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Rocket FuelJeffrey Tribe - 23rd October 2008Jeffrey Tribe, Graphics Tutor at the Centre for Arts, Bedford College on using continuing professional development as fuel for business growth. Manoeuvring down a narrow aisle, I drop in the seat to see the contents of my bulging carrier spill across the table. "Good afternoon ladies and gentleman and welcome aboard our 19.30 service to Derby stopping at Bedford and...." Yes! on hearing this all important destination, I take a deep breath and start to relax. Pulling together the papers and documents which have spilled across that so familiar table-top, I sit and stare out of the window as we are drawn purposely out of St Pancras into the open hushed grey London sky. Opening my notebook, I review words and thoughts scribbled only minutes earlier from a series of presentations. Ogilvy's Toronto - campaigns for Diamond Shaped Shreddies & Dove Evolution, Alan Kitching - Letterpress and Angus Hyland - Pentagram. It's there. It makes sense. But will I understand it in a year's time? Do I need to re-write it? These are my notes and reflections from a day of talks at Design & Art Direction (D&AD), an organisation that promotes & supports design through events competitions and on-going learning - on this grey October day a rich injection of what is also termed Continuing Professional Development (CPD). So why does this acronym and phrase seem so dull compared to the possibilities it offers? After spending a day listening to some of the most respected creative minds in the business I feel replenished - 100% fuelled up, oxygenated and raring to go. I also know that this day, for reasons of personal and professional satisfaction will last and stay with me. That in some small and perhaps even bigger way it will change what I do, think and feel in my professional capacity as a Graphic Design Tutor. Targeted learning such as this needs to be savoured, absorbed, reflected upon and used in ways which connect with our own thinking and experiences. This is Continuing Professional Development at its best. It would be so easy not to bother; stay inside the safety zone, spend no money and avoid rushing for trains and arriving home late. But this is simply treading water and no route to business development. As a Lecturer I have come to rely and feed upon events like this to update, replenish and enhance my skills. It's a fact that education has the ability to de-skill, but if you plan and use the resources available you can certainly more than compensate, and definitely re-skill in new directions. Over the years I have slowly lost some creative dexterity, but I believe that I have more than made up for this with new skills and knowledge arising from my hunger and curiosity to learn new stuff about this fantastic business. Purposefully seeking out seminars and professional contacts to work with students, provides the students with unique learning insights into how a range of companies and minds tick. Educational establishments pose no threat, we are neutral territory and as such organisations are prepared to openly share with us their knowledge and experiences. In return we openly share our knowledge resulting in a valuable criss-cross exchange process. Books, articles, news, web sites, exhibitions the latest software, case studies and snippets of all kinds are our forte. Unfortunately, some professionals can find access to regular rich CPD difficult because of time - the relentless pressures of work and constant deadlines. Since working as a Lecturer, I have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to attend events by many of my heroes: - Oliviero Toscani, Alan Fletcher, Michael Wolf, Vince Frost, Stefan Sagmeister, Alan Kitching, Michael Johnson and Jonathan Barnbrook to name but a few. Whilst working as a designer this name-dropping would have been nigh impossible. Educationalists often define people as either Active or Passive Learners. The former takes full responsibility for their learning, not blaming their development on the actions of others but instead the actions they do or don't take. The latter takes the reverse view, believing that their development is largely the result of the actions of others such as their Managers. It's often easy to recognise these traits in the people around us - those with initiative who want to get on, who are hungry to succeed and adapt, and those who simply wait for direction and opportunities to come their way. In today's design world there appears to be no place for such people unless they are only visiting the profession momentarily. With the increasing pace of change within the communications industry it is hard to imagine anyone now ignoring the opportunity for regular shots of targeted CPD; whether it be software training, learning skills with presentations, writing, research, environmental issues or other. It's now all about survival. Remember the typesetters and artworkers after the introduction of the Apple Mac. The key is to firstly take responsibility for your own learning. Recognise that it will be ongoing and constantly changing and more than likely linked to several career changes. In addition, one needs to be able to develop an ability to carefully reflect upon the learning that has taken place - to become in short a 'reflective learner'. This means thinking about how you can use new knowledge and skills in the future so that your learning is always linked to an action, and a theory to a practice. Linking your professional development to practical outcomes will certainly help you to define what counts as a really useful activity and it will also keep your manager happy. Quite simply, you need to keep asking yourself 'what did I get out of this?' Finally, think about how you learn best and develop a set of strategies to cater for your needs now and for the future. Learning takes place in so many complex ways - glancing through articles, private study, networking, formal courses, mentoring, or a combination of all of them. Whatever you do make sure you do it, make it fun, make it creative, and plan for it as you would a valuable investment. Author Bio Design Clinic 2 |
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