Would you like to work for this company?

My good friend, John Kovac, sent me an email regarding my last blog post and included a link to an article on his company.  SAS, a tech company based in North Carolina, is generally regarded as one of the best companies to work for in the world and  John is fortunate to have recently joined them.  After reading this article I have to admit that I am a bit envious of the perks available to SAS employees.  Click here for a link to the article.

Monday, November 25, 2013

Good morning! I hope all of you in the US are looking forward to a shortened work week due to the Thanksgiving holiday.

1. To read another call for bringing the private sector into public education please click here.  To echo Larry Kudlow, I believe free market capitalism is the best path to prosperity and I think many of the points made in this article are valid.  Good businesses attract more customers and are replicated, whereas bad businesses go out of business; wouldn't it be great if the same were true for schools?

Wouldn't it be nice to see this sign on some of our nations perennially failing schools?

2.  Here is a very short, but very informative article on 5 Ways to Be Amazing at Work.  I particularly like #2, as in an educational setting I think we do a great job of identifying problems, but we are not as good at solving problems.

Each of us has the ability to point at the problem, but how many of us have the courage to suggest a solution to the problem?  Moreover, how many of us are prepared to own the solution w suggest?

3. This article from the Harvard Business Review suggests that If You Are Going to Change Your Culture, Do It Quickly!  Not a day goes by that I don't see at least one article dealing with organizational culture in my Twitter feed or some other form of media.  The following quote alone makes reading the article worthwhile: "Once associates started taking ownership of their culture, they started thinking about how they could improve their work, rather than just doing their work."

Kaizen is an important part of our culture at IAS

4.  What is important to parents choosing schools?  This article provides the answers and I do not find them surprising at all.

Thoughts from Atlanta

While on vacation this past weekend I came across some articles you may find interesting.  Hope this finds you all well and enjoying life wherever you may be!

Professor James Tooley and School Choice This link contains Professor Tooley's musings on school choice and the media's reluctance to  address it in the case of Malala Yousafzai--the young lady shot by the Taliban in Pakistan.  Professor Tooley has written two very interesting books I am familiar with: The Beautiful Tree and From Village School to Global Brand: Changing the World Through Education.  Click here for a link to Professor Tooley discussing The Beautiful Tree.  



Center on International Education Benchmarking This link contains many links to interesting articles on education.  I would like to draw your attention to the very last article on the page which contains a link to a report on the Global Teacher Status Index by the Varkey GEMS Foundation.  Surprisingly, this study had Finland ranked behind the USA in regard to respect for the profession which is surprising given Finland's superior performance on the Program for International Student Assessment administered by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.


Flight Not an Option in Public School Wars  This article by Neal McCluskey gets to the heart of the problem: BIG $$$$$ and jobs at stake!

Random Thoughts And Articles On A Thursday

On Monday I had the good fortune to listen to Mike Lipkin, one of North America's preeminent coaches and motivators.  In short, this guy is amazing and I walked away from his presentation thoroughly impressed.  I encourage you to visit his website (click here) when you have the opportunity.

Mike Lipkin--you need to know who he is!

If you are interested in accessing educational data please click here. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is headquartered in Paris and its mission is "is to promote policies that will improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world."  If you are interested in trends in education around the world, I encourage you to follow the OECD on Twitter @OECD_Edu.

I believe the key to eliminating so many of the problems facing us both domestically and globally is access to a high-quality education.  A recent article in The Economist addresses the issue of gender inequality in education on the continent of Africa.  This is a very short, but enlightening read you can access by clicking here. 




This morning I listened to a great podcast from Harvard Business Review Ideacast.  Erica Ariel Fox, who teaches negotiation at Harvard Law School, discussed how to resolve inner conflict to lead wisely and live well.  If you have ever been told to work smarter, not harder and struggled to grasp the true meaning of this advice, listening to this podcast will help you understand.  For the link to her personal website, please click here.  Below is the cover to her most popular work.