills that we define as performance can be seen, measured, tested and scored, the attributes that build trust are hidden and hard to see.

Trust is built on attributes, not skills

You can’t learn and develop attributes the same way that you do a skill. To develop an attribute takes self-motivation, self-direction, and a willingness by that person to develop that attribute. When you are building a team, it’s more important to find the people who have the attributes you need rather than the skill. If the person has the right attributes, you can always teach them the skill.

Skills can be taught, but attributes must be developed

The measure of true top performers is often not taken when things are going great — it’s assessed when things go wrong.When the plan changes, the environment shifts, everything starts to unravel. This is how we judge our best performers. And the ability to still perform in these situations is not just about the skills. It’s very difficult, if not impossible, to apply a known skill to an unknown situation. This is when we lean on our attributes. Things like adaptability, perseverance, open-mindedness, and patience are what get us through when we are trying to perform in uncertainty.

High performance relies on attributes

We are always looking to explore and discover our potential, as well as those in our span of care. What we must remember, however, is that potential always lies in the future. Potential is about what could be, not about what is. Skills only tell us what is, while attributes tell us what could be.

Potential hides in attributes, not skills

When we measure performance in ourselves and our teams, we need to get the whole picture.

career

Career

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

The Difference Between Attributes and Skills, and Why One Matters More Than the Other

Fixing grammar and spelling mistakes is a small part of an editor's work. Editors plan, coordinate, revise, correct and format content for publication. Editors responsibilities:<ul><li>Revising text for content, structure, length, tone, and voice issues.</li><li>Editing text for paragraph and sentence-level,</li><li>Giving feedback and supporting writers.</li><li>Developing ideas and assigning them to writers.</li><li>Communicating and coordinating with writers.</li><li>Managing budgets.</li><li>Setting and coordinating deadlines.</li><li>Tracking performance.</li></ul>

Editor duties and responsibilities

Editors usually focus on one type of medium. The most common areas include:
<ul>
<li>Book editing: Project managing the entire journey of the book and getting it published.</li>
<li>Newspaper editing. Editors edit text and ensure it matches the paper's voice, style, tone, and ethical standards.</li>
<li>Magazine editing. Editors bring an article from the idea phase through publication. They work with copy editors, fact-checkers, top editors, designers, illustrators, photographers and lawyers.</li>
<li>Online media and content editing.</li>
<li>Communications editing. Many organisations put out written internal and external communications.</li>
</ul>

Different kinds of editing

Editors can work for any company putting out written content. Editors can also work as freelancers for several clients. There are many opportunities to work remotely. The career outlook: Editor positions are expected to grow 5% between 2020 and 2030, slower than the average for other occupations. Editor positions in information services are expected to grow 27.7%, while print magazines and newspapers are projected to decline 4.7%.

Logistical details of editing as a career

<ul><li>Strong writing skills. You need to know how writing conveys messages and information and how different choices may affect how your piece is read.</li><li>Good communications skills</li><li>Knowledge of grammar and other language rules</li><li>Knowledge of story and/or article structure</li><li>Style guides and how to stick to them</li><li>Interpersonal skills</li><li>Organisational skills</li><li>Time management skills</li><li>Project management skills</li><li>Giving and receiving constructive feedback</li><li>Creativity</li><li>Adaptability</li><li>Ability to work under pressure</li></ul>

Editor skills

<ul><li>Companies often require at least a bachelor's degree, with majors in English, journalism, communications.</li><li>You can also learn from managers and coworkers; however, companies will want to see that you know the basics of writing mechanics and structure.</li><li>Completing an internship in the industry can help your employment chances.</li></ul>

Education, training, certification

<ul><li>Do you love reading and language?</li><li>Do you want to be a lifelong learner? Some fields will require you to learn new things constantly.</li><li>Are you OK with working behind the scenes?</li><li>Do you really want to be a writer? Editors are often frustrated writers. If you want to write, then write.</li><li>Do you want to be a writer with a day job? You may find it difficult to write after a long day of editing, but it is not impossible.</li></ul>

Considering if editing is the right career

<ul><li>Read the medium you want to edit as hiring managers want to see that you're engaging with the industry.</li><li>Study the companies where you apply to. Look at their publications and websites.</li><li>Don't skip the cover letter. That is the first chance you have to show off your writing and editing skills.</li><li>Proofread all application materials.</li><li>Prepare for an editing test.</li></ul>

How to get a job as an editor

Not sure if editing is the career for you? Here’s everything you need to know before you decide.

Should You Turn Your Love of Words Into an Editing Career?

According to a Canadian study, about 98.5% of people can be taught how to sing. The 1,5% that can't sing suffer from congenital amusia, where they have difficulty differentiating between different pitches, tones, or rhythms.
If at first, a person sings a note incorrectly, most can quickly notice it and correct themselves. Researchers found it is not how much you practice, but how quickly you can identify and correct your error.

Most people can learn to sing

There is a considerable difference between singing in the shower or community choir and singing professionally. Singing training and practise is about creating vocal freedom where singing seems to come without effort. Most singers need years of practice to develop that kind of freedom.

How singing works

Singing involves muscle control and coordination. These muscles need to be trained to be flexible and strong. A person needs to control the air pressure in their lungs and use their abdominal muscles to push air through the trachea to meet the vocal folds. A good singer will match imagination, self-expression and creativity with vocal health, posture and alignment.

Physical skill and control

If you want to try singing, the chances are that you can be taught to sing. Find a singing teacher who loves singing and teaching and also performs regularly. Singing increases breathing control and lung capacity. It can improve heart health, increase your mood and reduce pain. It may also boost your immunity and can be good for the brain.

Health benefits of singing

health

Health

music

Music

Can anyone learn to sing? For most of us, the answer is yes

Great photography starts with sound composition. Know your subject, the exact focal point, and how to position it within the frame to accentuate the element you viewer sees first. Learn and practice the “Rule of Thirds,” a photography principle that places the primary focal point of any composition at the intersection of vertical and horizontal lines dividing the frame into equal thirds. The primary element should be positioned either along one of the lines or at their intersection. Most modern cameras have a thirds grid that can be turned on in the viewfinder to aid composition.

Composition

Tack sharp photos are the mark of a skilled photographer. Modern cameras are so advanced that solid focus is all but guaranteed in auto modes. Nonetheless, study the focal controls in all modes for maximum sharpness. When natural conditions like low light, moving subjects, and multiple focal points try to confuse the camera’s auto-focus, you’ll need to understand how to compensate.

Focus

<ul><li>Like focus, much can be left to the camera in auto mode, and even seemingly unredeemable exposure can often be corrected during editing. But the better the original image, the better the final product. </li><li>A modern DSLR or mirrorless camera will have multiple exposure settings intended to maximize whatever effect you are going for under any condition. Read the camera’s manual to familiarize yourself with how and why exposure is controlled in each of those modes. </li><li>The “creative” controls are there for a reason, and once you become familiar with them, your chances of making every shot count go up exponentially.</li></ul>

Exposure

Here are a few simple things to keep in mind if you want to take better photos.

problemsolving

Problem Solving

artsandculture

Society, Arts & Culture

3 Rules for Improving Your Outdoor Photography Skills

The Magna Carta has become a world-class brand representing human rights, democracy, and free speech.
But the original document does not mention any of these principles, not even in translation. Regardless of what the Magna Carta says, it is immediately recognised as the most important legal document in the common law world.

The Magna Carta is iconic

The British nation puts its trust in people rather than in paper and has never codified its constitution. The Magna Carta's place in the laws of England and Wales is mainly symbolic. And yet, the symbolism crosses the political spectrum. Nelson Mandela expressed his admiration for it during the Rivonia trial of 1964. Churchill was advised that a copy of the original charter might secure the support of the United States in WWII.

The symbolism of Magna Carta

Only three clauses of the statute remain law in England and Wales today.<ul><li>Clause 1 states that 'the Church of England shall be free.'</li><li>Clause 9 promises that 'the City of London shall have all the old liberties and customs' it used to have.</li><li>Clause 29 is the best-known. 'No freeman shall be taken or imprisoned, or disseised of his freehold, or liberties, or free customs, or be outlawed, or exiled, or any other wise destroyed; nor will we not pass upon him, nor condemn him, but by lawful judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land.'</li></ul>

The modern legal interpretation of Magna Carta

Non-lawyers tend to invest in Magna Carta with more weight than it carries. Some seem to think that Magna Carta can be used as a restraint on the supremacy of Parliament, but it can not. The power of Parliament to legislate as it deems good dates from the Bill of Rights 1689. Judges do not enforce Magna Carta today because its terms are too broad. It is still cited in the courts of the UK, but as little more than a historical flourish.

Magna Carta's use is limited 

Magna Carta is revered more in other lands than in the country of its birth. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. In turn, that led directly to the European Convention on Human Rights in 1953. The Magna Carta has been cited in more than 900 federal and state courts in the United States. Between 1940 and 1990, the United States Supreme Court had done so in more than sixty cases.

Magna Carta in the United States

Magna Carta is a constitutional instrument that stands with the Petition of Right 1628, the Bill of Rights 1689, the Act of Settlement 1701 and the Act of Union 1707. It is the most important document in the development of constitutional and legal freedom and adherence to the rule of law in the common law world.

A constitutional instrument

Magna Carta in the modern age - The British Library

First seen in the mid-19th century, impressionist art captured the immediate impression of scenery or moment, communicated by the artist using light, reflection and separated colours.
The capturing of light was done using short brushstrokes done quickly and freely, making the painting appear rough and messy to some.

Paintings: Impressionist Style Of Art

Impressionist art was looked at with disdain by art critics, as it was commonly accepted that any serious artist would minimize brush strokes and create a glossy, refined painting, not something with visible dots, blobs and smears.
During the first Impressionist art exhibition in 1874, the conservative painters and critics saw this kind of art as unfinished and unprofessional, turning the word ‘impressionist’ into a derogatory term.

Impressionist Art: Initial Criticism

In 1874, the group of artists who drew in the rough and messy ‘impressionist’ style clubbed together in France and pooled their resources, promoting their art in their very own exhibition.
French critics, who were used to the official, acceptable exhibitions, were further perplexed at the audacity and how the limits of art were pushed beyond recognition.

Impressionist Art: The Band Of Artists

Impressionist art was a shift from mythology, historical events and other kinds of 'epic' paintings towards street life in Paris, contemporary life, rural leisure life, and other new places that were never explored by painters before.
The mixing of colours captured the shifting of light, with innovative use of saturation, mixing, and broken colours, giving a vivid intensity to the same.

Impressionist Art: Modern Life

Most of the impressionist artists lived in Paris, France during the late 19th century and were friends, often meeting at Café Guerbois.
These groundbreaking artists like Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Pierre-August Renoir, Camille Pissarro and many others, left an indelible mark on art.

Impressionist Art: The Influential Painters

Impressionism art, practiced by Monet and Degas, is one of the art history basics. It utilizes short brushstrokes and quickly-painted surfaces.

history

History

movies

Movies & Shows

What Is Impressionism in Art?

Performance reviews are inherently subjective and our fear of getting booted out of the company often makes us think and act out of fear.
During performance reviews, other people's perception of you is a heavily impacting factor but being able to understand the elements that can be built up before your review will improve its outcome.

Fearing performance reviews

Help your boss and your colleagues notice and recall the accomplishments you've done and completed. We often overestimate the extent of people's memories therefore we shouldn't take any chances.
Here's a formula that can help highlight your accomplishments: "To advance goal X or organization priority Y, I did Z."

Highlight your achievements

Make your boss and your teammates see the things you bring to the table. Find ways to connect your tasks into the company's outcomes and help your boss from time to time, through this you will be seen as someone who constantly adds value.

Highlight your value to the organization

When a performance review is coming up it's best to focus on making sure that your achievements are in the spotlight.
Many people tend to think that overly friendly colleagues don't accomplish as much but in reality, the overly friendly ones are getting burn out because they take on more responsibilities without getting credit.

Emphasize your accomplishments, not your relationships

Studies show that people who have similarities with their bosses are more likely to be seen in a positive light. In addition to this, those who create "in-groups" disrupts team dynamics and make "outside" people unwelcome.
Another thing that can help you connect with your boss is to make them look good in meetings by building on their arguments or adding a helpful commentary instead of blindly agreeing. Conversely, don't air out disagreements with your boss with an audience.

Connect with your boss genuinely

There are two ways you can improve other people's perception of you:
<ol>
<li>Emphasize opportunities whenever you recommend changing something. Put the spotlight on the gains of your proposal instead of the losses; or</li>
<li>Whenever you're providing an idea, make sure to building or improving upon it instead of correcting their mistakes.</li>
</ol>

Show your commitment to the team and organization

Sometimes we don't have it in us to go to that work event we're told to go to but think about it this way, the more frequently people see you during these social functions with a smile on your face the more you show how committed you are to the team for the long run.

Coding Isn’t a Necessary Leadership Skill — But Digital Literacy Is

How to develop effective ethics training for employees

Learn Like an Athlete

The Difference Between Attributes and Skills, and Why One Matters More Than the Other

Should You Turn Your Love of Words Into an Editing Career?

Parv Mangal