One of the hottest ideas in education policy these days is tying teacher pay to student performance on standardized tests. The theory is that offering up cash bonuses will prompt unmotivated and unaccountable teachers to get their acts together and do better by our kids. The first comprehensive study of this approach, from the Nashville public […]
Yesterday I heard a terrific presentation from Kevin Volpp, a University of Pennsylvania economist and physician who studies, among other things, how techniques from behavioral economics can nudge people into healthier behaviors. In his talk, to demonstrate how prevalent economically irrational behavior is, he showed a chart comparing growth in Starbucks outlets versus growth in payday
Peter Guber is a Hollywood legend. The movies he’s produced — including The Color Purple, Midnight Express, Batman, and Flashdance — have earned over $3 billion worldwide and have snagged more than 50 Academy Award nominations, including winning Best Picture for Rain Man. (He also owns the Golden State Warriors which, IMHO, is even cooler.) If
In this month’s Sunday Telegraph column, I discuss my least favorite question in the world: “What’s your passion?” Seriously, I hate that question. It makes me flinch and tighten and stammer. What’s more, I think it’s not an especially useful question for finding one’s path. Maybe you’ll agree. Maybe you won’t. Just don’t get all
Todd Boudreaux sends this photo of an emotionally intelligent license plate, which he spotted in a parking lot in Lafayette, Louisiana. Would seeing this plate on the highway make you drive differently?
Many of us know that one secret to generating good ideas is producing bad ideas. But if you look on your bookshelf or visit the best creativity and productivity blogs – or even ask Mr. Google “how to come up with bad ideas” — you won’t find much guidance. Thank goodness, then, for the brilliant
Hugh MacLeod of Gaping Void has a terrific new book out today, all about how to develop your very own evil plan. Seriously. It’s called — natch — Evil Plans: Having Fun on the Road to World Dominion. (Buy it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Penguin.) We’re thrilled that Hugh provided us with this excerpt, exclusively for
Rod Johnson sends this example of emotionally intelligent, which he spotted “while driving up to the Wild Rice Restaurant in Bayfield, Wisconsin.”
Yeah, I know. It sounds like a spammy Internet come-on – a proposition too good to be true. But in this month’s Sunday Telegraph column, I look at the work of University of Pennsylvania management scholar Adam Grant – and his research on using purpose and significance as performance-enhancing drugs. His finding: Reminding people why
A few years ago, I took a five-day drawing class in New York City that changed my life. I entered the class a complete ignoramus on matters visual. By week’s end, I was somewhat less of an ignoramus — because, to my amazement, I had begun learning how to see. Drawing, as I discovered that
