On a recent hazing prevention project, we asked students how they felt about a series of situations commonly associated with hazing. To our great surprise, 75-98% of students found each situation to be unacceptable.
The lesson? We don't need to preach about the perils of hazing. Or hammer home the rules. Or argue about what's ethical. They get it!
Asking a trainer about learning styles is comparable to asking a fraternity/sorority advisor if they teach keg-tapping. It’s a tempting idea, but it makes about as much sense as believing in bigfoot or tryptophan. Like these examples, the myth is interesting and popular, but the evidence is elusive (Curry, 1990).“Although the literature on learning styles is enormous, very few studies have even used an experimental methodology capable of testing the validity of learning styles applied to education. Moreover, of those that did use an appropriate method, several found results that flatly contradict the popular meshing hypothesis” (Pashler, McDaniel, Rohrer, & Bjork, 2008, p. 105).
In a recent Made to Stick column in FastCompany magazine, Chip Heath and Dan Heath challenged the ‘Talent Bus’ metaphor – the idea that your goal as a leader is to recruit talented people, get them in the right seats, and drop off the slackers at the next stop. Using research from Harvard Business professor Boris Groysberg, they show us that this talent/no-talent dichotomy doesn’t exactly translate into reality. Groysberg studied highly talented Wall Street analysts, and learned that their performance often suffers after switching to a new firm. Despite their individual abilities, they were trumped by the culture, systems and support available in the new environment. In other words, even the most talented passengers can’t go very far if they’re on a broken-down bus.
After a 44 year absence, the North Korean soccer team finally returned to the World Cup in 2010, only to lose three games in a row and return home. This is a crushing story for the country, but it is also to be expected for any team’s first appearance in a major tournament. Unfortunately, officials in North Korea didn’t see the same silver lining. According to a story on ESPN today, “The team and coach Kim Jong-Hun were summoned to a July 2, six-hour meeting at the People's Palace of Culture in Pyongyang and subjected to severe criticism.” Team members were confronted in front of 400 onlookers before being forced to reprimand their coach. The coach was also chastised by officials for betraying the country’s leaders.
Last week a colleague called me to ask for help. Apparently, a handful of chapters are showing a pattern of violations and confusion around risk management policy and the NPC unanimous agreements. She has now been charged with creating and presenting a policy training session for each chapter. She was concerned, because the program could very easily turn into the typical pain-filled policy reading. Instead, she wanted to do something more meaningful and interesting that might actually work. If she had done what most people do:
