The Turing Test: #PepperatIE
I first met IE Business School Big Data & Analytics lecturer Ms. Christina Stathopoulos in June last year at an IE faculty reunion, during which I told her about some of my communications initiatives, such as IE Humanities in @ minute, The other side of IE alumni, The other side of IE professors, and so forth. A few days later, Ms. Stathopoulos contacted me via Linkedin to explore the possibility of shooting a video. We then initiated a long-distance conversation that led to any number of postponed meetings due to Ms. Stathopoulos’s extremely busy agenda: apart from her IE duties, she has a demanding job at Google and keeps busy with myriad other projects. Eventually we were able to meet again a few months later: on October 29th to be precise.
When we finally sat down to discuss her video, I discovered that Ms. Stathopoulos is among many things, a bookworm, so we automatically connected and had soon agreed on doing something about the thorny issue of the dialogue between the worlds of technology and the humanities, or as Scott Hartley describes it, between the fuzzies and the techies.
That was the easy part, but from that initial agreement to getting round to filming took a while longer, but we persevered and managed to shoot the video on March 15. I hope you enjoy it. I think the wait was more than worth it.
Please let us know which of the three poems #PepperatIE is reading in this video you think were written by the robot. And if you want to see part of what keeps Ms. Stathopoulos busy, check out her #bookaweekchallenge
P.S: this video wouldn’t have been possible without the invaluable help of Carlos Ernesto Muñoz Sanz, a data specialist at IE, and who programmed #PepperatIE to read the poems and move around…
Beyond Kumbaya
Coach & Leadership Professor Michael Chang Wenderoth asks himself a question you might well ask yourself every day. What really got them there? What is it that propels people to the top? He says that the usual answer people give you to this question is that you have to be hard-working, positive, willing,… In short he calls this approach the “Kumbaya school of leadership” or the political puppy approach.
In contrast –he says- what we see around us is that people who self-promote, strategically network, or act in powerful and not so humble ways, move faster and more effectively up the ladder. The dirty secret is that your political skills top all else in getting you ahead and driving your effectiveness. This bears no resemblance to the Kumbaya school. That’s why he advocates going beyond Kumbaya and being more of a political beast.
Prior to becoming a professional trainer and a professor at IE Business School, Prof. Wenderoth served 20 years in senior roles with multinationals in China, the US and Europe. If you want to know anything about China, or the Eastern vs Western style of management, he’s your man. His mandarin is as fluent as his Spanish.
Final decision
Prof. Kriti Jain is very concerned about the decisions we take because decisions-makers tend to make judgements without having all the relevant info to hand. Moreover, most of the time, she says, what you see is not what you get …
Prof. Jain specializes in organizational behavior and human resources. Her research focuses on judgment and decision-making. She is particularly interested in developing an understanding of how individuals and groups carry out assessments of future uncertainty, and how personality traits, emotions, and decision frames influence judgments.
Let her tell you how your emotions get in the way of your sense of judgement!
Mindfulness
As I said in a previous video The flow of management I shot with IE Human Sciences & Technology Prof. Juan Humberto Young there are certain people you meet in life that make you feel you could tell them anything. I call them “Divan People” because it’s as if there were an irresistible force pulling you towards them and causing you to talk as freely as if you were on a psychologist’s Couch. This is the case of Juan Humberto Young Elser, Prof. of Positive Leadership & Strategy. When he looks at you, he looks deep into your heart. I know it isn’t possible for him to look at you right this minute, but if you listen to what he has to say you will probably see what I mean.
In this video he talks about his recently published book Mindfulness-based strategic awareness training (MBSAT): a complete program for leaders & individual. MBSAT is basically a protocol he has created to teach you 3 skills: Minding your BETA, Mindfulness Real options (MROS), and IRIMI. Once you´ll learn these skills –he says- you will amplify your awareness and become…
Enjoy!!!
Illegal drugs
Professor of Strategic Management Luis Diestre is an extremely competent researcher, challenger, and, most of all, horizon breaker.
He worked in the corporate world for many years until he decided to do an MBA to revamp his corporate career. It was then that he discovered the world of academia and decided to become a professor and researcher. He’s been recognized as the best professor at IE Business School on multiple occasions. Moreover, this year he has been awarded an ERC grant, quite simply the highest distinction a researcher can receive within the EU. Don’t miss him talking about illegal pharmaceutical drugs!!! He’ll broaden your horizon.
