T-Shapes, T Summit

1. Phil Gardner, Executive Director, Career Services Network
and Director,Collegiate Employment Research Institute at
Michigan State University, has been at MSU for 28 years in a
number of positions. His major areas of research include the
transition from college to work,early socialization and career
progression in the workplace, workforce readiness,and other
areas related to college student studies. MSU’s nationally
recognized annual college labor market study is done under his
direction each fall. He served as senior editor of the Journal of
Cooperative Education and Internships and was a Fulbright
specialist to New Zealand on work integrated learning. Gardner
earned a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry from Whitman College
and a Ph.D. in Resource & Development Economics/Public
Policy from MSU.
Jim Spohrer is the Director of IBM University Programs and
Cognitive Systems Institute. He works to align IBM and
universities globally for innovation amplification. Previously,
Spohrer helped to found IBM’s first Service Research group, the
global Service Science community, and was founding CTO of
IBM’s Venture Capital Relations Group in Silicon Valley. While at
Apple Computer, he was awarded Apple’s Distinguished Engineer
Scientist and Technology title for his work on next generation
learning platforms. Jim earned a Bachelor of Science in Physics
from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. in
Computer Science/Artificial Intelligence from Yale. His current
research priorities include applying service science to study
nested, networked holistic service systems, such as cities and
universities. He is the author of more than 90 publications and
has been awarded nine patents.
Our Presenters

2. T-Shaped Individuals:
An Imperative for Industry
Jim Spohrer
IBM

3. Innovation and Teams
Why Industry Needs T-Shapes
• People with different specializations and
experiences find it difficult to talk to each other
• To solve complex challenges and speed up the rate
of discoveries, people from different disciplines must
communicate with each other efficiently and pool
their expertise effectively

4. -10
-5
0
5
10
15
1969 1974 1979 1984 1989 1994 1999
Levy, F, & Murnane, R. J. (2004). The New Division of Labor: How
Computers Are Creating the Next Job Market. Princeton University Press.
Expert Thinking
Complex Communication
Routine Manual
Non-routine Manual
Routine Cognitive

6. “Cognitive Sport” Collaborations
Academics
• Do your courses require team
projects?
• Are the projects real-world open
innovation challenges? Real-
world data? Real-world tools?
• Are student teams multi-
disciplinary?
• Are industry coaches involved?
• Do faculty have multiple industry
relationships? Multiple years?
Industry
• Do your employees’ annual
evaluations include coaching student
team projects?
• Do you provide real-world open
innovation challenges? Real-world
data? Real-world tools?
• Do the best students get internships?
• Do the best interns get jobs?
• Do faculty relationships span multiple
years/cohorts of students?

7. Here they come!

8. T-Shaped Individuals:
An Imperative for Undergraduate Education
Phil Gardner
Michigan State University

9. Reaching the Other Side:
The transition from college to work

10. ABET
Arriving at the T

11. Case Study: Boise
TOP SKILL BUNDLE
• Able to perform with integrity
• Able to solve problems
• Able to manage time and priorities
• Able to take the initiative
• Able to analyze, evaluate, and
interpret information
• Able to contribute to a team
• Able to effectively communicate orally
• Able to build and sustain working
professional relationships
SECOND SKILL BUNDLE
• Able to embrace change
• Able to acquire knowledge
• Able to manage and synthesize
different sources of information
• Able to effectively communicate
through writing
• Able to create original ideas and
innovations (be innovative)
• Able to plan and manage a project
• Able to develop further professional
competencies

12. The T- Shaped Professional

13. 13
Systems
© IBM
Systems that focus on the flow of things
Transportation & Supply Chain
Water & Waste Recycling
Food & Products (Nano)
Energy & Electric Grid
Information/ICT & Cloud (Info)
Systems that focus on human activities & development
Buildings & Construction
Retail & Hospitality/Media & Entertainment (tourism)
Banking & Finance/Business & Consulting
Healthcare & Family Life/Home (Bio)
Education /Campus & Work Life/Jobs & Entrepreneurship (Cogno)
Systems that focus on governing
City (Government)
State/Region (Government)
Nation (Government)
Higher Ed – T-shaped depth added, cross-disciplinary project teams
Professional Life – Adaptive T-shaped life-long-learning & projects

14. The T- Shaped Professional

15. Aligning the Learning to Produce T’s
© IBM

16. Nurturing the T

17. Here they come!

18. Please join us! Register at tsummit.org for the early bird pricing of $150 by January 31.

19. Questions?
Please submit your question in the box on the lower right of your screen.
Jim Spohrer Phil Gardner
spohrer@us.ibm.com gardnerp@msu.edu