Learn Faster
Thomas Lichtenberger,
President Festo Inc.
This edition of trends in automation contains very interesting articles that
focus on learning and knowledge. It is very common to hear ‘where did the
time go?’. Each minute of every day appears to go faster. The weeks turn
into months and before you know it, the year has passed by.
We deal with massive amounts of information on a daily and continuous
basis. But with the information highway at full speed, how do we select
concise and accurate information to make sure we acquire the right
knowledge?
To be successful, we require significantly more knowledge than the previous
generation. And not only that, the half-life of knowledge is also getting
shorter all the time.
This generation is required to “un-learn”. This may sound strange but it
makes sense. If we base our decisions on past knowledge and information,
we risk making incorrect decisions that are based on information that is out
of date and invalid.
This brings us back to one of my favourite topics. Change! We have to
accept that (some of ) the experiences or knowledge that we have gathered
over the years can no longer be applied. We have to be able to un-learn and
to refresh our knowledge base to make good decisions.
So, how do we determine if the knowledge we have today is accurate?
This is a very good question and the simple answer is that we do not know.
However, if you have asked yourself the question, you have already
identified and recognized that you need to further investigate to ensure
that your decisions are based on up-to-date information.
“Always being open for other views, for other opinions and to learn”
At Festo we do our best to ‘Walk the Talk’. Internally, we continuously
improve our processes and train our people. Our Fit for Change program
teaches ways to improve consulting and communication skills with our
customers. We analyze customer complaints and strive to identify the root
cause of the issue.
Across the world, there are 15,000 people working at Festo and asking
questions on a daily basis: how to automate a difficult technical application,
how to design a machine more cost-effectively or how to speed up the
logistical processes, etc.
It is our task to convert these experiences into useful knowledge and
innovative solutions. It is very important for me to give our customers
access to this knowledge in a very easy and fast way. It is our role to make
our customers more successful by providing you with the knowledge you
need, customized to your environment.
Our aim: To learn faster, to make the right decisions and be more
successful.
Thomas Lichtenberger