MIT World™ – A Free Learning Resource

MIT World™ is a fantastic, free, and informative website sponsored and maintained by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  It is a database of more than 600 videos of from significant public events at MIT.  This is a free and open site with on demand videos that a coaching friend of mine pointed out to me and you can go there too.  The site is: www.mitworld.mit.edu.

For those of us in the executive coaching, leadership development, and business consulting realm, this is some wonderful and inspiring stuff!  The topical index for the site includes:

• Architecture/Planning
• Arts
• Biotechnology
• Defense/Military
• Economics
• Education
• Engineering
• Environment/Energy
• Exploration/Travel
• History
• Innovation/Invention
• International Affairs
• Business/Leadership
• Media
• Medicine
• MIT
• National Security
• Public Policy
• Science
• Technology

Browsing through the videos, I found several that caught my eye:

• Linda Mason, Chairman of the 1.3 billion dollar Bright Horizons enterprise talking about how she and her husband came to launch and build their business during a tough economic time.
• Timothy Brown, from IDEO talking about “Innovation through Design Thinking”
• “Innovation Leadership during Economic Crisis” by Emmanuel Maceda from Bain and Company

What a rich resource of learning for coaches and their clients.  I also saw Thomas Friedman, Bill Gates, and Barack Obama on the list of recorded lectures and presentations.

Here’s how the site describes itself and its mission:

“MIT World™ answers that question by publishing key presentations by the MIT faculty and guest speakers who are shaping the future. These free, on-demand videos, available 24/7 to viewers worldwide, reflect and extend MIT’s educational mission—to provide the best education in science, technology, and related fields—to engaged learners anytime, anywhere.

More a publication of thought leadership, and less a news site, MIT World aims to capture the pulse and excitement of the range of ideas discussed at MIT every day and share them with the world. A growing archive of more than 585 works offers insights on topics ranging from architecture to innovation to technology and sustainability. Cumulatively, these presentations by world-class thinkers and doers map great ideas in the making.”

So, when you need a little brain boost, check it out!