I was reading about the phenomenon known as “déformation professionelle”, the tendency to look at things from the perspective of your profession’s conventions. This can be a strength or a weakness depending on the scenario and the profession of course. I immediately thought of an acquaintance of mine who is an auditor and definitely carries this persona that is successful for work, into other areas where being conservative and overly concerned with small details is less appealing!

In many ways my marketing and education blog is a collection of things that I think crossover between the two realms. After teaching and studying marketing for many years I feel like I see the world through a marketing theory lens, and often describe to my students how they should practice their analysis when walking into a retail space, scanning the environment like The Terminator does. Google Glass may well make this easier but for now looking at the clientèle, process, physical evidence and visual merchandising can be done quite quickly in ‘analogue’ mode.

For me, there are many similarities between education and marketing. The educator is trying to use a set of tools to inform, persuade, motivate and affect behaviour. The content can be viewed as uninteresting or unwanted, so creating awareness, interest, desire and action are required. Above all, the educator, like the marketer is trying to create value for the student customer, fulfilling a need and satisfying a want.

How else might education be viewed? A Doctor may see education very clinically, with students exhibiting ‘symptoms’ that are merely illustrative of a larger learning issue. Certainly the Melbourne Graduate School of Education follows this perspective, as one of its creators is a medical practitioner. Might an Engineer or Scientist see education equally clinically, running learning experiments and diagnosing learning patterns using well kept records of multiple independent variables? Education is a people business though, is there a place for right-brained, artistic professions as well. I can easily see the ‘performance’ aspect of education, seeing lessons as shows, exhibitions, interactive experiences and collaborations is equally valid.

How might we adjust our values, attitudes and behaviours if we saw education as:

• project management
• client management
• customer service
• babysitting
• correctional services
• personal development
• entertainment
• investment
• religion?

Managing multiple classes with many students, multiple tasks and assignments, reporting upwards and downwards in cross functional teams and departments in matrix structures could use some project management software. Numerous stakeholders with significant bargaining power (students, parents, staff, professional bodies, local community etc.)  requires client management and adaptable customer service styles. Would funding, fees and educational philosophy shift if we viewed education as an intangible investment for the future?

Does your background carry any bias into how you see your current profession? Does your current profession influence how you see other parts of your life?