The purpose of testing should be to boost learner agency and efficacy. Unfortunately, many tests actually have the opposite effect, increasing stress in ways that undermine both agency and efficacy. When administered in a thoughtful way, testing can serve as a feedback loop that enables learners to make (agential) decisions about how they want to […]

Every organization needs a few idea practitioners to help them stay ahead of the curve. Unfortunately, most organizations struggle to recognize, leverage, reward or keep idea practitioners… When I read this article about 22 years ago, I felt the authors had identified the role organizational EXPLORERS play in keeping their workplaces, cultures and businesses vibrant. […]

We can’t live meaningful lives without connections to others, but our inter-connecting webs of relationships can come to feel like a web of constraints on our ability to proactively initiate action. This may be why it has become commonplace to say that people thrive on autonomy. Upon further consideration, though, we may be conflating agency […]

“Teenagers (AND HUMANS OF ALL AGES) are great at goal-directed behavior when it’s a goal that they care about.” – David Yeager, professor of psychology, University of Texas at Austin (added by yours truly;) In an interview on People I Mostly Admire, David Yeager says that his research shows that viewing difficult tasks as challenges […]

Sometimes if you don’t learn from history, you are doomed to LOSE THE OPPORTUNITY to repeat it;) The most interesting ideas often come from unexpected places (and times:) Around 2000 years ago, the Romans started adding a certain kind of volcanic ash that made concrete self-repairing. The ash contained calcium that would naturally fill gaps […]

Japanese cultural forms such as literature, manga and anime explore many social aspects of individual existence in a way that resonates for people around the world. What does it mean to be a socially-integrated individual? Technology has enabled the emergence of a world that seems in many ways to be much more inter-connected than anything […]

Never give up on that dream! I recently watched a program following the endeavors of a young woman who runs an onigiri shop staffed by aspiring “idols.” She also sponsors some of these young women in their efforts to make it in the idol industry. She describes her venture as 「大人の青春」(otona no seishun / a […]

Which reflects a higher level of psychological security and emotional maturity?「嫌われる勇気」(the courage to be disliked by others) or「好かれる勇気」(the courage to be liked by ourselves)? As we move through the stages of life, most of us do at some point have to develop the the courage to do and be things that expose us to the […]

In this 1983 article, Indrei Ratiu describes how the “most international” managers consider both cultural and individual factors when interpreting their international colleagues’ behavior. When working internationally, it is a good idea to study cultural patterns, but it is often even more important to pay close attention to the person in front of you right […]

Wouldn’t it be nice to have one framework to organize all that feedback, reflection, ideation, coaching, planning (i.e. thinking and communicating about the past and future) that make you an effective leader? As action-oriented beings, when we think about the past, we usually do so with the purpose of influencing something in the future. Whatever […]