Sigalit Sobel Savyon, מחבר ב-Sigalit DTL

How can frustration with the education system be channeled?

Sigalit Sobel Savyon — Sat, 17 Jun 2023 11:46:10 +0000

What do we do with frustration about the education system? I’ll give you a hint here – impact. Think of lots of chunks of activity with a double bottom line. It will make an impact. Believe me.

What I write here has burned inside me for a long time. Having served in various positions within the Israeli Ministry of Education for over 20 years and now working within the Ed Tech ecosystem, I am well aware of the many frustrations paired with the many nice things about the education system as well as its many positive aspects. The most significant to me is the fundamental ability of everyone active in this ecosystem to make a change.

Why am I writing this right now? Among my other occupations, I am part of the leading team of the group “Tech4Ed.” This morning there was a discussion that brought out frustrations about the state of teaching, education, obsolescence, teachers’ behavior, and everything that exists in small or large dimensions. During the discussion, there was a turn from letting off steam (which is very critical) to pointing out solutions that already exist and are being implemented (not just technological ones) and suggestions for new options and connections to new people.

This is the solution! You shouldn’t be frustrated, but rather move on to doing (as much as I love doing, but that’s another post). The action I’m referring to is called impact investing. These are investments with a double bottom line: financial and social returns. Companies achieve a higher financial return thanks to their impact. It is worth mentioning that this is not just about technology companies. Naturally, technology companies and Ed Tech companies often lead the trend because they are fundamentally innovative. The others will join later as well.

To understand the ability to change through impact, I want to tell you about a constructive conversation I had a few months after I started working at the Ministry of Education. I came to the office with start-up experience and mentality. I was used to closing things with the CEO within a few minutes. Suddenly there is a hierarchy and a body that takes time to make decisions and implement them. At this point, I told myself that if I didn’t move things along soon, I would return to work for a small company. I shared my frustrations with Ranit Zexer (today, the legendary CTO of Matrix), and the metaphor she used helped me change my approach. She said that I arrived at an aircraft carrier and tried to turn her like aspeed boat. Simple. When I tried to understand how to apply the metaphor in practice, I realized that if I stick to the example, you can’t tell people to let’s turn north 30 degrees, but mark the turn north 30 degrees as the target and reach the target through gentle steering of one or two degrees consistently. It works. I made the method my trademark.

Now let’s go back to Impact and Ed Tech. Many Ed Tech companies offer solutions for education. These solutions don’t have to be radical; if they are innovative, they don’t have to be implemented simultaneously across the entire system.

Start small, show that it works, make adjustments as you proceed, listen to what the people who have been there for many years say (don’t dismiss them as old-fashioned!), and continue with determination. Imagine many teachers and companies that work this way (not just technologies), and you will see that change is possible. And if I enhance the metaphor of the aircraft carrier and the speed boat, I will add a sailing ship between them. This ship knows how to change direction with the wind and not only with a powerful engine. There will be significant changes as each solution moves the system in the right direction. Many solutions require our assistance to reach the right places.

So what do we do tomorrow morning (better now)?

If you are high-tech and/or education and/or ed-tech people or simply see the importance of education and impact, join an impact group (In Israel, we have a very active Tech4Ed group where we make great connections to realize ideas, and the impact takes place, but the discussion is in Hebrew).
If you are a teacher or parent trying to figure out how to change, start researching educational apps and software. Thinkabout what incorporated solutions in the coming year will fit the schools you belong to. There are many small solutions that will bring about significant change.

I would appreciate comments on the post, my email, WhatsApp, and other media. What brilliantly complements impact is crowd wisdom.

הפוסט How can frustration with the education system be channeled? הופיע לראשונה ב-Sigalit DTL.

How come British passports are suddenly issued quickly?

Sigalit Sobel Savyon — Thu, 23 Feb 2023 16:35:14 +0000

Case Study: How did they change the process of issuing passports in the UK? Outlines the excellent process and explains how other organizations can learn from the example.

The magic formula:

Covid pressure
Use an existing tool (Slack) and avoid coding
Changing the process from serial to parallel
Online service for other government agencies

I’m usually not enthusiastic about customer stories that companies publish. In this particular case, I met the clients at a conference held in London six months ago. They made a revolution – a rare modernization and transformation for the public sector. The combination of Corona constraints, a tool that is easy to implement, and managers of the HMPO (His Majesty’s Passport Office) allow for real change, not just “digital cosmetics.” They measure the change and deepen it.

The change carried out in the HMPO has achievements beyond the digitization of the process. Before the change, the manual process was serial and is now parallel. The process was serial for many years, primarily due to the inability to parallel work without a computer system. Changing the workflow is one of the first considerations for automating a process. Automation must allow parallel sub-processes to be managed through the system, creating integration between them and providing a snapshot during the process. It is essential to pay attention not to drag into the digitization process an outdated template of a process.
Another achievement that the mechanization of the process has made possible is the online checking of passports for other agencies, including the UK Border Agency, the Ministry of Justice, and the National Health Service.

Service delivery should focus on ease and efficiency. Digitalization facilitates the passport-related process for the customers and the agency providing the service.
Several measurements must be made to prove ROI in any digital transformation process. The main measures are service quality, the efficiency and quality of the process, and the reduction of costs.

I hope other countries will adopt the path paved by another government ministry on another continent. We all face the same challenges.

The HMPO Success Story

הפוסט How come British passports are suddenly issued quickly? הופיע לראשונה ב-Sigalit DTL.

I finally found a practical strategic theory

Sigalit Sobel Savyon — Mon, 20 Feb 2023 16:43:11 +0000

I was happy to be among the first to read Jeroen Kraaijenbrink’s book, The One-Hour Strategy. Its name is promising, and to not keep you in tension, I can tell you that he holds the promise.

We live in an era where the rate of change is tremendous, information is flooding us, and our attention span is short. This era also affects our ability as professionals to deal with professional literature and certainly involves the entire conduct of organizations. After reading the first few pages, you discover that it is a professional book that is fun to read, and that doesn’t happen often. While deepening the reading, we realize that the strategic concept presented here is relevant to our world and its directions.

The book is written as a simple plot about Martin, the new employee in the marketing department of “Water & Flows,” a company that manufactures industrial pumps. Martin’s first days in the company reveal innovative management and strategy concepts in a company that is considered low-tech. The way the employees Martin met with described the strategy made me want to work for this imaginary company. Although it is fictional, it can be the workplace of each of us.

The “One-Hour Strategy” concept becomes clear while reading the book. It is the answer to the irrelevance of strategic methods applied in organizations. It is also relevant to organizations operating in a constantly changing world, which is our reality today.

What is unique about the method?

It involves all employees in the organization on an ongoing basis. No more strategy meetings once a year, where everyone sits and reads emails. Strategy is a continuing process and not an event. It deals well with the gap between strategy and execution.

Engaged employees are the order of the day

I want to dwell on an essential point of employee involvement. I am a big believer in the participation of employees at all levels in what happens in the organization.
I got so attached to “One-Hour Strategy” because it involves everyone at its core.
Employee engagement has benefits that are more important now than ever. Organizations must be in a position where they are constantly incrementally updating their way of doing things.

A first advantage of employee involvement is that the more involved people are, the more tolerant and open they are to change. The resistance level decreases as they are part of the process that causes changes.

Another advantage is that engaged employees help the organization think in the right direction and adopt relevant changes. Employees must not feel they “do not count” and are only responsible for implementing their precise job requirements. Every company should remember what happened to Kodak ignoring the digital camera invented by its employee and remember that in today’s world, the risk of “Kodak 2” is much greater.

Implementation and internalization of a strategy while reading

The book is structured in a literary way, while the author puts thought into how the method is internalized.
At the end of each chapter, some questions connect the method and the place where the reader works. It makes the reader devote a few minutes of thought at the end of each chapter when the connection to the reality of each of us helps understanding and internalization.
Through the insights Martin records for himself during the meetings, the perception sharpens for us readers. Returning to the list of insights at the book’s end helps everything settle in your head much better.
In addition, during the description of the strategy by the people from the organization with whom Martin met, they showed him templates for implementing the strategy and even templates for managing meetings.

More than just a strategy

Beyond the excellent connection between strategy and the actual functioning of the organization, the book also has recommendations that are relevant to managers in general.
The recommendations appear between the lines, and you should pay attention to them.

Is everything perfect?

The book also refers to the weak points of the method, how to overcome them, and when it is suitable and when it is not.

In conclusion

The One-Hour Strategy is a must-book if you are in a management or strategy position.

I’m sure managers and strategists will recognize things they did out of a gut feeling to try to deal with strategic theories that are difficult to implement. The “One-Hour Strategy” method overcomes the shortcomings of the old approaches.
It is a contemporary approach that is easy to adopt, and the way it is structured and presented allows anyone to adjust to the reality of their organization.

הפוסט I finally found a practical strategic theory הופיע לראשונה ב-Sigalit DTL.

Natural Feminist

Sigalit Sobel Savyon — Tue, 20 Dec 2022 18:40:54 +0000

From time to time, I get to reflect on the sociological and psychological reasons that caused my choices in life, especially in everything related to their professional side. What seemed natural to me in the past seems to me more and more like a gift I received from my family while growing up.

The post by Michal Braverman Blumenstyk, Corporate Vice President at Microsoft, about the meetup held at Microsoft with mothers on maternity leave, reminded me of my mother. She was the first career woman I met and inspired me for my career choices.
My mother was a lawyer. She held a senior position in the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, and as in many other things, she did it without apologizing for being a wife and mother. It was clear to her that she got off work at 4 PM or maximum, at 5. She came to all the gatherings that required the presence of the parents. I should note that my father, who used to arrive later every day, made sure to attend all these activities. My mother did not have a feminist agenda, although, in practice, she certainly met the criteria of being one. She mostly did what she loved and knew the world would work out with her choices. From this, I conclude that she was a “natural feminist.” I don’t know if such an expression exists or if I just made it out.
Why did this meeting at Microsoft remind me of my mother? Because these babies came with their mothers to work. And so I, as a little girl, not a baby, came to work with my mother. When? When she didn’t have an arrangement for her daughter during the school holidays, she still wanted to get to work. And since my mother treated it as a logical solution, everyone saw it that way, and even if someone raised an eyebrow, she did not respond.
What I described here was my world as a child, and only many years later, I realized that most families do not behave like this. As a child, I didn’t notice that most of my friends’ moms didn’t work or work part-time or chose a convenient job that won’t conflict with family. My mother did not work in a suitable position that enables raising children but created for herself what everyone calls today “work-life balance.”
This activity of a senior manager at Microsoft is so important! It is essential because, still, too many women give up their careers to raise children. My mother brought me to work with her 50 years ago (here, I easily revealed my age…). In these fifty years, there has been a change in the labor market, but not a satisfying one. I hope that in 20 years, most families will behave naturally around the balance between parenthood and career and will not need external change agents to show them the way. For this to happen, we need a lot of senior managers (not only women managers) who will sanctify this balance and encourage women to talk about it, do it and be an example to the children they are raising.
That is why it is crucial to stop talking about affirmative action but about agents of change who, within a few years, will create a new reality: the “new normal” of a balance between career and family. Such a balance will affect the ability of women to choose a career and the whole family to conduct themselves differently and be a new role models for future generations.

In the photo, my mother (very pregnant) receives the formal certificate as a lawyer.

הפוסט Natural Feminist הופיע לראשונה ב-Sigalit DTL.

Salesforce UK&I Government Summit

Sigalit Sobel Savyon — Mon, 14 Nov 2022 13:03:15 +0000

Last week I was invited to UK&I Government Summit hosted by Salesforce in London. It was an inspiring day starting with strategy highlights from the Dreamforce annual event, followed by sessions about enabling and broadening Government service with technology.
I met engaging and enthusiastic people and came out with several “notes for myself.”

Everybody is facing the same challenges of doing more with less.

Technology is essential for enhancing the productivity of government staff to enable more efficient work with fewer resources. An IT department that wishes to be an enabler for this organizational process should dill with its efficiency enablers at the parallel ongoing mission.
An essential complementary aim must be more self-service to the citizens.

Push for platforms

Most IT departments in large organizations have long-term knowledge of traditional self-development. The era of cloud and SaaS is the exact time to transfer the teams to platform-first habits. Using platforms is a fundamental change in IT DNA that should start today. Any hesitations will cost the ability to face the demand and challenges. Changing towards platforms doesn’t mean losing control or vendor locking. The CIO and CTO should create a new knowledge base by developing the capabilities of the in-house architects and developers.
Eventually, platforms will reduce the workload on IT, though there must be an intensive infrastructure project to enable it.

High expectations for rapid delivery

MVP, TTM, and short-term projects are no longer the worries of startups and highly competitive organisations. Government agencies face the same demands from their managers, politicians, and citizens.
To meet these expectations, IT departments must rapidly change, as the demands will grow exponentially as the essence of immediacy.
In this context, we must remember that shadow IT is an ongoing problem, and the need to fast delivery will enlarge it.

Customer engagement

The voice of the customer is critical in the process of service modernization. People want to influence how governments will serve them. Working with cutting-edge technology enables an easy, structured conversation with the customers. People can see how and when governments implement their suggestions. The conversation enhances both citizens’ trust and the accuracy of the services.

Show me that you know me

Commercial companies are investing massive efforts in collecting and analyzing customer data. This enables them to know the customers and facilitate their journey. There are many things that citizens don’t have to ask. The organizations know and should communicate first. On the other hand, different agencies know many things about citizens, and the government must stop bothering their citizens by asking for already known information.

Real digital transformation

The deep meaning of digital transformation is about facilitating the process. Digitalising an existing form is keeping the same habits in a modern look. A fundamental digital transformation will shift the question from “why people are not using it” to “Why people are only using it.”

Looking at this vision can be inspiring or discouraging. Indeed it is a game changer, a “once in an era” move. All mega changes should be strategically planned for two years with a detailed and step-by-step program. Each stage should have visible outcomes.

הפוסט Salesforce UK&I Government Summit הופיע לראשונה ב-Sigalit DTL.

Automatic Government

Sigalit Sobel Savyon — Wed, 20 Apr 2022 10:45:20 +0000

What upsets people in dealing with the governing agencies should become an inspiration and a work plan.

I want to share an experience I had. At the national level, I hope it will have a happy ending.

Life happens and challenges us

My husband, Shahar, passed away a little more than 8 years ago. A good friend, a lawyer, helped us deal with the bureaucracy of issuing a death certificate and inheritance order.
At that time, I asked myself, without going into details, what is the source of the mentioned bureaucracy and whether digital processes can simplify it. The answer is “yes,” but as mentioned, I had no patience for details during those rough days.

Omer, my youngest son, was 13 years old at the time and was therefore registered in the inheritance order as a minor. His registration as a minor had an impact on funds transferring and on real estate registration.

Life continues, and bureaucracy as well

8 years later, due to some real estate deal, we officially registered an apartment that the children and I inherited. Omer, who has turned 21, was registered as a minor. The funding body demanded a corrected registration, according to his age, and to omit, the “minor” status. The official registration was carried out when Omer was already over 21 years old. Even though the lawyer asked the registrar not to omit the word “minor,” she insisted that it should be according to what was written in the inheritance order.
So how do you get out of this Bermuda Triangle? Simple. I paid a fee of NIS 513 (about 150 dollars) to the Ministry of Justice for amending the inheritance order. Beyond the scandalous amount, this whole procedure should not have taken place, but in the computer rooms of the Ministry of Justice and reached me in an online and imperceptible way (oh, yes, and for free).

Looking at the process

What should be the process? According to the law, at 18, Omer automatically became an adult and did not need to pay a fee or perform a particular procedure. One day a minor, and the next day an adult.
I would expect all the government processes where his status change to adult and somehow affects him or me to change automatically. However, they can update us on the status change and its meaning if necessary.

There should be a new inheritance order that I can use. Undoubtedly, it should have been updated automatically on the personal government digital service website.
And following this change, various entities, such as banks, insurance companies, and health organizations, will initiate automatic online processes according to the new status as an adult. Without a doubt, this is where the government, as a regulator, needs to issue guidelines.

Simple, no? very simple.

Taking responsibility

In my opinion, the government should be responsible for mapping the processes that must be carried out automatically, including cross agencies procedures involving several ministries. Everything should be done behind the scenes, and the citizen will not be required to be active in a place where the government and its computing departments can work in his place. In our era, there is no place for bullying citizens. As citizens, we expect government agencies to put our needs at the center and constantly think about what to do to simplify our bureaucratic conduct.

Who else should be committed to such the mapping of processes? All private organizations that provide us with services and subject to government regulations: banks, insurance companies, and health businesses.

I hope that the department in charge of improving the government service to the public will take the lead on the matter and there will be a happy end.

Not a unique problem

As a digital transformation expert in the public sector, I know this is a worldwide need. The gap between the automation that people get from private businesses and don’t get from government agencies is widening every day. As an Israeli citizen, I gave an example of my experience.

הפוסט Automatic Government הופיע לראשונה ב-Sigalit DTL.