Education Systems Must Adapt to Survive

Q: What about Collective Academy’s mission or values led to your participation as an advisor?

A: Education is the bedrock of successful and modern societies. Collective Academy has an incredible mission: to continue to advance and modernize higher-level education not only in Mexico but throughout Latin America. It stands for transformation through education. People should never stop learning. There will be a severe paradigm shift as people start to understand that education must continue over the course of their whole life. Collective Academy is not only convinced of this but also prepared to be a leader on that road ahead.

Q: How does your expertise contribute to Collective Academy’s goals?

A: I have participated in academic programs throughout my life. For instance, I have the honor of currently serving  on the  Board of the School of Business at the Tecnológico de Monterrey and Universidad Anáhuac. I have a passion for education, life-long learning and transforming the minds of future leaders. In addition, I have experience in the leadership development field, thanks to over 20 years in advisory roles with global consulting firms. 

Q: What is Collective Academy’s education methodology and how does it balance traditional learning with real-world projects?

A: Collective Academy’s methodology is based on two models: B2C through the Master’s in Business Transformation (MBT) and B2B which focuses on enterprise learning. In the MBT, mentors follow a Socratic teaching methodology that involves two hours of pre-work to let students get familiar with specific topics in preparation for a three-hour session with the mentor. This preparation allows students to fully understand the background beforehand and discuss real challenges interactively. It is essential for us that sessions with students are more than just lectures, they should provide a space to hold real-life conversations and to share “collective” knowledge and advice. 

Q: How are these methodologies shaped by the different needs that industries have in terms of emerging skills?

A: We have three leadership pillars: technology leadership, business innovation and core skills. While all three are tailored to a specific role, they can be adapted in response to evolving macroeconomic conditions.  It is simply not possible to teach the same subject without updating its content or arguments at least every 10 or 15 years, which is one flaw of the traditional education system. This has become even more glaringly evident since the COVID-19 pandemic; which forced both individuals and organizations to learn new ways of working and living in a period of just two or three months. 

This shift demanded new critical competencies beyond hard skills to include soft skills such as: teamwork, communication, adaptability and flexibility. A combination of these capacities are essential to maneuver and excel in a post-COVID reality characterized by heightened volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. 

Q: How is a prolonged tech talent deficit likely to undermine the development of Mexico’s emerging digital ecosystem?

A: Historically, the country has unfortunately been a laggard in terms of technology innovation and educational systems, such as those used by the most important universities in the US. This has affected recent graduates’ first years of their professional career. Typically, Mexicans have been less prone to undertake entrepreneurial activities right out of college; opting instead to seek a steady job. However, organizations like Collective Academy are giving them the knowledge, capacities and confidence to go beyond their perceived limitations through the promotion of innovation, healthy risk-taking and self-confidence. 

Q: What will happen with the traditional education model?

A: Educational institutions that do not understand the life-long learning paradigm shift will be in trouble, while those that do will be able to anticipate emerging changes, adapt and prevail. Universities are primely positioned to benefit from this shift which would allow them to “catch” a student at different intervals of their professional development instead of a one-time, four-year business cycle per candidate. This is extremely pertinent for domestic universities that are collaborating with private sector entities and entrepreneurs to help them develop courses needed for their students to excel, transition and augment their abilities throughout their professional careers. 

Q: What do you consider to be the ideal balance between corporate and individual responsibility for skilling and reskilling?

A: The responsibility of upskilling and reskilling should fall equally on both the corporation and the individual. A charge that came as a result of the war for talent which expanded organizations’ focus from how to attract the best talent to also considering how to develop the best talent. This is especially important considering that companies have discovered that individual and professional growth is important to collaborators, who otherwise lose interest and are less committed to their work. Consequently, businesses must make an effort to prioritize the well-being of their employees, especially as workers seek to answer two questions: “What am I contributing to the world and to this corporation as an individual? What am I learning or taking away from my time with this company?”

Q: What are the leadership skills in which executives need to excel in a post-pandemic reality?

A: Adaptiveness, teamwork, flexibility, relentless curiosity, resilience, thinking global while acting local and really understanding client behavior and needs are all fundamental skills for the leaders of today and tomorrow. In an emerging digital economy, these competencies will allow leaders to harness the added productivity of technology to solve macroeconomic challenges at an individual level–a game changer.

Collective Academy is a new university focused on transforming the future of Latin America by connecting professionals in business and technology with decision makers of the future.