A zen perspective on how we think about the future
The US education system is currently designed to produce a 70% chance of a ninth-grader completing high school. This figure is roughly 30% lower than what anyone would tolerate from the performance of any appliance, technology, investment or vehicle. The costs of perpetuating this design are astronomical on many levels. It is a call for significant redesign innovation. There is no reason to continue current teaching and testing practices that are intrinsic to the shortfalls of the current model. Teachers, parents...
Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson. Follow the three R’s: Respect for self, Respect for others and Responsibility for all your actions. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great relationship. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it. Spend some time alone every day. Open...
The annual US tradition of the “State of the Union” address is an interesting exercise in narrative. Last night’s rendition was apparently the “State of the Disunion.” Whatever it is, it is one person’s story. Maybe we could give everyone the week off so there could be a week of narratives on all levels, charging rich multi-perspective dialogue and reflection rather than a few minutes of anemic counter-party rebuttal to one man’s narrative. A more intelligent Union would never take any two people’s narratives as...
This year Saudi women will enjoy a freedom taken for granted by other women around the world - the simple pleasure of shopping in a women-staffed lingerie store. Recent reforms there have elevated bra buying to a political act. One of the drivers is pressure from women and leaders who grasp the inevitable arc of women who are becoming more educated than many of their countrymen. Over the coming generation, this is likely to be the farthest-reaching transformation in Saudi society. While women are still constrained...
Why does an appendectomy in Germany cost roughly a quarter what it costs in the United States? Or an M.R.I. scan cost less than a third as much, on average, in Canada? Americans continue to spend more on health care than patients anywhere else. In 2009, we spent $7,960 per person, twice as much as France, which is known for providing very good health services. And for all that spending, we get very mixed results — some superb, some average, some inferior — compared with other advanced nations. According to The Money...
At Quest University in BC Canada, David Helfand is “institutionalizing the revolution” in higher Ed. Quest has no departments, no tenure and no classes larger than 20. It uses the block system, in which students take one course at a time for a month. Students get a grade, plus a faculty assessment of whether they are “contributing to, and benefiting from, the intellectual life of the classroom.” And students spend their last two years focused on a single question of their choosing. Students concentrate on one 3...
The EPA is now offering drinking water to Pennsylvania residents near contaminated fracking sites. Even the suggestion of this trend will provoke perennial protest that public funds should not be dedicated to fresh water. The issue is far less simple because it’s compounded by the fact that this trend means public dollars are now subsidizing, the problem, the intervention, and the leaders who are accountable for both. We would be wise to demand higher levels of systemic intelligence.
According to USDA reports, this year local growers will exceed $7 billion in sales. There is no reason why consumers will continue to worship at the altars of non-local mega-businesses. Adoption will spread the way it always does in emergent market trends. And that is good for the next generation who wants to be entrepreneurial.
This is the new post, “Happiness and Public Policy,” at the blog dedicated to the upcoming book, To A New Future. Happiness and Public Policy Public policies and practices will continue to shape the investment of public dollars and regulatory practices in the critical areas of education, health care, employment, development, intellectual property, finance, economics, security, social landscapes, and the environment. Happiness defined as the practice of how we focus in our life and world radically changes the...
10-time author and designer with a focus on change in organizations and communities. HappinessChoice.com
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