The Creativity Imperative

& the Technology Professional of the Future (TPOTF)

David E. Goldberg
Illinois Foundry for Innovation in Engineering Education &
ThreeJoy Associates, Inc.
Champaign, IL 61821 USA
deg@illinois.edu & deg@threejoy.com
The World is Flat & All That
Widely asserted: World is flat &
returns to creativity increasing.
For example:
Tom Friedman, The World is Flat.
Richard Florida, Rise of the Creative
Class.
Dan Pink, A Whole New Mind.
Yet we have tech education adapted
to another era.
Examine root causes, misalignment,
& implications for the TPOTF.

2011 David E. Goldberg

Roadmap
A cold war curriculum in an internet world?
The academy & 3 missed revolutions.
Technoeconomics, Davids & Goliaths.
3 Os and the missing O.
Postmodern systems & the qual-quant divide.
The missing basics and the three joys.
Academic change is a NIMBY problem.
The Olin effect at Olin & Illinois.
A surprise inside.

2011 David E. Goldberg

Cold War Curriculum in Internet World?
Post WW2, US only major nation not
devastated by war.
US actions influential beyond
borders.
In final days of the Vannevar Bush
era.
Headed US wartime Office of
Scientific Research and
Development.
Report, The Endless Frontier, set
stage for worldwide state funding of
scientific research.
Curriculum, funding, P&T, and
institution adapted to this change.
Vannevar Bush (1890-1974)

2011 David E. Goldberg

Myth & Embrace of Science
World War 2 myth: Science won the war
(bomb/radar).
World War 2 reality: Engineering won the war
(P-51, Liberty ship, engineering,
manufacturing, logistical prowess).
Liberty Ships: 16 shipbuilding yards, 230 days
down to 42 days each, 2751 made
See 1996 article Change in Engineering
Education.
Effect on academy profound.
Computer science chose to call itself a
science.
Decision not scientific: Status motivated.

2011 David E. Goldberg

Bigger & Centralized was Better

WW2/CW organizations were big and centralized.

Economies of scale dominated organizational
economics.
Hierarchy dominated organizational thought.
Universities followed suit, funded in part from
new stream of research monies & new imperative
to pursue same.

2011 David E. Goldberg

The Missed Revolutions

This paradigm OK for WW2 & Cold War.

Slow to adapt to external changes thereafter.
Missed revolutions since WW2:
Quality revolution.
Entrepreneurial revolution.
IT revolution.
Teach the revolutions, but do not integrate
lessons into academy or curriculum.

2011 David E. Goldberg

A Technoeconomic Framework
Place revolutions in framework of
underlying causes.
Missed revolutions enabled by
technoeconomic effects:
Transport and communication
improvements.
Network effects.
Transaction costs.
Puts past in perspective & project
future trends.
Karl Marx (1818-1883)

2011 David E. Goldberg

Network Goliaths & Competence Davids

Why has change been so relentless

over past 50 years?
Transaction costs major determinant
of organization size & structure.
Using the free market is not free.
Tech improvements reduction in
xcostssmaller orgs.
Countervailing effect: Network
economics.
Era of Network Goliaths and Core Ronald H. Coase (b. 1910)
Competence Davids.

2011 David E. Goldberg

The Landscape of Os

The Os as hot areas in 21st century:

BiO
NanO
InfO
First two are different than the third: Science
push, easy for cold warriors.
Info is customer pull.
Suggests the missing O.

2011 David E. Goldberg

The Missing O
Radically networked world is having profound cultural
effects.
Postmodern systems engineering demands better
understanding of HomO sapiens (lets call it SociO).
Homo sapiens as engineering concern:
QC: design for homo sapiens.
Postmodern systems:
HS-centered design: IT systems
Design a HS: Engineered prosthesis & robotics
Design like HS: Computational intelligence
Homo sapiens as actor, object, and collective.

2011 David E. Goldberg

Humans as Error in the Loop
During the Cold War, humans
were viewed as obstacle to the
proper functioning of a system.
Tom Wolfes, The Right Stuff,
plot: tension between pilots and
techies who would eliminate
them.
Cold War view: Humans are
error in the loop, and error is to
be eliminated.

2011 David E. Goldberg

Postmodern: Humans are the Loop
In internet world, human beings are integral part of the
system.
Google as human preference engine. No human
intentionality, no Google.
Brute facts of physics not dominant in postmodern systems.
Examples:
What are the physics for Ebay?
What equations of motion govern Google?
What constitutive relations for MSOffice.

2011 David E. Goldberg

SociO: Tech Pull, Humanities Push

Gap between qual and quant

knowledge an invitation.
Human-centered design transfers
models from humanities, social
sciences, & arts.
Reassess engineering canon in
systems and socio.
Invites new knowledge combining
tech pull & humanities push.

2011 David E. Goldberg

Whats Missing in 21st Century?
 Begin
with
the
end in
mind
David Stephen R. Covey
E.
Mission:
Reduce
Dusting
Flour

David
E.
Failure 1: Inability to Ask
Dont know how to frame or
ask good questions. Failure #1
Difficulty probing the problem.
Trouble querying what has Inability to
been tried.
Problem learning about
ask good
vendors and sources of questions
information.
Historical terms: Socrates 101.

David Socrates
E.
Failure #2
Inability to
label
patterns in
data

David Aristotle
E.
Failure 1: Inability to Ask
Dont know how to frame or
ask good questions.
Difficulty probing the problem. Failure #3
Trouble querying what has Inability to
been tried. model
Problem learning about conceptually
vendors and sources of
information.
Historical terms: Socrates 101.

David David Hume

E.
Failure #4
Inability to
decompose

David Ren Descartes

E.
Failure 1: Inability to Ask
Dont know how to frame or
ask good questions.
Difficulty probing the problem.
Trouble querying what has
Failure #5
been tried. Inability to
Problem learning about experiment
vendors and sources of
information.
Historical terms: Socrates 101.

David John Locke

E.
Failure #6
Inability to
visualize &
ideate

David
Leonardo da Vinci
E.
Failure 1: Inability to Ask
Dont know how to frame or
ask good questions.
Difficulty probing the problem. Failure #7
Trouble querying what has
been tried. Inability to
Problem learning about communicate
vendors and sources of
information.
Historical terms: Socrates 101.
Paul Newman
David
E.
7 Missing Basics of Engineering

Asking questions (Socrates 101)

Labeling patterns in data (Aristotle 101)
Modeling conceptually (Hume 101)
Decomposing (Descartes 101)
Experimenting (Locke 101)
Visualizing/ideating (Da Vinci 101)
Communicating (Newman 101)
3 Misconceptions

Three conceptual misunderstandings block joy of

engineering:
Engineering is mainly math & science.
World is hierarchical & specialized.
Qualitative skills important for well
roundedness, not engineering.
From joy of engineering to two more joys.

2011 David E. Goldberg

Engineering: Just Math & Science Applied
Usual: Engineering is applied math & science.
Other views:
Von Karman: A scientist discovers that
which exists. An engineer creates that
which never was.
Koen: Engineering is heuristics.
Pitt: Technology is humanity at work.
Mesthene: Technology is the organization
of knowledge for achievement of practical
purpose.
Here: Engineering is the social practice of
conceiving, designing, implementing,
producing, & sustaining functionally complex
artifacts, processes, or systems appropriate to
some recognized need.

2011 David E. Goldberg

World Hierarchical & Specialized
Usual: Engineer as narrow &
specialized category enhancer in
hierarchical, domestic organization.
Paradigm OK for WW2 & Cold War.
Now a creative era, a flat world.
Here: engineer as interdisciplinary,
integrative category creator in flat,
global organization.

2011 David E. Goldberg

Qualitative Only Needed to be Well-Rounded

Usual: Qualitative skills

developed in
humanities & SS
courses make well-
rounded or cultured
individuals.
Here: Missing basics
essential to being a
great engineer.
Seek qual-quant
balance to make great
engineers.
2011 David E. Goldberg
From JoE to JoC (Joy of Community)
Clich of cold war engineering education.
Engin profs used to say the following:
Look to your left. Look to your right.
One of the three of you wont make it!
Statistically correct: 50%-70% survive.
Pedagogically improper.
Why take pride in failure of capable students?
Assumption: Rugged individuals must survive
selective weed out process to be successful.

2011 David E. Goldberg

Research Shows Otherwise

Russ Kortes work on

transitions:
College to work
HS to College
Single most important
variable in transition success
social connectedness (SC).
Critical element of iFoundry is
what we call iCommunity.
Russell Korte

2011 David E. Goldberg

Look to Left & Right: iFoundry Version

Try it again:
Look to your left. Look to your right.
In iFoundry those two people crucial supporters to
help you complete a challenging learning
experience.
iLaunch is primarily about the joy of community.
Not an accident that we start with this.
iCommunity culture: How can we form a supportive
group and become great engineers together?

2011 David E. Goldberg

What Needed for Joy of Community?

What skills necessary to become tight knit

supportive community?
Need to probe and ask questions of others.
Need to label challenging people problems.
Need to create and communicate.
You need the missing basics!!!
Joy of community, teamwork, leadership,
facilitated by mastery of the missing basics.

2011 David E. Goldberg

Teaching: Another Blast from the Past
In old model, students were passive vessels.
Professors poured knowledge into their brains.
Assumes static world of engineers as category enhancers.
Three flavors of iStudent as category creators:
Cool new technology.
Entrepreneurs & innovators.
Working with developing cultures.
Common thread: Need to create new stuff & need to
keep learning.
Learning in creative era is never ending enterprise.

2011 David E. Goldberg

Research on Tech Visionaries as Clue
Helpful to look at extreme
exemplars of success.
Price, Vojak, & Griffin have done
work on tech visionaries (TVs).
TV creates bottom line revenue
from new products & services.
T-shaped person both broad and
deep.
TVs are dynamic Ts.
Do deep dive in unfamiliar area
to make new products.
Ray Price

2011 David E. Goldberg

How to Be a Joyful Lifelong Learner?
What skills do you need to be a dynamic T or
lifelong learner?
Need to ask framing questions.
Need to learn lingo of new areas & connect to
things understood.
Need to collect data in new situation.
Need to come up with creative solutions
appropriate to situation.
You guessed it. The missing basics are the key.

2011 David E. Goldberg

A Vision with Systemic Coherence

Taken together three joysJoE, JoC, JoLcan

help align engineering education with the times.
Missing basics tie all three together: Critical &
creative thinking skills cut across joy of
engineering, community & learning.
iCommunity provides social connectedness to
provide student self-reliance and commitment.
So whats holding us back?

2011 David E. Goldberg

Academic Change is a NIMBY Problem
Academic NIMBY problem.
NIMBY = Not in my backyard.
It is OK to change the
curriculum
.just dont change MY
course.
Politics of logrolling: You
support my not changing. I
support your not changing.
Even though agreement for
change is widespread,
specific changes are resisted.

2011 David E. Goldberg

Organizational Innovation for Change
Illinois Foundry for Innovation in Engineering Education (iFoundry)basic
bargain in iFoundry-Department MOU:
Curriculum change incubator. Permit change.
Respect faculty governance. Promise to go back to faculty for vote after
pilot change.
Other elements
Collaboration. Large, key ugrad programs work together. Easier approval if
shared.
Connections. Hook to depts, NAE, ABET (?), industry.
Volunteers. Enthusiasm for change among participants.
Existing authority. Use signatory authority for modification of curricula for
immediate pilot.
Assessment. Built-in assessment to overcome objections back home.
Scalability. Past attempts at change like Olin fail to scale at UIUC and other
big schools.
www.ifoundry.illinois.edu

2011 David E. Goldberg

The Olin Effect as Educational Target
Went to Franklin W. Olin College
first time February 2008.
A moving experience: Talked to
freshmen during heat-sink
measurements.
Pride in design-build prowess:
Engineering identity.
Confidence.
Assertion of personal
aspirations & related to Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
engineering education.
Envisioned distant day when we
got Olin effect at Illinois.

2011 David E. Goldberg

 Illinois Engineering
Freshman Experience
(iEFX)
iLaunch

iCommunity

ENG100++ 2 ENG100++
Hands-on Missing
Projects Basics

iExpo iCheckpoint

2011 David E. Goldberg

Fa09 & iLaunch: The Students are Coming

22 August 2009 was iLaunch.

110 admitted, 93 accepted,
88 came to campus, 73 still in
program.
iLaunch signaled different
kind of program.
3 Joys: Joy of engineering,
community & learning.
Unified by the missing
basics.
Within student-run
community of learners: iStudents on Allerton low ropes course
iCommunity.
But it wasnt all smooth.

2011 David E. Goldberg

Bumps, Confusion, then Demos & iCheckpoint

Students: What do you want us to

do?
iFoundry staff: Dont know. What
do you want to do?
Then steam engines worked.
iCheckpoint held.
Something seemed to click.
Jaime Kelleher: Wasnt sure you
were serious about us doing what
we wanted to do, but then realized
you were, and it was very cool.

2011 David E. Goldberg

AAAs: Aspirationally Assertive Acts
Students started to assert themselves as free men
and women and as engineers:
6 students go to NextGen conference.
3 students apply and get accepted to TEC
Silicon Valley trip.
Student rearranges finals to go to Indonesia
with NUS students.
Student networks get VC intenship in
Jaime Kelleher w/ NUS in Indonesia.
Colorado.
8 students visited Skidmore, Owings, &
Merrill.
1 student brings IDEO speaker to campus.
Another starts passionate pursuit series.
EI team plans Creative Entrepreneurship
Workshop at University of Chicago.
3 students start companies.
Anecdotes confirmed in ongoing assessment iSkate Fall 2009
efforts.

2011 David E. Goldberg

Students Speak: Experience is Working
November 11th survey, First two Student words:
weeks versus now. Sure I made the right career
Agree & strongly agree aggregate: choice.
Making me more confident
in my decision to be an
engineer.
Im definitely more
entrepreneurial.
I think I feel more
comfortable being an
engineer.
Just an overall all-rounded
engineer, not just a
technician. A human, not just
a problem solver.
The future looks brighter
thanks to iFoundry.

2011 David E. Goldberg

The Olin Effect at Illinois!
But how?
Didnt change the whole
curriculum.
Didnt build new buildings.
Didnt remake the
classrooms.
Didnt overhaul the teaching
or teachers.
Did one-hour course +
iCommunity? Seems like too
little.
Olin Effect at Illinois

2011 David E. Goldberg

Why Did This Work So Well?
Used sound change
management strategy:
Elephant: Emotion
Rider: Rational
Path: Organizational
iFoundry facilitated the path,
used rational reframing, and
caused emotional unleashing.
SmoothChange process.
Academic change without a
faculty uprising.

2011 David E. Goldberg

Next Steps
Scale up as iEFX: 300 of 1300
freshmen Fa10.
New courses: UOCD & FBE.
Intrinsic motivation (IM)
conversion of traditional
courses.
Design across the
curriculum.
A hidden lesson.

2011 David E. Goldberg

A Beautiful Surprise Inside

The unleashing was

special at Olin & Illinois
But what was it?
Didnt understand until
last day of leadership
coach training in March
2011.
Tell Georgetown
Georgetown University
University Story.

2011 David E. Goldberg

Unconditional Love
Bottom Line
The world is flat.
Demands tech professionals who are creative.
By understanding
The world we live in & how it has changed
The curriculum were stuck with
Whats missing
Why its so hard to change
Why emotion is a key variable to change
How believing in our students is a form of love.
We can educate the creative tech professional of the
future.

2011 David E. Goldberg

More Information
ThreeJoy: www.threejoy.com.
iFoundry: www.ifoundry.illinois.edu.
Philosophy & Engineering:
www.philengtech.org.
The Entrepreneurial Engineer, Wiley,
2006.
Philosophy & Engineering: An Emerging
Agenda, Springer, 2010.
Holistic Engineering Education: Beyond
Technology, Springer, 2010.
Email: deg@threejoy.com.

2011 David E. Goldberg