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Part 3
Tom Peters’
EXCELLENCE.
ALWAYS.
New Master/21 August 2008
Slides at …
tompeters.com
Ten Parts
P1.1, P1.2, P1.3, P1.4/Generic
P2/Leadership
P3/Talent
P4/“Value-added Ladder”
P5/“New” Markets
P6/“The Equations”
P7.1/Implementation
P7.2/Action
P8/13 “Guru Gaffes”
P9/Health“care”
P10/“The Lists”
Part 3
EXCELLENCE.
Always.
People.
Respect.
“It was much later that I realized
Dad’s secret. He gained respect by
giving it. He talked and listened to
the fourth-grade kids in Spring Valley
who shined shoes the same way he
talked and listened to a bishop or a
He was
seriously interested in
who you were and what
you had to say.”
college president.
Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, Respect
“The [Union senior] officers rode past the
Confederates smugly without any sign
of recognition except by one. ‘When
General Grant reached the line of
ragged, filthy, bloody, despairing
prisoners strung out on each side of
the bridge, he lifted his hat and held it
over his head until he passed the last
man of that living funeral cortege. He
was the only officer in that whole train
who recognized us as being on the
face of the earth.’*”
*quote within a quote from diary of a Confederate soldier
“It’s not people who
aren’t credit-worthy.
It’s banks that aren’t
people worthy.”
Muhammad Yunus
“The deepest
human need is
the need to be
appreciated.”
William James
“Don’t
belittle!”
—OD Consultant, to client,
“the only thing you need to know”
“Be kind, for
everyone you meet
is fighting a great
battle.”
—Philo of Alexandria
“Ph.D. in leadership. Short
course: Make a short list of
all things done to you that
you abhorred. Don’t do them
to others. Ever. Make
another list of things done to
you that you loved. Do them
to others. Always.” — Dee Hock
“You can make more
friends in two months by
becoming interested in
other people than you can
in two years by trying to
get other people interested
in you.” —Dale Carnegie
R.O.I.R.
Rules!
Return on
investment in
relationships
“He had done nothing to sell me on his
business, yet he had given me the most
Because
his sole concern had
been my welfare and the
success of my business.”
powerful sales pitch of my life.
—Jim Penman, on learning how to sell (What Will
They Franchise Next? The Story of Jim’s Group)
people power:
talent
The
50
“I have always
believed that the
purpose of the
corporation is to be
a blessing to the
employees.”
—Boyd Clarke
1. People
First!
“How to piss away
$500,000 in one
easy lesson!!”
TP:
< CAPEX
> People!
Our Mission
To develop and manage talent;
to apply that talent,
throughout the world,
for the benefit of clients;
to do so in partnership;
to do so with profit.
WPP
2. “Soft” Is
“Hard.”
Excellence1982: The Bedrock “Eight Basics”
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
A Bias for Action
Close to the Customer
Autonomy and Entrepreneurship
Productivity Through People
Hands On, Value-Driven
Stick to the Knitting
Simple Form, Lean Staff
Simultaneous Loose-Tight
Properties”
3. FUNDAMENTAL
PREMISE: We Are in an
Age of Talent/
Creativity/
Intellectual-capital
Added.
Agriculture Age (farmers)
Industrial Age (factory workers)
Information Age (knowledge workers)
Conceptual Age
(creators and empathizers)
Source: Dan Pink, A Whole New Mind
“Human
creativity is the
ultimate
economic
resource.”
—Richard Florida,
The Rise of the Creative Class
4. Talent
“Excellence” in
Every Part of
Every
Organization.
Wegmans:
#1/100
“Best Companies to
Work for”/2005
5. Talent
“Excellence”
Stretches Far
Beyond Our
Borders.
We become
who we hang
out with 1
Measure “Strangeness”/Portfolio Quality
Staff
Consultants
Vendors
Out-sourcing Partners (#, Quality)
Innovation Alliance Partners
Customers
Competitors (who we “benchmark” against)
Strategic Initiatives
Product Portfolio (LineEx v. Leap)
IS/IT Projects
HQ Location
Lunch Mates
Language
Board
6. P.O.T./
Pursuit Of
Talent =
OBSESSION.
“The leaders of Great Groups
love talent and know
where to find it. They
revel in the talent
of others.”
—Warren Bennis &
Patricia Ward Biederman, Organizing Genius
PARC’s Bob Taylor:
“Connoisseur
of Talent”
7. Talent Masters
Understand
Talent’s
Intangibles.
A Few Lessons from the Arts
Each hired and developed and evaluated in unique ways
(23 contributors = 23 unique contributions = 23 pathways =
23 personalities = 23 sets of motivators)
Attitude/Enthusiasm/Energy paramount
Re-lent-less!
“Practice is cool” (G Leonard/Mastery)
Team and individual
Aspire to EXCELLENCE = Obvious
Ex-e-cu-tion
Talent = Brand = Duh
“The Project” rules
Emotional language
Bit players. No.
B.I.W. (everything)
Delta events = Delta rosters (incl leader/s)
8. HR Is
“Cool.”
Chicago:
HRMAC
“support function” /
“cost center” /
“bureaucratic drag”
or …
Are you …
“Rock Stars
of the
Age of
Talent”?
9. HR Sits at
The Head
Table.
A review of Jack and Suzy Welch’s Winning claims there are but
two key differentiators that set GE “culture” apart from the herd:
First: Separating financial forecasting and performance
measurement. Performance measurement based, as it usually is, on budgeting
leads to an epidemic of gaming the system. GE’s performance measurement is
divorced from budgeting—and instead reflects how you do relative to your past
performance and relative to competitors’ performance; i.e., it’s about how you
actually do in the context of what happened in the real world, not as compared to a
gamed-abstract plan developed last year.
Putting HR on
a par with finance
and marketing.
Second:
10. Re-name
“HR.”
Talent
Department
“H.R.” to “H.E.D.” ???
Human
Enablement
Department
People Department
Center for Talent Excellence
Seriously Cool People
Who Recruit & Develop
Seriously Cool People
Etc.
11. There Is an
“HR Strategy”/
“HR Vision”
EVP/
IBP?*
What’s your company’s …
*Employee Value Proposition, per Ed Michaels et al.,
The War for Talent; IBP/Internal Brand Promise per TP
EVP/IBP = Remarkable
challenge, rapid professional
growth, respect, satisfaction,
fun, stunning opportunity,
exceptional reward, amazing
peer group, full membership in
Club Adventure, maximized
future employability
Source: Ed Michaels, The War for Talent; TP
12. Acquire
for Talent!
Omnicom's acquisitions: “not for
“buying
talent;” “deepen a
size per se”;
relationship with a client.”
Source: Advertising Age
13. There Is a
FORMAL
Recruitment
Strategy.
“Busy Executives
Fail To Give
Recruiting
Attention It
Deserves”
—Headline, WSJ, 1121.05
C
O*
*Chief talent acquisition Officer
14. There Is a
FORMAL
Leadership
Development
Strategy.
Crotonville!
DD: 0 to 60mph
in a flash (months)
15. There Is a
FORMAL STRATEGIC
HR Review
Process.
“In most companies, the Talent Review Process is a
farce. At GE, Jack Welch and his two top HR people
visit each division for a day. They review the top 20
to 50 people by name. They talk about Talent Pool
The Talent
Review Process is a contact
sport at GE; it has the
intensity and the
importance of the budget
process at most
companies.”—Ed Michaels
strengthening issues.
16. “People”/
Talent” Reviews
Are the FIRST
Reviews.
17. HR Strategy
= BUSINESS
Strategy.
Wegmans: #1/100 Best Companies to Work for
84%: Grocery stores “are all alike”
46%: additional spend if customers have an “emotional connection”
to a grocery store rather than “are satisfied” (Gallup)
“Going to Wegmans is not just shopping, it’s an event.” —Christopher
Hoyt, grocery consultant
“You cannot separate
their strategy as a
retailer from their
strategy as an
employer.”
—Darrell Rigby, Bain & Co.
Cirque
du Soleil!
18. Make it a
“Cause Worth
Signing Up For.”
“People want to be part of
something larger than
themselves. They want to be
part of something they’re
really proud of, that they’ll
fight for, sacrifice for ,
trust.”
—Howard Schultz, Starbucks (IBD/09.05)
19. Unleash
“Their” Full
Potential!
“We are a
‘Life Success’
Company.”
Dave Liniger, founder, RE/MAX
“No matter what the situation,
[the great manager’s] first response is
always to think about the
individual concerned and how
things can be arranged to help
that individual experience
success.” —Marcus Buckingham,
The One Thing You Need to Know
20. Set Sky
High
Standards.
“The role of the Director is to create a
space where the actors and
become more
than they’ve ever been
before, more than
they’ve dreamed of
being.”
actresses can
—Robert Altman, Oscar acceptance speech
21. Enlist
Everyone in
Challenge
Century21.
“If there is nothing
very special about
your work, no matter
how hard you apply yourself
you won’t get noticed, and
that increasingly means you
won’t get paid much either.”
—Michael Goldhaber, Wired
Distinct
…
… or
Extinct
22. Pursue
the Best!
“We believe companies can increase their market cap
50 percent in 3 years. Steve Macadam at Georgia-
Pacific …
changed
20 of his
40 box plant managers
to put more talented,
higher paid managers in
charge. He increased profitability from
$25
million to
$80
million in
—Ed Michaels, War for Talent
2
years.”
23. Up or Out.
24. Ensure that
the Review
Process Has
INTEGRITY.
25 =
100*
* “But what do I do that’s more important than developing
people? I don’t do the damn work. They do.”—GK
25. Pay Up!
“Top performing companies
are two to four times more
likely than the rest to pay
what it takes
prevent losing top
performers.”
to
—Ed Michaels,
War for Talent
26. Training I:
Train! Train!
Train!
27. Training II:
100% “Business
People.”
New Work SurvivalKit.2008
1. MASTERY! (Best/Absurdly Good at Something!)
2. “Manage” to Legacy (All Work = “Memorable”/“Braggable” WOW Projects!)
3. A “USP”/UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION
4. Rolodex Obsession (From vertical/hierarchy/“suck up” loyalty to
horizontal/“colleague”/“mate” loyalty)
5. ENTREPRENEURIAL INSTINCT (A sleepless … Eye for Opportunity!
6.CEO/LEADER/BUSINESSPERSON/CLOSER (CEO, Me Inc. 24/7!)
7. Master of Improv (Play a dozen parts simultaneously, from
Chief Strategist to Chief Toilet Scrubber)
8. Sense of Humor (A willingness to Screw Up & Move On)
9. Comfortable with Your Skin (Bring “interesting you” to work!)
10. Intense Appetite for Technology (E.g.: How Cool-Active is your
Web site? Do you Blog?)
11. EMBRACE “MARKETING” (Your own CSO/Chief Storytelling Officer)
12. PASSION FOR RENEWAL (Your own CLO/Chief Learning Officer)
13. EXECUTION EXCELLENCE! (Show up on time! Leave last!)
28. Training III:
100% LEADERS.
29. Training IV:
Boss as Trainerin-Chief.
“Workout” =
24
DPY in the Classroom
30. Training V:
The REAL
Bedrock of the
“Talent Thing.”
“My wife and I went to a [kindergarten] parent-teacher
conference and were informed that our budding refrigerator
artist, Christopher, would be receiving a grade of
Unsatisfactory in art. We were shocked. How could any
child—let alone our child—receive a poor grade in art at such
His teacher informed
us that he had refused to color
within the lines, which was a
state requirement for
demonstrating ‘grade-level
motor skills.’ ” —Jordan Ayan, AHA!
a young age?
31. Wide-open
Communication:
NO BARRIERS.
“The organizations we created have
become tyrants. They have taken
control, holding us fettered, creating
barriers that hinder rather than help our
businesses. The lines that we
drew on our neat organizational
diagrams have turned into walls
that no one can scale or penetrate
or even peer over.” —Frank Lekanne Deprez &
René Tissen, Zero Space: Moving Beyond Organizational Limits
32. RESPECT!
“What creates trust,
in the end, is the
leader’s manifest
respect for the
followers.”
— Jim O’Toole, Leading
Change
“Don’t
belittle!”
—OD Consultant
33. Embrace
the Whole
Individual.
34. Build
Places of
“Grace.”
Rodale’s on “Grace” …
elegance … charm …
loveliness … poetry in
motion … kindliness ...
benevolence …
benefaction …
compassion … beauty
The Manager’s Book of Decencies:
How Small gestures Build Great
Companies. —Steve Harrison, Adecco
Servant Leadership
—Robert Greenleaf
One: The Art and Practice of
Conscious Leadership —Lance Secretan,
founder of Manpower, Inc.
35. MBWA:
Visible
Leadership!
36. Thank
You!
“Courtesies of a small and
trivial character are the
ones which strike
deepest in the grateful
and appreciating heart.”
—Henry Clay
37. Promote for
“people skills.”
(THE REST IS
DETAILS.)
“When assessing candidates, the first
thing I looked for was energy and
enthusiasm for execution. Does she
talk about the thrill of getting
things done, the obstacles
overcome, the role her people
played —or does she keep wandering
back to strategy or philosophy?”
Bossidy, Honeywell/AlliedSignal, in Execution
—Larry
38. Honor
Youth.
“Why focus on these late teens and twentysomethings? Because they are the
first young who are both in a
position to change the world, and
are actually doing so. … For the first
time in history, children are more comfortable,
knowledgeable and literate than their parents
about an innovation central to society. … The
Internet has triggered the first industrial
revolution in history to be led by the young.”
The Economist
39. Provide
Early
Leadership
Assignments.
The
WOW!
Project
40. Create a
FORMAL System
of Mentoring.
W. L. Gore
Quad/Graphics
41. Diversity!
CM Prof Richard Florida on “Creative
“You cannot get a
technologically
innovative place … unless
it’s open to weirdness,
eccentricity and
difference.”
Capital”:
Source: New York Times/06.01.2002
42. WOMEN
RULE.
“AS LEADERS,
WOMEN
RULE:
New Studies find that
female managers outshine their male
counterparts in almost every measure”
TITLE/ Special Report/ BusinessWeek
Women’s Strengths Match New
Economy Imperatives: Link [rather than rank]
workers; favor interactive-collaborative leadership
style [empowerment beats top-down decision
making]; sustain fruitful collaborations; comfortable
with sharing information; see redistribution of power
as victory, not surrender; favor multi-dimensional
feedback; value technical & interpersonal skills,
individual & group contributions equally; readily
accept ambiguity; honor intuition as well as
pure “rationality”; inherently flexible; appreciate
cultural diversity. —Judy B. Rosener,
America’s Competitive Secret: Women Managers
Period??!!*
Start:
3 0f 14
18 months later:
10 of 18
(“deep dip”!)
*AIM/September 2007
“Forget China,
India and the
Internet: Economic
Growth Is Driven
by
Women.”
—Headline,
Economist, April 15, 2006, Leader, page 14
10 UNASSAILABLE REASONS WOMEN RULE
Women make [all] the financial decisions.
Women control [all] the wealth.
Women [substantially] outlive men.
Women start most of the new businesses.
Women’s work force participation rates have
soared worldwide.
Women are closing in on “same pay for same
job.”
Women are penetrating senior ranks rapidly
[even if the pace is slow for the corner
office per se].
Women’s leadership strengths are exceptionally well
aligned with new organizational effectiveness
imperatives.
Women are better salespersons than men.
Women buy [almost] everything—commercial
as well as consumer goods.
So what exactly is the point of men?
43. Hire (& Protect!)
Weird!
“Are there
enough weird
people in the lab
these days?”
—V. Chmn., pharmaceutical
house, to a lab director
Why Do I love Freaks?
(1) Because when Anything Interesting happens … it was
a freak who did it. (Period.)
(2) Freaks are fun. (Freaks are also a pain.) (Freaks are
never boring.)
(3) We need freaks. Especially in freaky times. (Hint:
These are freaky times, for you & me & the CIA & the
Army & Avon.)
(4) A critical mass of freaks-in-our-midst
automatically make us-who-are-not-so-freaky at least
somewhat more freaky. (Which is a Good Thing in freaky
times—see immediately above.)
(5) Freaks are the only (ONLY) ones who succeed—as in,
make it into the history books.
(6) Freaks keep us from falling into ruts. (If we listen to
them.) (We seldom listen to them.) (Which is why most
organizations are in ruts. Make that chasms.)
44. We Are All
Unique.
One
size NEVER fits
all. One size fits
Beware Standardized Evals:
one.
Period.
“Never, ever again
will I evaluate anyone
using a standardized
instrument devised by
a “professional” in
inhuman Resources.”
Promise #1:
53 Players =
53 Projects =
53 different
success measures.
“Things don’t stay the same. You
have to understand that not only
your business situation changes,
but the people you’re working with
aren’t the same day to day.
Someone is sick. Someone is
having a wedding. [You must]
gauge the mood, the thinking level
of the team that day.” —Coach K [Krzyzewski]
220 workdays
= 220 “rosters”
Source: Coach K
new goal …
every game!
Source: Coach K
45. Capitalize
on Strengths.
“The key difference between
checkers and chess is that in
checkers the pieces all move
the same way, whereas in chess
all the pieces move differently.
… Discover what is unique
about each person and
capitalize on it.” —Marcus Buckingham,
The One Thing You Need to Know
“The mediocre manager believes that most
things are learnable and therefore that the
essence of management is to identify each
person’s weaker areas and eradicate them.
The great manager believes the opposite.
He believes that the most influential
qualities of a person are innate and
therefore that the essence of management
is to deploy these innate qualities as
effectively as possible and so drive
performance.” —Marcus Buckingham, The One Thing
You Need to Know
46. Bosses “Win
People Over.”
“Coaching
is winning
players over.”
PJ:
47. GOAL: Voyages
of Mutual
Discovery.
“The organization would
ultimately win not
because it gave agents
more money, but
because it gave them a
chance for better lives.”
—Everybody Wins, Phil Harkins & Keith Hollihan
Quests!
C
O*
*Chief quest-meister
48. Foster
Independence.
“You must realize that how you invest your human
capital matters as much as how you invest your
financial capital. Its rate of return determines your
future options. Take
a job for what it
teaches you, not for what it pays.
Instead of a potential employer asking,
‘Where do you see yourself in 5 years?’
you’ll ask, ‘If I invest my mental assets
with you for 5 years, how much will they
appreciate? How much will my portfolio
of career options grow?’ ”
Source: Stan Davis & Christopher Meyer, futureWEALTH
49. En-
thus-iasm!
“I am a
dispenser of
enthusiasm.”
—Ben Zander
50. Talent
= Brand.
The Top 5 “Revelations”
Better talent wins.
Talent management is my job as leader.
Talented leaders are looking for the
moon and stars.
Over-deliver on people’s dreams – they
are volunteers.
Pump talent in at all levels, from all
conceivable sources, all the time.
Source: Ed Michaels et al., The War for Talent
BRAND =
TALENT.
EXCELLENCE.
INDIVIDUAL.
BRAND YOU.
Globalization1.0: Countries globalizing (1492-1800)
Globalization2.0: Companies globalizing (18002000)
Globalization3.0
:
(2000+)
Individuals
collaborating
& competing globally
Source: Tom Friedman/The World Is Flat
BRAND YOU.
NO OPTION.
“You are the
storyteller of your
own life, and you can
create your own
legend or not.”
—Isabel Allende
“The general, speaking
with what felt was
authority, always insisted
that, if you bring off
adequate preservation
of your personal myth,
nothing much else in life
matters.” —Anthony Powell
“Carpenters bend
wood; fletchers
bend arrows; wise
men fashion
themselves.” — Buddha
“Nobody
gives you
power.
You just
take it.”
—Roseanne
“One of the defining
characteristics [of the
change] is that it will be less
driven by countries or
corporations and more driven
by real people. It will unleash
unprecedented creativity, advancement of
knowledge, and economic development. But
at the same time, it will tend to undermine
safety net systems and penalize the
unskilled.” —Clyde Prestowitz, Three Billion New Capitalists
Muhammad Yunus:
“All human beings
are entrepreneurs. When we
were in the caves we were all selfemployed . . . finding our food, feeding
ourselves. That’s where human history
began . . . As civilization came we
suppressed it. We became labor
because they stamped us, ‘You are
labor.’ We forgot that we are
entrepreneurs.”
Source: Muhammad Yunus/The News Hour—PBS/1122.2006
“If there is nothing
very special about
your work, no matter
how hard you apply yourself
you won’t get noticed, and
that increasingly means you
won’t get paid much either.”
—Michael Goldhaber, Wired
Distinct
…
… or
Extinct
The Rule of Positioning
“If you can’t describe
your position in
eight words or less,
you don’t have
a position.”
— Jay Levinson and
Seth Godin, Get What You Deserve!
1. Can someone overseas do
it cheaper?
2. Can a computer do it
faster?
3. Is what you’re selling in
demand in an age of
abundance?
Source: Dan Pink
New Work SurvivalKit.2008
1. MASTERY! (Best/Absurdly Good at Something!)
2. “Manage” to Legacy (All Work = “Memorable”/“Braggable” WOW Projects!)
3. A “USP”/UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION 4. Rolodex Obsession
(From vertical/hierarchy/“suck up” loyalty to
horizontal/“colleague”/“mate” loyalty)
5. ENTREPRENEURIAL INSTINCT (A sleepless … Eye for Opportunity!
6.CEO/LEADER/BUSINESSPERSON/CLOSER (CEO, Me Inc. 24/7!)
7. Master of Improv (Play a dozen parts simultaneously, from
Chief Strategist to Chief Toilet Scrubber)
8. Sense of Humor (A willingness to Screw Up & Move On)
9. Comfortable with Your Skin (Bring “interesting you” to work!)
10. Intense Appetite for Technology (E.g.: How Cool-Active is your
Web site? Do you Blog?)
11. EMBRACE “MARKETING” (Your own CSO/Chief Storytelling Officer)
12. PASSION FOR RENEWAL (Your own CLO/Chief Learning Officer)
13. EXECUTION EXCELLENCE! (Show up on time! Leave last!)
ACTING:
Think of a person as a
“troupe of
actors.” (“Many truths
about oneself” which must
all be understood if one is to
know oneself.)
Source: A..C. Grayling, The Meaning of Things: Applying Philosophy to Life
Thriving in 24/7 (Sally Helgesen)
*START AT THE CORE.
Nimbleness only
possible if we “locate our inner voice,” take
regular inventory of where we are.
*LEARN TO ZIGZAG.
Think “gigs.” Think
lifelong learning. Forget “old loyalty.” Work on
optimism.
*CREATE OUR OWN WORK.
Articulate your value. Integrate your passions. I.D.
your market. Run your own business.
*WEAVE A STRONG WEB OF
INCLUSION. Build your own support
network. Master the art of “looking people up.”
Personal “Brand Equity” Evaluation
– My current Project is challenging me …
– New things I’ve learned in the last 90 days include …
– I am known for [2 to 3 things]; next year at this time I’ll
also be known for [1 more thing].
– My public “recognition program”
consists of …
– Additions to my Rolodex in the last 90 days include …
– My resume is discernibly
different from last year’s
at this time …
R.D.A.
Rate: 15%?, 25%?
Therefore: Formal “Investment
Strategy”/
R.I.P.*
*Renewal Investment Plan
“The only thing you
have power over is to
get good at what you
do. That’s all there
is; there ain’t no
more!”
—Sally Field
Richard Sennett:
“Craftsmanship,”
“a sustaining life
narrative”
Source: Stefan Stern on Management, FT, 0710.07
“It’s always
showtime.”
—David D’Alessandro, Career Warfare
“To Be
somebody or to
Do something”
BOYD: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War (Robert Coram)
“When was the last
time you asked,
‘What do I want
to be?’ ”
—Sara Ann Friedman, Work Matters
“All of our artistic and religious traditions
take equally great pains to inform us that
we must never mistake a
good career for good
work. Life is a creative, intimate,
unpredictable conversation if it is nothing
else—and our life and our work are both
the result of the way we hold that
passionate conversation.” —David Whyte, Crossing
the Unknown Sea: Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity
A “position” is not an
“accomplishment.” —TP
BLAME NOBODY.
EXPECT NOTHING.
DO SOMETHING.
Source: Locker room sign posted by
football coach Bill Parcells
TP’S
EDUCATION
MANIFESTO
RD
FOR THE 3
MILLENEUM
Education3M
Learning is a normal state.
Children are learnavores.
Prodigious feats of learning are common as dirt.
[Watch an H.S. QB studying game film.]
We learn at different rates.
We learn in different ways.
Boys and girls learn [very] differently.
In a class of 25, there are 25 different trajectories.
Learning in 40-minutes blocks is bullshit.
Learning for tests is utterly insane.
There are numerous rigorous evaluation schemes,
of which testing is but one—and abnormal,
by “real world” standards.
Education3M
We learn most/fastest/most completely when
we are passionate about what we are
learning and it matters to us. [Salience rules!]
Think EBI/LBI: Education by
Interest/Learning by Internship.
Classrooms are abnormal places.
We need changes of pace. [e.g., Japanese recesses
after each class.]
International test scores are not correlated
with hours-per-year in class.
Big classes are slightly problematic. Big
schools suck. Period.
Education3M
“All this”—the right stuff—fits the NWW/New
World of Work hand-in-glove. [NWW = Age of Creativity.]
U.S. schools circa 2001 are a vestige of the
Prussian-Fordist model, more interested in
shaping behavior than stoking the fires of
lifelong learning.
Cutting art-music budgets is truly dumb.
Learning is a matter of Intensity of Engagement,
not elapsed time. [Aargh: 11 minutes on the Battle of
Gettysburg.]
Teachers need enough space-time-flexibility to
get to know kids as individuals.
Scientific discovery processes and the teaching
of science are utterly at odds. [Exploration vs. spoonfeeding.]
Education3M
Our toughest “learning achievement”—
mastering our native language—does
not require schools, or even competent
parents. [It does require a desperate need-to-know.]
Great teachers are great learners, not
imparters-of-knowledge.
Great teachers ask great questions—
that launch kids on lifelong quests.
The world is not about “right” &
“wrong” answers; it is about the pursuit
of increasingly sophisticated
questions—just ask a ski instructor or
neurosurgeon.
Education3M
Most schools spend most of their time
setting up contexts in which kids learn
not to like particular subjects. [Evidence
shows that such anti-learning sticks!]
Vigorous exploration is normal … until
you are incarcerated in a school.
“Bite size” education-learning is neither
education nor learning.
Learning takes place rapidly on the
cheerleading squad, the football team,
the school newspaper, the drama club,
at the after-class job--just not in the
hyper-structured classroom.
Education3M
The “school reform” “movement” is a giant step
… backwards … embracing the Prussian-Fordist
paradigm with renewed vigor—at exactly the
wrong time.
There are large numbers of superb schools,
superb principals, superb teachers; sadly, they
not only fail to infect the [largely timid] rest, but are
ordinarily supplanted by wusses & wimps.
Alas, the teaching profession does not
ordinarily attract “cool dudes & dudettes.”
Schools of “education” should by and large
have their charters revoked.
Education3M
“Education” must “develop in youth the
capabilities for engaging in intense
concentrated involvement in an activity.”
[James Coleman, 1974.] [Hint: It doesn’t.] [Hint:
Understatement.]
Stability is dead; “education” must
therefore “educate” for an unknowable,
ambiguous, changing future; thence,
learning to learn & change is far more
important than mastery of a static body of
“facts.” [Was the “War of the Roses” really
over roses? (1) I don’t remember. (2) Not
remembering has not been a handicap.]
Education3M
I never took a speech course.
Hemmingway couldn’t spell.
Etc.
Etc.
Etc.
To the NAESP*
…
*National Association of Elementary School Principals
Attributes of Those Who “Made”
the 10th Grade History Book
– Committed!
– Determined to make a difference!
– Focused!
– Passionate!
– Irrational about their life’s project!
– Ahead of their time / Paradigm
busters!
– Impatient! / Action Obsessed
Attributes of Those Who “Made” the 10th Grade History
Book
–Made lots of people mad!
–Flouted the chain of
command!
–Creative / Quirky / Peculiar! /
Rebels! / Irreverent!
–Masters of improv / Thrive on
chaos
/ Exploit chaos!
Attributes of Those Who “Made” the 10th
Grade History Book
–Bone honest!
–Flawed as the dickens!
– “In touch” with their followers’
aspirations
–Damn good at what they do!
Attributes of Those Who “Made” the 10th Grade
History Book
–Forgiveness > Permission
–Bone honest!
–Flawed as the dickens!
– “In touch” with their
followers’ aspirations
–Damn good at what they do!
Attributes of Those Who “Made” the 10th Grade
History Book
–Forgiveness > Permission
–Bone honest!
–Flawed as the dickens!
– “In touch” with their
followers’ aspirations
–Damn good at what they do!
End
Part 3