David Moon
"What sets Kenneth apart from others? His passion, his intelligence, his ambition. He is like no other."
How does Kenneth's performance compare to that of other well-qualified individuals in similar roles?
Working as a Researcher and Developer requires certain characteristics. They need to be assiduous, passionate, and detail oriented. With the said traits, Kenneth has excelled in developing English programs and curricula in conjunction with Scholastic. He has both led and assisted the planning and the development of the student books but also was vital in the developing of E-books, a delivery system for the Scholastic program. The E-book is not just digitization of the Scholastic books but also includes links, pop-ups, and guides that aid teachers in the proper execution of the program. The contents for the links that include both pictures and videos, pop-ups with suggested questions to ask, and guides like mind-maps were all developed by the team led by Kenneth.
The success of the program development with a severe time constraint is not what sets Kenneth apart. Rather, it’s his ability to adapt and excel in new roles. Upon near completion of the program development, I reassigned Kenneth to the training team. Training required a new set of skills. They need to be strategic and innovative thinkers while also performing a role as a project manager. Kenneth was not satisfied with simply training teachers on the contents of the program. He was more ambitious. He wanted the most effective method of delivering the training sessions, the optimal ways of conveying ideas, and simplification of difficult teaching methods while applying the same teaching methods utilized in the Scholastic program in his training session. It was an aggressive and ambitious approach to training. With limited resources and manpower, he not only produced the promised training program but also led the execution of the training program, training hundreds of teachers in multiple locations.
His adaptability was on display once again when working on the development of the company CRM and LMS systems. The company wanted to create an online system that would integrate all 30 campuses owned by EDC. Although a third-party solution would be used, customization requirements would have to be determined. With limited knowledge of IT, Kenneth went to work. With the aid of his background knowledge on campus operations, he was able to develop the plan that would optimize the use of the CRM system. His approach to the customization was not based on functions (menus) but rather processes a user typically experiences. From creation of storyboards to testing the system processes for quality, Kenneth was vital to the CRM development.
What sets Kenneth apart from others? His passion, his intelligence, his ambition. He is like no other.
Describe the most important piece of constructive feedback you have given Kenneth.
Kenneth is a person who loves to help others. However, there is a difference between helping with a task and helping them do the task. Kenneth is the latter. He doesn’t simply diligently help complete the task that is asked of him, but rather helps the individual to understand the issue and helps them resolve them so that they are capable of performing the task on their own in the future. It takes a lot more effort and energy to see things from a different person’s perspective, think of the steps it takes to help the individual understand the issue, create an action plan that would aid the individual, and execute the action plan. He truly is a teacher at heart.
At times, a problem arises when a request for assistance arrives when Kenneth is overwhelmed with his own work. Rather than informing them of his busy schedule, he performs the requested task and assists in problem solving all the while suspending his own work temporarily. The end result is either delayed completion of his task or working overtime to compensate. I have had discussions concerning this issue where I specified that it not only affected him but also his team members as well. Helping others is great but his primary concern should be his own work, then the team, and finally other teams. Helping other teams should come when it doesn’t interfere with his work. Knowing when to help and when not to help is just as important as helping itself.
Kenneth, while he understands the issue, finds it difficult to turn away requests for assistance. It does not mean that he doesn’t understand the issue. Kenneth believes that there can be a balance between helping others in need and his schedule. He now weighs the importance of the request and the estimated time to complete the request to his own schedule. In essence, its urgency and its importance. If the task is important but not urgent, he would work on it after his scheduled work hour. It is a compromise that everyone could work with. Is there anything else you would like to share about Kenneth?
I have worked as a team leader and a department head for a long time. I have seen many people come and go and seen how different people work. Most people excel at one or two things and they tend to focus on what they are good at.
Kenneth is different.
He knows his strengths but he is always looking for ways to test his ability and learn different things. He is always researching and thinking about new projects. Ending here would be impressive enough but he doesn’t end here. He takes it one step further. He would then take the time to find synergies between what he knew and the skill he newly acquired. This result produces a new set of skills that span multiple disciplines. It is then harnessed to see and approach projects in a more holistic way. This was viewed when he was tasked with creating the training program and it appeared once again when creating the customized CRM system. There was no denying that the end product was a product of holistic design and detailed implementation.
Head of R&D/Director at Rise Korea
Former Head of R&D/Director at The Education, Inc.
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