2016 Predictions – Your Learning Zodiac

You have probably started watching the appearance of predictions for 2016. You have never before known about your learning zodiac. The best part about this zodiac, if you don’t like the prediction for your zodiac, pretend you are someone else. That’s what it means to take control of your life. So read the 2016 predictions – all of them – you never know who you will become.Capricorn (Dec 22 – Jan 19): Dude, you are so digital that anything other than e-Books is just not working for you. Use the Kindle app on your phone (you have to first download it before it shows up on your phone) and then get used to squinting on that small screen. Once your eyes have learned to read that tiny font, you will make a trip to the ophthalmologist and buy brand new specs. Avoid buying Google Glass. It does not go well with your personality this year. Maintain a gratitude journal every day. Find something every day to be grateful for. Don’t say that is hard, you have no idea about my life.Aquarius (Jan 20 – Feb 18): You will finally learn to use Skype this year (wait I have not finished my sentence) to learn stuff from your virtual colleagues across geographies. They are virtual because you have virtually never spoken to them. Many new ideas will come from people outside of your department. You will discover new friends among colleagues and many of them will have ideas you can implement at work. That increases your chance of finally winning employee of the day. Listen to one TED talk every day. Use that idea at work the same day.Pisces (Feb 19 – March 20): Learning for you will go omni channel – just like retail. Teach yourself how to use each device (laptop, desktop, ipad and mobile) you own for learning. Bring these devices under a secured network from where you can plug into great learning content and you are ready to rock the on-demand learning party. Just remember, mobile is not the best platform to do an hour long e-learning course. Save that for the time when you are sitting before your laptop. Social learning will be your new addiction in 2016. And it is high time that happened anyway.Aries (March 21- April 19): “Coach on app” will be your killer idea this year. You will find a coach you can connect with on your phone (think Google Map for coaching) who will give you step by step directions as you negotiate a tough day at work. Remember to use headphones as you navigate your workspace or else you will find everyone else doing the same thing. That will make your office look like a giant Macarena dance. Not cool at all. Try using LinkedIn as your new publishing platform. You can’t learn the digital media until you create content.Taurus (April 20 – May 20): See if you can get a heads up on how to use Predictive Analytics to judge potential leaders in your team. That lets you coach the right people who you will put into complex positions later on in the year. Talent Analytics promises to give you unprecedented popularity for being an unbiased decision maker. Just one suggestion – remember to ask Santa to let this be delivered in your stocking and not someone else’s. Work out Loud will be your new obsession. That simply means keep sharing what you are currently learning (maybe through a blogpost) even as you are trying it out. It inspires others to join you as you climb the mountain not after you hoisted the flag.Gemini (May 21 – June 20): You have two of everything thanks to your sun sign. That means twice the chances of success at creating terrific content for your internal social media channel. If you do not start writing two pages (yes Gemini, you have to write for your twin too) every day, all you will achieve in 2016 is twice the amount of jokes forwarded on WhatsApp. That does not count as content creation. Write about areas where your colleagues seek you out.Cancer (June 21 – July 22): You have to stop being sensitive about getting feedback. So stop being a soft shelled crab and use your claws to grab colleagues who can give you great feedback on areas you can improve. Ask for specific feedback on how you are improving your knowledge of sectors other than your own. Your emotional intelligence is a gift that others can learn from. This is a skill you can teach others by role modelling. You will discover the joys of learning from Podcasts like Freakonomics. When you groan and embark on your daily commute, listen to your favorite podcast.Leo (July 23 – Aug 22): Class room training is dying slowly. You get to pull the plug on it this year. But don’t use the sage-on-stage model to deliver your wisdom when people come to ask you just how you manage to come with this brilliant idea whose time has come. Instead play the guide-by-the-side and occasionally let the learner make mistakes. Not roaring at the learner after they have made the same error twice lets them reflect and learn. So let them. With Facebook getting lots of feeds from New York Times and Wall Street Journal, it could be your favorite site to learn from.Virgo (Aug 23 – Sept 22): This could be the year when more people go to watch “Return of the MOOC”. So far MOOCs have been televised recordings of classroom lectures. That does not exactly drive the viewer crazy with desire to learn. If people take breaks while watching movies that have good looking stars and dialog that sizzles, then that’s what MOOCs need to be like. You are likely to spot one of these rare sequels that look as snazzy as a Hollywood blockbuster. Google search if used well can be a great learning tool.Libra (Sep 23 – Oct 22): If you are in the L&D team then it is time you took a hard look at your skill set. While learning will continue to become mission critical, the corporate L&D team does not automatically get to win the race for being the sole provider. Create learning communities in your organization and dish out sizzling byte sized content that gets people excited about learning. The rule of social media is simple – first get people to stand around you and listen to you without blinking. You will start using Google Docs to co-create content with your colleagues. It will strengthen your skills in collaboration.Scorpio (Oct 23 – Nov 21): You will continue to find Twitter as the most powerful learning tool for the seventh year in a row followed by YouTube snapping at the wings of the Twitter birdie. Finding the right people to follow on Twitter will remain an enigma. So keep shuffling 20% of the people you follow. That is the trick in getting fresh ideas. Sketchnotes will continue to be your preferred tool for creating quick visual snapshots of ideas.Sagittarius (Nov 22 – Dec 21): By the time you are celebrating your birthday in 2016, some more organizations would have killed their corporate learning management system because the best content is already there on the Net (and it is free). You could be using Pinterest to do more work related research. Pinterest has gone beyond being the place where people exchange embroidery designs. Use Pinterest to share ideas. Start by sharing this post with your friends.——–Join me on Twitter @AbhijitBhaduriPublished by HRKatha.com Don’t miss this hilarious take A Horoscope Pisces Me Off