University of the Pacific
Other Research and Consulting Projects 

Problems Solved: Visioning the Future of Learning, Work and Professional Practice; Fresh Vision and Leadership, Changing Culture and Behaviors, Developing Organizational Capacity		Strategic Focus: Leading and Navigating Change, Crafting and Executing Strategy, Developing Organizational Capacity; Tapping the Capacity of Personal Responsibility for Perpetual Learning
Project Team: Donald Norris, Anya Kamenetz, Phyllis Grummon   Advisors: Samuel Kirkpatrick, Paul Lefrere, Bassem Khafagy, Martha Hesse, Tapio Varis, Phil Taylor, Allison Vaillancourt, Linda Baer

The Great Recession of the early 21st century has accelerated an already ongoing process – the realignment of employment, professional practice, and workforce conditions in every industry, profession, and trade. These changes have been enabled by new applications of technology, the advancing use of artificial intelligence, and social networking. Even before the recession, changes have been emerging in job requirements, personal productivity, and the patterns and cadences of professional practices. During the recession, employers have reduced staffing levels, relying on increased productivity and realigned practices.

But the longer-term trend is that over the next decades new fields will emerge requiring new approaches and creating new opportunities for learning, certification and accreditation, while virtually every field of today will be substantially realigned – not just as a short-term reaction to recession, but as a long-term strategy. This is what John Hagel and John Seely Brown term “The Big Shift” and it is affecting every industry, profession, practice and field of endeavor.

Strategic Initiatives is addressing these challenges in all of our “Planning from the Future Backwards” services and projects.  New for 2011-12, additional services include access to cutting-edge futuring, observatory, and sense-making functions provided by Dr. Paul Lefrere and his international contacts and research partners as our conduit to relevant R&D, practices and policies globally.  Applications include fostering self-regulated learning using current and emerging technologies as extensions to the e-Lifestyle.  These new services can be conducted as stand-alone workshops and actions, or embedded in planning projects to develop expeditionary solutions to emerging opportunities and threats.

Related to those new services, Strategic Initiatives is working with a range of international universities, ministries of education, and employers on strategies for filling persistent talent gaps in innovation, entrepreneurship, and workforce competences.  We have engagements in process with a number of universities in the Middle East to leverage the e-Lifestyle for basic education/training and continuous professional development. We are also forging partnerships between universities in developed and developing nations to address these issues.