Khan Academy- Revolutionary education system?

Khan Academy- Revolutionary education system?

 The conventional system of education has been a cause of concern to a many great and not so great minds. People are looking at alternatives and are desperately seeking for a revolutionary system that not only promises to be different but effective too. Since the rise of personal computers in the early ’80s, educators have hoped that technology could solve the problem by offering lessons tailored to each kid. Schools have blown millions, maybe billions, of dollars on sophisticated classroom technology, but the effort has been in vain.

INNOVATION

 However there's one organization that is changing things in this arena, The KHAN ACADEMY, an educational website that, as its tagline puts it, aims to let anyone “learn almost anything—for free.”  This approach is bringing in a sea of change.

What we should note here as managers is that how one person can create a totally new ecosystem. How one man's effort and commitment brings in so many people to work towards a single cause. A great manager can achieve similar goals if he can inspire people with his hard work, commitment and a ‘can do’ attitude. Such a man can lift many around him along with himself. Believing that i can do it and that everyone around me can do it too and i need the success of people around me for my own success is an essential frame of mind that a manager has to get into. This is similar to the theory Y manager where a manager not just believes in himself but people around him too. Its the objectives and beliefs that matter. Mr. Salman Khan had the objective of teaching his cousin Nadia and from there on to everyone else who needed his method of tutoring. A manager has to be open to innovation and change for a better result which definitely involves certain amount of risk. Here Mr. Khan risked his career and job as a hedge fund manager for something that was innovative and in which he had total belief.

APPRECIATION

Our efforts when applied with total conviction will definitely bring accolades to us though sometimes after a long time. Nevertheless one has to continue to tread the path he/she has chosen. Mr. Khan's innovative approach to change the way children learn, using the technology that is so abundantly and easily available to those who seek has brought him great fame. He has been a guest at many renowned events and shows giving him almost a celebrity status. His name also figured in TIME magazine's 100 most influential people for 2012 list, and many such coeveted titles have honoured him for his contribution to society.

As managers and as entrepreneurs we too should continue on the path that we believe in, irrespective of the initial outcome and results and no matter how many times we fail we must always strive to achieve our objectives in an organization or in our entrepreneurial endeavours.

Read

How Khan Academy Is Changing the Rules of Education

http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/07/ff_khan/all/

CRITICISM

Dealing with criticism is another essential attribute that an entrepreneur or a manager should possess. Its not always that we will be honoured and appreciated. Many a times we will be cornered for trying out something different or not following the conventional methods which everyone follows. Sometimes our actions do carry few flaws and every system has a flaw and none exists without it. It’s in taking these criticisms/suggestions in the positive way which will help us to continue excelling. Mr. Khan’s work too has received criticisms.

Read

Khan Academy: Good, Bad, or Ugly?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-keith-devlin/khan-academy-good-bad-or-_b_1345925.html

Khan Academy Learns From and Responds to Criticism

http://www.technapex.com/2012/07/khan-academy-learns-from-and-responds-to-criticism/

However he was not offended when his work was exposed with flaws. In lieu he used this criticism to correct his work and with it he turned his critiques into his fans. Who now help him to correct him everytime he goes wrong thereby helping him make his reputation stronger.

There are copious such lessons that we can learn from Mr. Khan’s KHAN ACADEMY initiative, all we need are the hearts with such seeking eyes.

THEORY X THEORY Y examples

In continuation to the blog that i wrote on theory X and theory Y with respect to the employee-manager relationship there is one more example that came to my mind:
My second job was also with an architect who had done his masters from the United States of America and i joined him under the impression that i will get to learn something different from this man as he would have a different perspective to the whole designing idea which to a certain extent was true as i learned while working for him. His methodology of keeping a track of employee's work status and progress was also unique to me. There was a sheet we had to fill twice every day, once before lunch and once before closing for the day with the details of the work that we had done. My work however involved a lot of travelling to the construction sites and i would have to travel approximately 100 kms a day. This was a little difficult parameter to track as there were other variables that affected this like traffic, availability of transport, etc. He however would use the minimum time taken to travel to reach the destination and that too in his car and apply it on me. I tried to convince him but he wouldn't agree which made me lose interest in the job. Also since his wife too worked with him as she was an architect too, i would receive work load from her too giving almost the same deadlines and neither would give me a break if i failed to finish one's work because i was busy doing the other's work.
This i believe is an example of scenario 2 where the manager belongs to category X and employee belongs to category Y

Theory X and Theory Y

Prof. T. Prasad very clearly explained the theory X and theory Y concept based on the relationship between managers and employees where four scenarios were possible.
Here X implies lazy/ inefficient and Y implies hardworking/efficient
scenario 1: the employees are X and the manager is X too.
in this situation the employees are lazy and the manager also thinks that they are lazy and has no faith in them changing into efficient employees. his poor judgement will make him put no efforts in trying to change them into hardworking employees. here the employees remain unhappy with their manager and the manager remains unhappy with his/her employees making the work environment difficult. there is no scope for growth for anyone and in such a situation the manager becomes responsible for bringing down the organisation.
scenario 2: the employees are Y and manager is X.
this is the most dangerous scenario. in this scenario it is possible that even hardworking and efficient employees turn into lazy and in efficient employees because their work goes unappreciated and their efforts are not rewarded. If a manager does not understand the strengths of his employees and fails to manage them, making them lose interest which will downgrade their performance and output. each employee has his specialisation and it is important that the manager tap these specific skills of his employees and not blindly assign tasks as he pleases without taking into account who is more suited to which job/task. There's every chance that a poor manager will convert this scenario into scenario 1
scenario 3:  the employees are X and manager is Y
This is where the skills of an effective manager come into play. His task is to lift the standards of his employees to ensure the desired result is achieved and if a manager is successful in doing so he is an effective and a successful manager. It is his job to convert the third scenario into the fourth scenario. He leads by example and he does not lose hope and faith in his employees and becomes responsible for the organisation's growth.
scenario 4:  the employees are Y and manager is Y too.
this scenario is the most easiest as not much effort is required by the manager to obtain the desired results.


i have personally had experiences of scenario 3.
in the 1st organisation that i worked i joined as a civil engineer where my responsibilities were to take care of the execution of designs by the architects. Many a times the junior architects would fail to deliver the drawings on time and i had to bear the brunt for their short comings. I couldn't do much as i wasn't skilled in preparing drawings myself. when i brought this to the notice of my boss he said i cannot rely on others all the time and i have to step in to ensure the work is done and it is success of the work that matters. however he showed a lot of confidence in me and would always say that i am a capable man and i can learn to prepare drawings myself. He would always say "you can do it" and very soon i was. i think this very well fits into possibility 3 and it is his belief and support that made me take up challenges and always believe i can do it.