|
 |
 Applied
McLuhan for Managers (non-credit) |
|
|
|
|
| |
| Objectives |
|
Based
on the new book, McLuhan for Managers - New
Tools for New Thinking by Mark Federman and Derrick de Kerckhove, the
object of this intensive seminar is to familiarise practicing
managers and executives with the thinking tools of
Marshall McLuhan — the same tools he used to
observe and extend the things we conceive and
create, and their effects on society, throughout
his life. Join Mark Federman in a thrilling
business trip through McLuhan's looking glass, and
gain a whole new way of looking at your
enterprise, and the business environment in
general. Mark uses a combination of seminar,
playshop and participant-led formats to explore applications of the thinking tools, drawing on specific
examples from business, to gain new awareness,
insight and perceptions. We will begin with
developing an understanding of figure, ground,
medium, message, the use of metaphors and probes
and move on to Media Temperature and the Laws of
Media. By the end of the course, participants will
be able to use the thinking tools to perceive
complex business issues differently than from the
perspective of conventional approaches and
disciplines.
From
the Foreword of McLuhan for Managers:
"The authors of this book blow the lid off McLuhan’s secret. They have mined his writings and have done a masterful job of setting our McLuhan’s core ideas clearly and in the context of our current digital challenges. But this is just the backdrop to their real task, articulating a set of thinking tools based on McLuhan’s unique way of assessing the future… What the authors have done is deliver fargazing tools for business activists."
- Paul Saffo, Director of The Institute For The
Future
This
course is available in both 1-day and 3-day
formats, and can be brought in-house, specifically
tailored for your unique situation. For more
information on upcoming seminars, or to inquire
about custom courses and facilitation, please
contact us.
|
 |
| Topic
Outline |
| Note:
The
core material in both the 1-day and
3-day formats is similar, although
explored in more depth during the
longer seminar. As well, the 3-day
seminar offers participants the
opportunity to explore specific
business issues in detail. Topic
selection is subject to change. |
|
|
|
|
McLuhan's language: Figure,
Ground, Environment, Medium, Message,
Concepts, Percepts |
| McLuhan's Use of Language -
"Else What's a Metaphor?": Language
as metaphor, the nature of truth,
cliché-probes |
| Laws of Media, part I: Why
the right questions are more important than
the right answers; The Grand Unified Theory
of McLuhan |
| Laws of Media, part 2: Determining
what is missing, How to predict the future! |
| Media Temperature: How media
engage us and why we should care; The nature
of television, and what it can tell us about
the Internet |
| Communication and Conversations:
Are e-mail and voice mail, mail? Can we
understand why people often misunderstand
the nature and effects of electronically
mediated communication? |
| New Product Development: When
a company develops a new product, how can it
know its effects? How do we ensure that it
actually has a product? |
| Human Resources and
Organizational Development: Understanding
the difference between jobs and roles and
why that distinction is important. Corporate
culture as the message of the corporation
medium. Why hiring the least
qualified person may be the best decision. |
| Dealing with Change:
Change is a process and not an event! Understanding the nature of change and its
intrinsic effects. |
| Corporate Leadership: Taking
the temperature of business managers.
Lessons from leaders. |
| Economics and Profit: Money
as metaphor and profit as subsidy: A new
perception of financial goals. |
| Globalization: Effects of
the "Global Village" on the
Villagers, and vice versa. Globalism as a
new ethic. |
| A Framework for Corporate
Ethics: What is the extension of a
person's conscience in the corporate body? |
|
|
| About
the Instructor |
| A
strategic thinker, Mark Federman has more than twenty-five years' experience in
the high-technology industry as executive, manager
and consultant spanning disciplines including applied
research and development, marketing, sales, operations
and strategic leadership. More... |
|
| Recommended
Reading List |
|
•
Gordon,
W. Terrence. McLuhan for Beginners. New York:
Writers and Readers Publishing, Inc., 1997.
•
McLuhan,
Marshall. Culture Is Our Business. Toronto: McGraw-Hill
Book Co., 1970.
•
McLuhan,
Marshall. Understanding
Media: The Extensions of Man. New York: McGraw-Hill,
1964. (Particularly Part I, Chapters 1-7)
•
McLuhan,
Marshall and Fiore, Quentin. The Medium is the
Massage. New York: Random House, 1967.
•
McLuhan,
Marshall and McLuhan, Eric. Laws of Media: The
New Science. Toronto: The University of Toronto
Press, 1988. (Chapters 3, 4 and optionally 5)
•
McLuhan,
Marshall and Watson, Wilfred. From Cliché
to Archetype. New York: Viking Press, 1970. (From
the beginning to the Introduction)
•
Norden,
Eric. "A Candid Conversation with the High
Priest of Popcult and Metaphysician of Media.
Playboy, March 1969. Available at http://www.ifi.uio.no/~gisle/overload/mcluhan/pb.html
Additional readings will be provided throughout
the course by the instructor.
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
