Although not ground breaking, there is something I love about this little graphic from the folks at CMD. In one quick read, it provides you with a number of reminders on how to stay positive and motivated at work. Of course, the items listed here are all things that are more or less in your locus of control. Sometimes the more... Continue Reading →
Fear in Higher Ed… Fear in the workplace…
I've been thinking a lot about this concept of fear in the workplace. What causes it? What are the signs and symptoms? How do you reduce it? A big part of positive organizational culture change involves "getting the fear out." But what is the nature of fear? Specifically in higher education? Fear is multi-dimensional, cultural, and... Continue Reading →
The University-as-Theater: Are we just putting on a performance?
Is the university just an act of theater obscuring what is... or isn't going on? Are we caught up in traditions that have shielded us from realizing our own faults? from public criticism? Are we ready for the impending changes to higher education as a whole? Thinking about higher education as a theatrical performance exposes some... Continue Reading →
University in the New Millennium: Threats, Opportunities and Change
I’m excited to be presenting on one of my research passions at the 2014 national conventions of both ACPA-College Student Educators International and NASPA-Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education. My session on the future of higher education (see below) is something I’ve presented on before, but I’ve been able to update this presentation with about... Continue Reading →
Bowling Leagues, Cheers Bar, and Central Perk: Cultivate a Third Place, Cultivate Your Brand
In his 1989 work, The Great Good Place, Ray Oldenburg floated the idea of our needing a “third place.” Our first place is our home, where we live. Our second place is our work, where we spend a large portion of our time. Our “third place,” however, is an informal space that brings us together... Continue Reading →
I’d Like to Buy My Staff a Coke: Getting Them to Sing in Perfect Harmony
Social media and Web 2.0 technologies have changed the way we collaborate and come together for collective action. Additionally, they are enabling us to achieve feats of unprecedented size and scale. They are helping us search for cures to cancer, they have allowed us to create a comprehensive world encyclopedia, and they have even toppled... Continue Reading →
Education Radicals: An Evolution of Image
At left, Michelle Rhee's Time Magazine cover from 2008 when she was Chancellor of the Washington, DC schools. At right, two years later in 2010 after she resigned from office. Education and politics are littered with change sagas and heroes. I find individuals who enact radical change, however, to be particularly interesting. It always intrigues... Continue Reading →