More important, Dell has pioneered a model for the computer business to which other giant companies are struggling to adjust. Cone's job is to redefine education, training, and learning within this high-tech juggernaut. It's a tall order. The new economy may be a knowledge economy, and people may be every company's most critical asset, but job education in many organizations remains an undeniable backwater. Not at Dell.
Cone is a genuine radical in a field that is decidedly resistant to change.
Lots of people sitting in a classroom, with an expert up front telling you things. The natural way to learn is simply to be who we are and to do what we do. Kids learn by doing things. And they learn new things when they need to know them. That's the philosophy on which Cone has built Dell University.