Why Making Paradigm Shifts is SO Hard
Moving from an industrial ‘might’ to an information ‘byte’ education system will require a Herculean effort – supported by listening, collaboration and an open mindset. The dominant paradigm has been in place for the best part of two centuries, but [...]
Industrial Might to Information Bytes
As an educator, I love to learn, and I love sharing what I have learned. While conducting research on educational institutions and education pedagogies for this series of blogs, I came across a fascinating article by Peter Gray, a Research Professor of Psychology [...]
Educating Knowledge Workers in the Info Age
The late Peter Drucker has been described as the founder of modern management. I still remember the title of his textbook “Practices of Management: Planning, Directing, Organising and Controlling” when I first studied management at university in the [...]
Employee happiness depends on the boss
I’ve long been interested in the relationship between employee job satisfaction and work-related performance ever since I read about the famous Hawthorne studies conducted by Elton Mayo, a Harvard professor and generally regarded as the founder of the [...]
Calling all leaders – the environment needs you!
As a leadership and management commentator, I don’t normally blog about climate change and the environment. However, in my view today’s most pressing and complex leadership challenge is climate change and the environment. The world needs leaders from all walks [...]
Cutthroat Cooperation or Friendly Competition?
Conventional wisdom dictates that competition - regardless of whether it’s in the classroom, on the playing field or between business rivals – is good because it builds character, boosts productivity and delivers better outcomes. The degree to which the [...]
Breaking out of the mold requires perseverance
I recently attended a “Toxic Masculinity” workshop sponsored by a local baseball club that had tragically lost 2 of its members to suicide in the past year. Bill's Story The purpose of the workshop was to help men redefine what it means to be a man and learn [...]
Throw out the Carrots, Burn the Sticks … and Watch Employee Motivation Blossom
I’m often asked how to motivate employees. Indeed it’s a ‘perennial’ question with added urgency for managers wondering how to motivate a ‘Millennial’ generation where old school tactics such as rewards, recognition and fear are no longer producing [...]
Confidence – not perfection – should be the goal
The great debate continues. A controversial OpEd by clinical psychologist Lisa Damour in the New York Times about the fundamentally different approaches girls and boys take to school assignments caught my eye the other day. Lisa’s observation - based on years [...]
Employee wellbeing starts with job control not yoga classes
Many of us have taken up some form of mindfulness or movement practice to help manage our stress and ageing bodies. I love going to yoga a couple of times a week for both the mental benefits that help soothe the week’s stress as well as the physical benefits [...]