Ideas, insights and inspirations.

As consultants to higher education institutions, we often begin new engagements by going to campus to try to understand the bigger picture at the college of university. We want to see both the forest and the trees, and then we base all of our work is based on that deep understanding. I know my friends and neighbors who work for colleges and universities do the same thing. We all want to support the mission of the institutions we’re associated with, whether we approach our work from the standpoint of admissions, advancement, academics, facilities… the list goes on. Having said that, it’s easy to get caught up in the more specific tasks at hand. What should this information architecture look like? How many donor calls do I make this week? How many folders have do I have left to read? We all have specific tasks that we’re going to be held accountable for, and they’re usually a lot more specific than … Continue reading

Inspiration by German industrial designer, Ingo Maurer, who focuses on lighting design. Enjoy.

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I sense that the 21st century will be the century of generative thinking. Internet, search, social media, and mobile communications are opening up conversations that were simply hard to coordinate and imagine just 30 years ago. Now, we are truly operating at the speed of thought. Though our schools and colleges could be teaching this, our education system is designed to teach classical methods of thinking based on logic. Only liberal arts and art schools produce generative thinkers. Leaders who embrace it create value and comparative advantage. Generative thinking embraces possibility creates new permutations and realities where none existed before is creative and non-linear is right-brained springs from curiosity thrives on “and” is playful and inventive Generative thinking should be a complement to, but is often opposed to: logical thinking process thinking analytic thinking precedent-based thinking left-brained thinking incremental thinking craftmanship either-or thinking

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After disciplines were divided into smaller components, we have reached a turning point. New integrated disciplines and new paradigms of thinking are emerging. This-AND-That paradigm is replacing the This-OR-That thinking. A few data points to consider: The zeitgeist: In 2010, Parker Palmer and Arthur Zajonc make a case to re-envision education to integrate mind, heart and spirit in a book that I would call a manifesto for this tectonic change. In 2007, Roger Martin, the dean of Rotman School of Business writes the book titled “The Opposable Mind: How Successful Leaders Win Through Integrative Thinking” which posits that “And” thinking as opposed to “either-Or” thinking powers most successful businesses. In 2004, Andrew Weil authors the book “Health and Healing: The Philosophy of Integrative Medicine and Optimum Health” which claims that the best healers combine western medicine with alternative medicine such as homeopathy, herbal medicine, yogic methods and Chinese medicine. In 1995, Bill Moyers drew national attention to the emerging field … Continue reading

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