What if employee flourishing was one of our measures of success in organizations? What if we – individually and collectively – saw that part of our work together is to ensure that each and every person thrives in their work? If we aim to ensure that people flourish, we would go beyond attending to what [...]
As the year winds down, it's time to count our blessings. In the learning and development field, we can be grateful for… 1. Our individual strengths and our unique skill stack – and the projects that allow us to contribute those strengths for a good cause. 2. The collaborations that allow us to accomplish more [...]
September has always seemed to me a time of beginnings. That feeling is no doubt a remnant of many years' experiences with starting school, and it’s also the feeling that accompanies transition from summer to fall (my favorite season!). It's a time for new backpacks, new sweaters, and new books (not-beach-reads), and a time for [...]
The following is my contribution to the Learning Guild's ebook, 2022 Predictions from L&D Practitioners. Download it to see an array of predictions from other practitioners (accessible with free membership to Learning Guild). Do you remember that scene in the Wizard of Oz where Dorothy has just landed in Munchkinland? She’s gone through a tornado [...]
Last week, I invested part of my 3214th week on this planet in reading 4000 Weeks: Time management for mortals, by Oliver Burkeman (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2021). 4000 weeks is roughly the amount of time we have in our lives if we live to be 80 years old.^ Yet not a single moment of [...]
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose unto heaven. ~ Ecclesiastes 3:1 When people talk about great achievements in self-directed learning, they often cite examples from extreme sports enthusiasts or intense hobbyists. These voracious learners read up on the subject in any way they can. They take lessons from [...]
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” That classic Dickensian opening line perfectly summarizes the state of L&D in 2020. The pandemic has generated immediate learning needs and many L&D professionals have responded admirably using tools and techniques that seem custom-made for rapid response in a social-distanced environment. We’ve helped [...]
In the midst of everything that goes on at this time of year, I almost always make December a time for reflection and planning. My birthday is at the beginning of the month; the year turns at the end of the month; and there is often something liminal about the week between Christmas and New [...]
Alexander Hamilton is a man after my own heart. His life story not only makes for a great musical, it is also an object lesson in being a successful autodidact. I can totally relate to his approach to making sense of the world – which was through extensive reading and long-form writing. Despite his personal [...]
I confess to a minor (?) and highly improbable obsession with the blockbuster musical Hamilton. I don’t typically enjoy freestyle/rap music, so it’s not an obvious choice for me. (My lame attempt at a line of freestyle in the title of this post is the one and only of my lifetime.) But given that Hamilton’s [...]