The mission of the IESE Business School, where I teach about 1,000 EMBA, MBA and Senior Management participants each year, is to “develop leaders who aspire to have a deep, lasting and positive impact on people, firms and society” and I have spent a lot of the last 13 years attempting to find a way to … Read more
“There is magic in front of us… if we pay attention.” Mariano Torrente This is the first video released by the TED organisation from the recent TEDxIESEBarcelona event. Mariano Torrente is a magician who will graduate with the MBA class of 2016. (Watch it here.) Where Amazing Happens Amazing things happen right in front of … Read more
This was posted at Maria Popova’s blog Brainpickings back in 2012. I’m not a big fan of John Cage as a composer (he is most famous for over 4 minutes of silence…) but he was an inspiration for (and promoter of) these 10 rules: 10 Rules for Students and Teachers RULE ONE: Find a place you … Read more
The basic freedom we have in life is the freedom to make mistakes. If we can’t make (reasonable) mistakes and learn from them, what freedom do we really have? “The first time it is an accident, the second time it is a decision.” My girlfriend likes to say: “The first time it is an accident, … Read more
Creative Indifference A good gardener creates the conditions for growth of a garden, but cannot force the flowers to grow in an exact way. The good gardener creates the conditions and accepts what arises. The bad gardener fights what arises. The bad gardener hacks and chops and fights against the natural growth of nature. The … Read more
I came across a wonderful series of explanation videos on youtube this morning (sometimes random internet clicking has its benefits!). Kurz Gesagt, a Munich based design studio founded by Philipp Dettmer & Stephan Rether in 2013 creates 5 minute animated explanations on some of the most complex topics there are. Here are 4 of my … Read more
If life’s journey is like a bus ride: there are drivers, and there are passengers. (there are also conductors, there are navigators, there are engineers…) There are a lot more passengers on the bus than drivers. What does it take to be a driver? The drivers are people that passengers can believe in. Who do … Read more
David William wrote this post at Lifehack, but I find that I have gone back a couple of times now to find these questions. I was on a bike ride along Tibidabo mountain last night with my daughter (8) and I asked her a couple of these questions. I get some profound answers. Jim Collins … Read more
This list was shared via email by my Dad today: Bertrand Russell’s ten laws of teaching Do not feel absolutely certain of anything. Do not think it worthwhile to proceed by concealing evidence, for the evidence is sure to come to light. Never try to discourage thinking for you are sure to succeed. When you … Read more
Was school good for me? I do believe so. There are some very positive values that were inculcated in me through the way the teachers dealt with us, the stories we were told, the structure of the school: compassion, gratitude, sharing, discipline, respect, charity, hope, love. The 3 Worst Things We Learned As Children However, there … Read more