‘In loco parentis’ In a previous life, I was a teacher. Fairly early in my career, a boy in my Year 8 class was reported to have left the room. “Sir!! Kim’s outside having a fit!” With no idea as to the severity of the seizure, I had to choose instantly between my responsibility to… Continue reading Are you a ‘responsible person’?
Month: June 2024
The ‘Helpful Pedant’
Pedantry has a bad name. When we are nitpicking, finicky, or fussy, especially about trifling matters, we may be very annoying to our colleagues (and others). And yet … When we need attention to detail, precision, accuracy, or compliance with legal or best practice standards, a certain level of thoroughness is actually a prerequisite. Focal… Continue reading The ‘Helpful Pedant’
“The (mind) map is not the territory”
Alfred Korzybski‘s famous quote ‘the map is not the territory’ reminds us that an abstraction or a reaction is not the thing itself. The header chart above alludes to the situationally determined nature of thought patterns. We sometimes describe thoughts as occurring in strings, streams, clusters, or constellations – like mind maps. Thoughts are connected… Continue reading “The (mind) map is not the territory”
“Ask a silly question …
… and you get a silly answer”. You have to ask a sensible question to earn a sensible response. My previous post argued that there is a set of criteria by which we can judge the quality of questions. It may not be immediately obvious to readers of that post that the same set of… Continue reading “Ask a silly question …
Quality Question Quest
A recurring theme of this blog has been the art of question framing. Question types, the skills required to ask them, along with various purposes for which they may be considered, have been the subject of earlier reflection and suggestions on this blog. See especially ‘A Question of Skillful Questioning‘. This post takes up the… Continue reading Quality Question Quest
Doorways, Gateways, Passages, & Portals of Change
A common theme encountered in discussions with my mentees concerns career progression. Sometimes the starting point for that discussion is a general sense of dissatisfaction with circumstances at their current workplace or in their current role. When this becomes evident I am prompted to caution them against moving away from the problem in preference to… Continue reading Doorways, Gateways, Passages, & Portals of Change