This post is a follow up to the TED-Education post yesterday: What Aristotle and Joshua Bell teach us about Persuasion. If you haven’t already watched the lesson, you’ll need to as background to the material in this post. You can watch it here on TED Education. What could Joshua Bell do to get his music heard … Read more
I finished my first expedition into the world of MOOCs – Massive Open Online Courses – this week. I have completed a 10 week course on Coursera run by a team led by Dr. Struck of Penn State University. The course was titled Greek and Roman Mythology. How was the experience? In four words: Hard … Read more
When I was 13 years old, American Football became the passion of my group of friends at school in Dublin. We would play our version of touch American Football up on a tarmac area behind school. I remember catching the football and running for the end zone. A member of the other team caught my … Read more
When I was 9 years old, my father brought a Commodore Vic 20 computer home for Christmas. It came with 3k memory. It had a keyboard, a tape drive and it connected to a TV. I still remember sitting in my pyjamas and turning it on. As a child with nobody to tell me how … Read more
When someone tells me that I am wrong, what do I learn? “You are not doing that right!” “How did you let this happen?” Do I learn what is intended? I don’t think so. I don’t often know what is intended – that I should feel bad or guilty; or that I need to see … Read more
I am terrible at being bored. I fill my days with a constant stream of activities. Three days ago, I was with my daughter on a beautiful Costa Brava beach. We were on a journey to explore the ruins of an ancient 6BC Iberian town on the cliffs (located on the head of the peninsula … Read more
“A person cannot teach another person directly; a person can only facilitate another’s learning” Carl Rogers This is how I want to Teach: I create an environment in which participants can learn. I am responsible for setting the mood in the room. I teach leaders. I accept zero excuses. I will never, never, never provide … Read more
Freedom is dangerous without self discipline. Few people will get anything important done in life without a boss, a parent, a teacher. It is the removal of freedom that allows creation. Completion requires constraints: deadlines, scope, format… We chaff at the chains, but they serve us. My boss is an idiot, but without her insistance … Read more
Would you like lower stress, increased focus, improved memory, faster learning? Sounds good? There is one simple 5 minute daily habit that can help. It will also make you a better communicator. It might be worth a test? There are 3 major benefits of keeping a written journal. Writing slows down time The past is … Read more
I just spent the last 60 minutes wasting time. I sat down at the computer with a clear intention to write an article. I opened Scrivener, my writing software. I looked at the blank page… and allowed myself to open email… check facebook… Google+, and have just now surfaced from a 60 minute black hole … Read more