Thursday, April 07, 2011

As I think about bubbles

As I think about economic bubbles (housing, higher education, etc.) it started me thinking about how businesses go about buying and delivering training. As the economy tumbles it would seem that it would make sense for industries to pull their resources and develop training and communities or practice (think trade guilds) to assist their employees to develop their skills.

But as I consider the topic and the commercial world's increasing focus on protecting "intellectual property" it puts me in mind of mideavel feifdoms where every little duke, lord, or baron kept each other at arms length and did not cooperate unless there was a serious threat to all of them.