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A review of Deep Work by Cal Newport

Most of us instinctively understand that work today is different than in the past. Both faculty and staff in higher education are knowledge workers where our value comes from ideas and creativity rather than producing something. While everyone agrees that ideas and creativity are important, our days are instead spent with email, meetings, and paperwork that isn’t adding value to anyone or anything. In today’s post, I want to share a review of Deep Work by Cal Newport, which challenges our current work routines and makes suggestions for how to generate more value.

Photo credit: Dom Crossley

Newport’s book is a provocative read and I suggest anyone in a job where the quality of one’s ideas is important should read it.

The central premise of the book is that knowledge workers should focus on deep work that provides value rather than shallow work which is really a false productivity.

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How to kickstart your writing

It seems everywhere you look these days someone is running a Kickstarter campaign. I love the premise of Kickstarter. The idea is that someone can crowdsource the funding to make their idea become a reality. While we can’t exactly kickstart writing exactly the same way, there are some tips we can do to get moving and improve our writing quality.  In today’s post, I will share four tips for how to kickstart your writing.

Writing is hard work. Sitting around and waiting for inspiration just won’t get you where you want to go. Moreover, working to improve writing is a lifetime endeavor.

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3 overarching themes of the history of American higher education

As much as any organization in society, higher education is shaped by history. When you have an institution that has not fundamentally changed much since the Middle Ages, history is going to have a pervasive influence. I believe that every faculty member and administrator should understand the history of higher education and how that shapes the work of today’s institutions. In this post, I share three overarching themes of the history of American higher education.

The history of American higher education is fascinating for how central themes reoccur at various points.

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Teaching basics before teaching excellence

As a teaching center director, I spent much of my time thinking about how to help faculty improve and develop. It is exciting and rewarding work. When teaching my own classes, I can work to improve the learning experience of my students. In my faculty development role, I’m able to help many faculty teaching literally thousands of students. When working with faculty, we often stress innovation, experimentation, and technology. However, I’ve recently been reminded that we need to talk more about teaching basics before teaching excellence.

Photo credit: osseous

In my experience, most faculty want to be better teachers. They may not know how to improve or possess the skill set. They may feel that they don’t have time to devote to teaching. But they want to be better.

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MLK on solving the problems of racial injustice

In 1966, Dr. Martin Luther King spoke at Southern Methodist University regarding segregation, racial injustice, and moving the nation forward. This past year has been a difficult one with racial tensions within and outside of higher education. With affirmative action again before the Supreme Court, the coming year will continue to challenge us to implement King’s vision. I want to share a brief excerpt from his speech at SMU that should particularly convict our country as we select our next president.

King speaking at SMU. Photo credit: SMU