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As an enthusiastic technology endorser, Andrea is a serial entrepreneur who has founded several companies specialized in interactive e-learning content development and distribution. He is a strong endorser of the “human factor,” which he believes to be the added-value key element of any business negotiating process. Andrea is the mind behind the revolutionary Lifelike Interaction approach, a cognitive model and set of algorithms able to create a new training method designed to train behavior—and therefore boost performance.As CEO and founder of Lifelike SA, a Swiss high-tech company leader in the area of learning simulators focused on user performance improvement, Andrea now leads a disruptive revolution. He is among the few world pioneers to bring artificial intelligence and interactive video into the field of behavioral learning and training.In 2017, Andrea co-authored a paper published in the Journal of Medical Education. That same year, Lifelike was awarded the Gold and Silver medals at the Reimagine Education Conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Andrea Laus

Here are six technological areas that are trending because of their importance to the L&D profession.

Is Your Strategy Ready for These 6 Tech Trends Shaping L&D?

There are several ways to develop leaders’ self-awareness, but few are so efficient and effective as practicing on critical conversations with digital role play.

How a Health System Improved Patient-Centered Focus With Digital Role Play

Often backed up by AI, digital role play provide a flexible gym where anyone can practice critical conversations.

Boosting Leadership With Digital Role Play

How can AI applied to soft-skill training help training professionals who want to leverage online technology to boost the effectiveness of their role?

Will Artificial Intelligence Change the Way We Tutor on Critical Conversations?

Andrea Grodnitzky is Richardson’s chief marketing officer, where she is responsible for demand generation and value creation through strategic marketing, brand awareness, digital optimization, product launch initiatives, and market-facing thought leadership to drive sustained, organic growth. Richardson is a global sales training and performance improvement company focused on helping you drive revenue and grow long-term customer relationships.

Andrea Grodnitzky

July 2016 - The Public Manager

Even highly skilled employees may need training and support to manage change in their agencies.

Are Your Experts Ready to Be Change Experts?

In break-out session after break-out session at the ATD 2015 International Conference & Exposition, presenters cited dismal statistics from renowned consultancies’ research that showed the majority of senior leaders among the largest companies in the world did not see their leadership development programs producing succession-worthy candidates. What’s more, only a minority of organizations apparently consider that to be a top priority, which gave me pause. It left me wondering if I could somehow obtain a list of those companies so I could divest them from my retirement portfolio.Indeed, Deloitte’s Global Human Capital Trends for 2015 reported that “86 percent of all surveyed HR and business leaders cite leadership as one of their most important challenges,” but only “6 percent of companies feel fully ready to address their leadership issues, only 10 percent feel comfortable with their succession program, and only 7 percent have strong programs to build Millennial leaders.” This is nothing new. In fact, the report characterizes this as a “perennial issue.”However, some 10,000+ talent development professionals who gathered from around the world to attend ATD 2015 were clear: leadership is the answer. Perhaps what we’ve lost is the question. Here are two questions posed at the conference that are starting to take root.The first question of note was posed by Sugata Mitra in his opening keynote: “How do you ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all?” Mitra shared his work that starts to address this issue, recalling what happened when he placed a computer in a “hole in the wall” in a Delhi slum. He explained that it started a revolution of self-organized learning environments, which were demonstrably powerful for children with promise for adults. Do you know what he found that they need to guide the learning? A big, interesting, and compelling question.The second question that stood out: “How do we promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth with full and productive employment and decent work for all?” Andrea Jung, former CEO of Avon, and now CEO of Grameen America had some compelling answers—having led not one, but two, organizations with the clear aim to increase the earning power of individuals who might not otherwise have that opportunity. In her short list of lessons learned, she noted, “Doing good is as important as doing well. Contributing to greater social good has to be a barometer of success for any organization. There’s nothing like social responsibility and community outreach to serve as a powerful way to unite employees worldwide.”Those two questions address some of the foundational underpinnings of global challenges from the list of 17 sustainable development goals to be ratified in September by the United Nations. Arguably, for the first time in history, the world will have one set of goals developed through a highly collaborative, global process in which as many voices were heard as possible. Daunting? You bet. But that’s why we need talented people and visionary leaders who will not only ask the tough questions but work to engage their spheres of influence to help solve them.Re-Imagining Global Leadership Through Triple-WinsI like the chances of Digital Globe and their work with Capsim, which also was highlighted at the conference, to develop an immersive, immediately applicable leadership simulation that is designed to drive intellectual understanding as well as emotional intelligence. One of the most impactful outcomes of this solution is that leaders started asking better questions—about needs, about the environment, and about how their actions would impact other people.SAP, another featured presenter at the conference, takes that approach to leadership development one step further. Instead of an internal immersion program, they place high-performing employees directly into short-term assignments in underserved communities—those places in the world where the greatest challenges facing humankind cannot be ignored. The program generates a triple win:participants accelerate both the intellectual and emotional intelligence with regards to new cultures and new marketshost clients gain access to “pro bono” professional expertise that would otherwise be unavailablecompanies gain new insight into fast growing markets, engaged and experienced leaders, and well deserved reputations for making a positive social impact.“What I learned there (during the Social Sabbatical in Colombia) is that with the right people on a team, anything is possible,” said Rainer Stern, global vice president of SAP sales leadership programs, “But you have to be very, very clear on what you want to accomplish.”Bottom line: Leadership is the answer. What is the question? Define that first…then develop and empower leaders at every level to address it. Editor's Note: Laura Asiala presented “Change Your Leaders from the Inside Out: SAP’s Social Sabbatical” at ATD 2015, alongside Susan Camberis, Leading Talent Sustainability; Madeleine Homan-Blanchard, The Ken Blanchard Companies; and Rainer Stern, SAP.

Leadership Is the Answer, But What Is the Question?

 _“Some people worry that artificial intelligence will make us feel inferior, but then, anybody in his right mind should have an inferiority complex every time he looks at a flower.”—_Alan Kay Raymond Kurzweil, the director of engineering at Google and a renowned futurist predicted in The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology that by 2029 computers will be cleverer than humans. While such a mindboggling prediction can be a matter of debate, there is little doubt that in the future machines will be much more sophisticated than what they are today. Indeed, these smart machines will be able to learn on their own—without human intervention—using technology!   Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee, co-authors of The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies say, “Technologies that used to seem like science fiction are becoming everyday reality.” Machines that can use such technologies to learn and autonomously adapt to the changes will cause serious disruption to well-established business models. Likewise, Gartner predicts that “by 2017, a significant and disruptive digital business will be launched that was conceived by a computer algorithm.” All of these predictions are based on one common observation: Machines can learn exceptionally fast, and it is possible to build machines that can learn without any active human supervision. In fact, several of the top 10 emerging technology trends of 2015, as predicted in a recent report by World Economic Forum (WEF), are technologies for learnable machines. Neuromorphic Technology With advances in machine learning and rapid processing of high volumes of data, the next generation of powerful computing will be built on chips that will process information by mirroring the brain's architecture. As explained in the WEF report, such computers will be energy efficient and will have much more computing power than a conventional CPU (central processing unit). Moreover, these computers will be able to “anticipate and learn”—instead of just responding in a pre-programmed fashion. IBM has already demonstrated this technology in a prototype form through their million-neuron TrueNorth chip in August 2014. Gartner has predicted that by 2017, 10 percent of computers will be learning rather than processing. The report also mentions, that, “The Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) and Ecole Polytechnique Federal de Lausanne are funding the SyNAPSE and The Human Brain projects, respectively, fostering neuromorphic computing techniques intended for pattern recognition applications, including facial recognition, object recognition, drug discovery and medical diagnostics.” Emergent Artificial Intelligence We are already seeing significant advancements in artificial intelligence through self-driving cars and automated flying drones. Emergent artificial intelligence takes this step further with machines that can learn automatically by using large volumes of data. Carnegie Mellon University's NELL (the Never-Ending Language Learning) computer system "not only reads facts by crawling through hundreds of millions of web pages, but attempts to improve its reading and understanding competence in the process in order to perform better in the future." Machines with emergent artificial intelligence are not only capable of processing huge amount of information in a short time frame and arrive at an optimal solution, they also can avoid human errors and emotional biases. However, many experts are raising early warnings for potential pitfalls associated with such super-intelligent machines, which will not only replace the jobs of many human workers, but also may eventually “overcome and enslave humans.”    Programmable Material In case of 3D printing, computer readable designs are fed to a machine that can process the design and produce a finished object using additive manufacturing technology. Medical applications of 3D printing have reached such an advanced stage that even a living tissue or a cell can be printed in this process. Other fields of application of 3D printing include automotive, aerospace, electronics as well as housing and construction. Researchers at MIT have pioneered a technology in which the finished objects will be made from “smart materials” that can be pre-programmed. This new technology is called 4D printing, because it incorporates the additional dimension of “time.”   “While 3D printing is purposed around building static items, 4D printing employs dynamic materials that evolve or adapt to their external environment in real-time and in direct response to changing conditions. This ability to transform is embedded within the material itself. Objects created through 4D printing are assemble and alter their structure when the material of which they are composed comes in contact with different conditions, such as moisture or humidity. The ultimate goal is to create stimuli-responsive components, materials that modify their own form or self-assemble new patterns automatically and in predictive ways,” explains a September 2014 Georgetown Journal of International Affairs article. Advanced Robotics Next-generation robots will learn to collaborate with humans to become their co-workers. They will no longer be used only in factory assembly lines and separated from humans by safety cages. The WEF report talks about an example: “In Japan, robots are being trialed in nursing roles: they help patients out of bed and support stroke victims in regaining control of their limbs.” Boston Dynamics, a wholly owned subsidiary of Google, builds “advanced robots with remarkable behavior: mobility, agility, dexterity and speed.” These robots can walk, run, and climb in a variety of terrains and surfaces by learning to deal with environmental variations. An interesting Tech  Times article discusses how researchers at University of Maryland are looking at whether robots can learn a skill, like cooking, by watching YouTube videos.  Apart from the five technologies mentioned above, technologies that are going to impact our lives in a profound manner are Big Data, Analytics and Internet of Things (IoT). Among these, analytics will be a de-facto technology for a learning machines. Embedded Analytics According to Gartner’s “Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2015,” analytics will be embedded in every app so that it will continue to learn and develop insights on a continuous basis. Such technology-based learning will lead to “advanced, pervasive, and invisible analytics,” through which the apps will be able to intelligently monitor events, gather data, and learn about the context to take better decisions. By continuously analyzing data and by developing insights, these apps will create deep understanding of the business domains. Chris Argyris, in his seminal HBR article on organizational learning, “Teaching Smart People How to Learn,” coined the terms single loop and double loop learning. Argyris explained single loop learning with an analogy of a thermostat that automatically turns on the moment the temperature of the room drops below 68 degrees. “A thermostat that could ask, ‘Why am I set at 68 degrees?’ and then explore whether or not some other temperature might more economically achieve the goal of heating the room would be engaging in double-loop learning.” The article raised the issue of how highly skilled professionals can be very good at single loop learning but miserably fail at double loop learning. With the advancement of technology, we can now have thermostats that are intelligent enough to use double loop learning. Nest Labs, a Google company, specializes in making sensor driven self-learning thermostats and smoke detectors.   Bottom line: Machines will no longer remain dependent on their masters for learning. More importantly, like humans, learning machines will be able to use technology to enhance their skills. B. F. Skinner once said, “The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do.” The time has come to seriously ponder over the implications of this remark.

Learning Technologies for Machines

Employees worldwide are experiencing a transformation in how and where they work. This constant change affects our daily life and challenges our habits and patterns.Dr. Wendy Wood from USC reminds us that on any given day, almost half of our activity is repetitive and habitual. When put into this context, the shifts and adjustments we’ve been required to make during the pandemic have interrupted our routines in a significant way, which can leave us feeling drained. The good news is we can fend off burnout and enhance our ability to “burn bright” by rethinking daily rituals.Below are specific tips and tactics to bring greater intention, attention, and science to three important timeframes in your day—morning, midday, and evening.Recharge Your Morning RitualIt’s hard to argue against the importance of morning rituals for setting the tone of the day and setting us up for success. However, our early morning habits are among the most well-established and least examined. Here are a few tactics to improve your morning:Hydrate before caffeine. The ritual of morning coffee has high appeal for many of us. However, caffeine consumed too early provides little actual kickstart. Within the first 30 minutes of waking, your brain is firing up and getting systems functioning on its own—adding caffeine is like throwing some twigs on an established fire. Instead, try waiting for 60 minutes before consuming caffeine and drink water in the meantime.Delay jumping into email. As you lounge in bed for the first few minutes of the morning, would you invite your colleagues into your bedroom to share their needs and requests? It sounds ridiculous, but that’s what you do when you check email upon waking. Avoid the emotional hijack that can occur from jumping into email straightway and try to delay checking it by at least 10 or 15 minutes.Refresh Your Midday RitualThe middle of the day provides a prime opportunity to hit refresh on yourself. But most of us are missing out on the midday rituals that can help us gather energy for the second part of the day. Carving out time for yourself can have an exponential effect on your ability to burn bright. Here are some tips:Remember to breathe. Take a couple of minutes to notice your breathing. Is your breath quick and shallow? Breathing in this way causes your nervous system to up-regulate, leading to feelings of tension and anxiety. Instead, breathe slow and deep, which turns on your body’s anti-stress response. Studies have shown that less than a minute of intentional breathing has a positive impact.Reclaim time for yourself. Tune in to what you need on a particular day and determine how you can carve out time on your calendar for yourself. Do you need to get some sunshine? Eat a nourishing snack? Catch up with a friend? Unless you claim the time and schedule it for yourself, others will continue to nibble away at it.Revise Your Evening RitualMuch like our morning habits, our nighttime, pre-sleep routines are often ingrained and unexamined. Noticing and adjusting what we do to set ourselves up for successful sleep (falling asleep efficiently and staying asleep) is a critical component of renewing our rituals. Consider these tips:Choose an evening attitude of gratitude. Regularly practicing gratitude promotes a calm and settling environment that helps with sleep onset. Even just verbalizing to a family member three good things that happened that day helps set you up for sleep success.Say no to the nightcap. While alcohol and its sedative qualities can promote feelings of sleepiness, alcohol in your system overnight is shown to disrupt REM sleep. That disruption, in turn, diminishes the restorative effects of sleep, such as emotional maintenance and creativity. Consider leaving at least an hour between your last adult beverage and bedtime.Refine Your Rituals to Build ResilienceAt the foundation of your day are rituals and routines, whether you plan them or not. Take some time as the new year emerges to examine and refine your daily rituals. Doing so will allow you to build a foundation and become more resilient so that you can show up better for yourself and others.

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