In the absence of responsible politics and politicians, companies are coming more and more explicitly forward in their willingness to take up part of the role where the politicians show themselves to be absentee landlords. You can read pretty much any politics related article on this blog to understand how I feel about that lack … Continue reading The broader role of companies in our society
Category: Stream of Consciousness
By force or by persuasion?
The same mistake as my neighbour Two days ago I was talking to one of my neighbours about learning to ride a horse. Both of us have been riding for a number of years, but neither of us started doing it as a child, contrary to our kids, who grew up riding horses. And during … Continue reading By force or by persuasion?
Take your time to develop your thoughts in someone else’s words
Even if you speak the same language Here is a lesson I only learned a little while ago … you don’t just need to be aware of the fact that people around you don’t necessarily think like you, you also need to adapt the way you express yourself to really connect with them and make … Continue reading Take your time to develop your thoughts in someone else’s words
What we have lost
Visiting Bokrijk Last Tuesday I relaxed at the Bokrijk Open Air Museum which remains one of my favourite places to spent a day or even just an afternoon with your kids. We had two nephews visiting who had not been to Bokrijk before. That was a great opportunity to load everyone in the car and … Continue reading What we have lost
Andrew Millar on serial dissenters in a company
A quick note on a great article I read this morning. I’m late to this show - it was in my reading queue I’m procrastinating on - but when I read it, it rang a bell. Actually, it rang pretty much a whole bell-tower with a carillon in it. Consider the following, quite familiar to … Continue reading Andrew Millar on serial dissenters in a company
The relevance of a thesis for a master class in post-graduate education
It’s quite interesting to see that more and more master classes in post graduate education chose not to “impose” a thesis subject on their students. We’ve moved away from it in the context of the Master class Internal Audit at the Antwerp Management School as well. But in retrospect, I’m absolutely convinced we shouldn’t have. … Continue reading The relevance of a thesis for a master class in post-graduate education
Directive versus coercive policies
A policy and its translation into legislation aims to establish a framework which provides a way for a government to influence - and often to direct - the behaviour of its people. This is a core function of government. If you want to read more about that, read "Seeing like a State" by James C. … Continue reading Directive versus coercive policies
Manage how you feel (Twitter Masterclass)
There are many ways to make yourself feel miserable. Watching the news or following the wrong people on Twitter may do the trick, pushing you into a spiral of negative feelings. But you are defined by the people you surround yourself with. That includes the people you surround yourself with via your social media accounts. … Continue reading Manage how you feel (Twitter Masterclass)
Wise words from wise authors
A very short post on this dreary Sunday in Belgium, with too much grey in the sky and way too much wind … Neil Gaiman at his South-by-Southwest keynote: “finish your projects. You will learn more from finishing something than from beginning it. After it's done you can fix it, but you can't fix something … Continue reading Wise words from wise authors
Our attention span
Short one today, working on a longer article on coercive versus directive policies, but this tweet is something to consider. A teacher had her class log all the social media and other notifications their devices sent them during one single period. Think about what we are exposing ourselves to. Here it is again, that link.