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Our Schools Are Killing Creativity

Posted on January 3, 2011 by Jeff

So says Sir Ken Robinson and, I would suppose, Daniel H. Pink and others.  If you’re passionate about education – maybe you have young children or are a school teacher, or both – you need to get to know these names.

I first discovered Sir Ken Robinson a few months ago while searching TED conference videos online.  I was immediately taken in by his casual and often humorous delivery.  But what really drew me in were his insights on our current educational system and all the ways that it is broken.  I happen to agree with him in many respects.

 

 

I was reminded of Sir Robinson just few days ago as I began listening to the audiobook version of Daniel H. Pink’s latest, A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future (affiliate link).  I’m about half through it now and am absolutely loving it.  In it, he discusses society’s fascination over the last century with “left-brain dominance” (lawyers, software engineers, accountants, etc.).  The future though, according to Pink, “belongs to a different kind of person with a different kind of mind: designers, inventors, teachers and storytellers.”  In other words, creative and empathetic “right-brain” thinkers.

If you’re as fascinated as I am by this subject, do yourself a favor and pick up this book (affiliate link).  And don’t forget to check out the videos you’ll find at TED.  Here are links to two of Robinson’s talks.  The first I’ve included above and is from 2006 and called Schools Kill Creativity.  The second is from earlier this year and is called Bring on the Learning Revolution.  I’ve embedded it below.

It’s important to note that Sir Ken Robinson is among the speakers scheduled for the next Chick-Fil-A Leadercast happening on May 6.  If you’re in Nashville, stay tuned to 88.7 WAY-FM for more on your chance to check it out via satellite at Oasis Church.

 

 

What about you?  How do you feel about our nation’s schools and their impact on our ability to become who we’re meant to be?

 

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Sales and Social Media: PB & J or Oil and Water?

Posted on November 4, 2009 by Jeff

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of delivering a presentation to our company’s Business Development Directors on the benefits of considering certain social media tools to reach their goals.

My First Prezi Presentation

Mixing sales (or marketing) and social media is, of course, done by companies and individuals all over the world every day.  But, if your social media approach is lead by what you’re going to get out of it (ulterior motives) as opposed to shining the spotlight on other people (altruistic motives), make no mistake that people will see right through it.

My main point then was two-fold.  If you’re not participating, that doesn’t mean the conversations aren’t happening, they simply go on without you.  And, once in the game, are you there for the right reasons?  If it’s primarily to add value to whatever community you’re in and to help whenever possible, then the answer is yes.

Thanks to Brian Solis, Olivier Blanchard, John Haydon, Chris Brogan and everyone else who inspires me every day to aide those around me in their quest to make sense of all this stuff.  By the way, I tried embedding the presentation here but apparently wordpress.com doesn’t like Prezi.  At least they’re not playing well together.  Instead, I’ve included the public link.  I hope you like it.

Sales and Social Media: PB & J or Oil and Water?

Filed under: Business, Marketing, Social Media, Twitter, WAY-FM, Web 2.0, YouTube | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »