Posts tagged Education
Staying Curious on Contentious Issues with Scott Shigeoka

Election season often highlights a range of hot-button topics, from abortion to immigration, which becomes trickier to navigate when conversations pop up with friends or at the dinner table. While we’re often told to be curious about other perspectives, many of us do not know where to start. Worse, we don’t know how to stay curious about issues that elicit our strong opinions. In this interview, curiosity expert Scott Shigeoka shares his research and in-the-field experience using curiosity to navigate polarizing issues. Scott talks about the personal benefits experienced when people are curious. He goes on to talk about how people can become more curious and why maintaining boundaries and earning the right to be curious are important. He finishes the discussion by sharing what he learned on a year-long, 4,500 mile “curiosity journey” across the United States that gave him the opportunity to meet, talk with, and connect with people from a wide variety of backgrounds.

Scott Shigeoka is a globally recognized curiosity expert, speaker, and the award-winning author of SEEK: How Curiosity Can Transform Your Life and Change the World. He popularizes research that promotes positive well-being and relationships, including at UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center and through his groundbreaking courses at the University of Texas at Austin. He has spoken at universities, schools, companies, and conferences around the world. He is also a screenwriter and playwright.

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Cultivating Better Dialogue Amidst Campus Division with Dr. Pano Kanelos

Colleges have become a hotbed of division as students from all walks of life cross paths with each other, and academic agendas shape discourse and student life on campuses. As Gen Z casts some of their first ballots in 2024, how can they learn to have more respectful dialogue about the issues that matter most to them? In this interview, Dr. Pano Kanelos provides his perspective and ideas on how to encourage open dialogue on college campuses and educational settings.

Dr. Panayiotis (Pano) Kanelos is the Founding President of the University of Austin (UATX). Lauded by Forbes as one of higher education’s “academic entrepreneurs,” Dr. Kanelos was President of St. John’s College, Annapolis, the nation’s most storied great books liberal arts college. During his tenure, St. John’s successfully launched a historic initiative that included the most significant tuition reduction at any American college, accompanied by a $300 million campaign. He is widely acclaimed as one of the country’s most powerful advocates for liberal education and believes polarization on university campuses today reflects a “hardening” of empathy within American culture. He and the other co-founders started the school in response to their belief that college campuses were no longer a place where students and faculty could openly exchange ideas. 

Thank you to Starts with Us for their collaboration on this series. Starts with Us is an organization committed to overcoming extreme political and cultural division. Check them out at startswith.us.

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The Value of Democracy with Dr. Karthick Ramakrishnan

How has democracy enabled Americans to thrive over the last 240+ years? Dr. Karthick Ramakrishnan shares his “only in America” story, talks about how the United States, despite its challenges and problems, is a land of opportunity, and why democracy is an important reason for these opportunities.

Dr. Karthick Ramakrishnan has served in leadership roles that span academia, government, public policy, and philanthropy. He is currently a researcher at the University of California, Berkeley and director of AAPI Data, a nationally recognized publisher of demographic data and policy research on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. He is also Strategy Lead for the Americas at School of International Futures, and Senior Advisor at States for the Future

Dr. Ramakrishnan previously served as Executive Director of California 100, a transformative statewide initiative focused on California’s next century, and as president of the Association of Princeton Graduate Alumni. He also served for 4 years as associate dean of UC Riverside’s School of Public Policy and for 19 years as a professor. He has published many articles and 7 books, including most recently, Citizenship Reimagined (Cambridge, 2020) andFraming Immigrants (Russell Sage, 2016), has written dozens of opeds and has appeared in nearly 3,000 news stories. More information at www.karthick.com.

Thank you to Starts with Us for their collaboration on this series. Starts with Us is an organization committed to overcoming extreme political and cultural division. Check them out at startswith.us.

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Digital Nomads and Worldschooling with Annika Paradise

There are approximately 35 million digital nomads - workers who work online from various places around a country or around the world - and the number is poised to grow rapidly. As tools that enable remote work improve and travel infrastructure grows, the idea of taking a family with children still in school on a digital nomad journey is becoming much more appealing to many parents.

Annika Paradise is one of the co-authors of the book “Wonder Year” - a guide to long-term family travel and worldschooling - in which she chronicles the twelve-month around the world adventure she, her husband, and their three young children took. In this conversation, Annika discusses the challenges faced and benefits gained from her family’s wonder year. She dispels the myth that this is something only the wealthy can do and she goes on to talk about what she learned about herself, what their children learned about her and her husband, and she provides advice for anyone who wants to do something as audacious as packing up their lives and living them on the road for a year or longer. Annika makes the case for why their wonder year was the best learning her children have ever had, the best learning she has ever had, and why taking a wonder year will become a growing trend.

Annika Paradise and her husband, Will, worldschooled their three children across three continents and twelve countries including Nepal, Laos, China, Cambodia, New Zealand, Costa Rica, Italy and Greece. With a cello. Annika is co-author of the book “Wonder Year” and is an adjunct instructor of English at Front Range Community College in Longmont, Colorado.

In this interview, Dr. Block discusses the benefits to companies willing to work in the planet’s most challenged places, the difficulties they will face, the moral responsibility leaders have in creating thriving business environments in these places, and the results she has seen when companies commit and collaborate with local communities. She goes on to talk about how the principles she has honed working in these “frontline regions” can be applied in disadvantaged communities in countries that are otherwise flourishing.

Dr. Emily Block is an Associate Professor of Strategy, Entrepreneurship and Management and the George Cormie Chair in Management at the Alberta School of Business. Her research program explores how values pluralism impacts the processes of legitimacy and change, the nature of social evaluations and how organizational theory can be used to understand and address grand challenges. Emily’s research has been published in journals such as AMJ, SMJ, JBV, JOM, MISQ and JMS. Her book, “Business to the Edge,” (Basic Books, July 2024) explores how business can both thrive and improve lives in post-conflict environments. She serves on the ASQ editorial board and is a Visiting Professor at Strathmore University in Nairobi, Kenya. She received her BBA in Management from the University of Notre Dame and her PhD in Organizational Behavior from the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign.

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Peak Oil, Peak Auto, and Peak People with Futurist David Houle

“Peak Oil” is the point that global oil production is set to begin its decline. “Peak Auto” is the point that global automotive production will begin its decline. “Peak People” is the point that global population will being to shrink. All of these points are set to happen during this century according to futurist and author David Houle.

In this interview, David Houle discusses how oil use, the number of vehicles around the world, and the number of people on the planet will all begin to decline in this century. To replace oil production, David shares how electric vehicles will become the norm supported by renewable energy along with innovative battery storage capabilities. To facilitate the trend toward vehicle decline, David says the idea of owning a vehicle that people drive 5% of the time is outdated. Fleets of driverless cars are a much more practical solution even as more countries experience affluence. China recently began a decline in population in 2023 and the rest of the world will experience the same as the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) declines in industrialized countries. David says that as girls around the world continue to advance in educational opportunities, the global TFR will decline below the 2.1 TFR required to maintain the number of people on the planet.

To finish the interview, David also talks about what these declines mean to the global economy and how people should be using this information to plan for their futures.

David Houle is a futurist, thinker, and keynote speaker. He is the author of “The Shift Age,” “Shift Ed: A Call to Action for Transforming K-12 Education,” “Entering the Shift Age, Brand Shift: The Future of Brands and Marketing,” “The Spaceship Earth,” and more.

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A Planet of 3 Billion with Dr. Christopher Tucker

On November 15, 2022, it is estimated that for the first time Earth’s population exceeded 8 billion humans. But what is Earth’s sustainable carrying capacity of humans? Dr. Christopher Tucker is the Chairman of the American Geographic Society and author of the book “A Planet of 3 Billion.” He believes that we have far exceeded a sustainable number of humans on the planet and says that we are headed toward a catastrophic outcome if we don’t start significantly reducing the overall population of the planet by the end of the century.

In this interview, Dr. Tucker shares why the education and empowerment of young women and girls is the key to reducing global population to a more manageable carrying capacity. He talks about how we can avoid catastrophe by “shrinking to abundance,” how leaders should be thinking about global population and a future that may not be incented by growth, and he gives his very candid, critical assessment of people and countries that say we need to continue growing Earth’s population. He finishes the interview by talking about the mistakes we are making today that the people of 2073 will look back at in disbelief.

Dr. Christopher Tucker has spent the last two decades at the intersection of technology, strategy, geography and national security as an innovator, investor, social entrepreneur, author, and strategic advisor to the US national security community.  As Chairman of the American Geographical Society, he launched a multi-year strategic dialog known as Geography2050, focused on the vital trends that will reshape the geography of our planet over the coming decades. He has served on a wide variety of public sector, corporate, and non-profit boards. He holds a BA, MA, and PhD from Columbia University.  His passion for geography and the fate of future generations animates this work.

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The Future of Work from Now to the Year 2073 with Elatia Abate

For the Summer of 2023, a dozen futurists talk about what life will be like for humans in 30 to 50 years. Each guest is asked to paint a picture of the changes that we will experience between now and 2053 or 2073. Then they are asked what mistakes we are making today that the people of 2073 will look back at in disbelief. The goal of these episodes is to spark the imagination of listeners about the future we have the ability to create.

In this episode, entrepreneur and futurist Elatia Abate paints a picture of life in 2073 with a focus on how and why we will work. Elatia talks about the transformative nature of AI and robotics, the influence aging populations will have on immigration, retirement, and social programs, and why having a “mosaic career” with a variety of gig jobs can be a good idea for people to protect themselves from uncertain economic situations. Elatia goes on to talk about the mental health challenges that rapid technological advancement will continue to create, the potential of taxing robots to pay for social programs, and she gives advice for how parents of young children should think about education and preparing their children for the workforce of tomorrow. The interview ends with a conversation about purpose, work, and why aligning our work with the purpose of our lives will become even more important.

Elatia Abate is an entrepreneur whose mission is to revolutionize the way trailblazing leaders understand, train, and fuel their leadership. Named a Forbes leading female futurist, she is a globally recognized expert on the futures of work and strategy. Elatia is the founder of the Future of Now and is a sought-after keynote speaker on the topics of the future of work, leadership and resilience. She has a TEDx talk entitled, “Pioneering the Future of Work.”

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The Miraculous Mechanical Intelligence of 2053 with Mike Bechtel

For the Summer of 2023, a dozen futurists talk about what life will be like for humans in 30 to 50 years. Each guest is asked to paint a picture of the changes that we will experience between now and 2053 or 2073. Then they are asked what mistakes we are making today that the people of 2073 will look back at in disbelief. The goal of these episodes is to spark the imagination of listeners about the future we have the ability to create.

In this episode, Mike Bechtel paints a picture of life in 2053 with a focus on information technology. Mike describes how digital information will stream directly over our eyeballs, why artificial intelligence will be a fundamentally transformative technology – like the wheel or electricity - that we can’t imagine living without, and the reasons that blockchain will be essential for establishing trustworthy information. Mike wraps up the interview by talking about how some of our current behaviors – like our approaches to education and aging – will be looked at in 50 years with a sense of disbelief.

Mike Bechtel is a managing director and the chief futurist with Deloitte Consulting LLP. Mike helps clients develop strategies to thrive in the face of discontinuity and disruption. His team researches the novel and exponential technologies most likely to impact the future of business, and builds relationships with the startups, incumbents, and academic institutions creating them.

Prior to joining Deloitte, Mike led Ringleader Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm he co-founded in 2013. Before Ringleader, he served as CTO of Start Early, a national not-for-profit focused on early childhood education for at-risk youth. Mike began his career in technology R&D at a global professional services firm where his dozen US patents helped result in him being named that firm’s global innovation director. He currently serves as professor of corporate innovation at the University of Notre Dame.

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Creating a Leadership Driven Culture with Ray Kelly

In this episode, leadership expert Ray Kelly and 12 Geniuses host Don MacPherson discuss the five-levels of leadership. A level-five leader mobilizes a group of people around a common cause to drive a result consistently and develops other leaders who can do the same. This is the key to creating a leadership driven culture. Ray provides advice for how leaders can ascend from levels one, two, and three to levels four and five. They also talk about the importance of leaders continually developing themselves and others, why creating a sense of belonging is critical to effective team performance, how values enable employee engagement, and why high-potential employees need to constantly be challenged or they will leave for other opportunities.

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Five Technologies CEOs Need to Understand with Trond Undheim

Futurist Trond Undheim and 12 Geniuses host Don MacPherson discuss five technologies - Artificial Intelligence, synthetic biology, robotics, blockchain, and 3D printing - and how the combination of these technologies will change every aspect of our lives. Their conversation provides advice for how CEOs, mid-level leaders, and public servants can take advantage of the disruptive nature of these technologies and how leaders can help their people stay relevant by providing continuous education, training, and learning opportunities. The conversation concludes with Trond’s thoughts on brain-machine interfaces, the metaverse, and humanity’s next evolution.

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Revisiting Retirement Trends with Chris Farrell

In this episode, Don MacPherson is joined by journalist, author and retirement expert Chris Farrell. In their conversation, Don and Chris explore the ways in which the pandemic has impacted the ability to save for retirement for people of all walks of life. They also discuss the rate of new business creation, reskilling the older generation, and the impact of Covid-19 on the overall economy.

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The Future of Women at Work with Minda Harts

In this episode, Don MacPherson is joined by workplace expert, author, podcaster and speaker Minda Harts. Together they discuss how women — especially women of color — have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and what organizations can do to bring back women who have left the workforce. They also discuss paid maternity leave, the wage gap and what is needed to create an equitable work environment.

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The Future of Political Healing with Bill Doherty of Braver Angels

In this episode, Don MacPherson is joined by University of Minnesota professor and family therapist Bill Doherty. He’s the co-founder of Braver Angels, an organization that aims to help Americans with differing political beliefs understand each other beyond stereotypes. Don and Bill discuss how extreme the political divide has become in recent decades, the methodologies used by the Braver Angels in workshops and events, and the benefits that American citizens and politicians alike can gain from learning to communicate better with those who align themselves differently on the political spectrum.

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The Future of Policing with Jim Burch

In this episode, Don MacPherson is joined by the President of the National Police Foundation, Jim Burch. They discuss the research the National Police Foundation has collected on policing technology, training, and community building as well as the importance of procedural justice. They also discuss the impact of the death of George Floyd, the Black Lives Matter movement and the subsequent protests and unrest across the United States.

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The Future of Social Media with Ross Dawson

In this episode, Don MacPherson is joined by Futurist Ross Dawson to discuss the future of social media. They explore the growth of social media over the last two decades, potential forms of regulation, and the role of social media in the coming decades. Ross provides some potential solutions for the negative effects of social media use including nonprofit networks, user ownership of data, and AI technologies for regulating harmful content.

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The Future of Education with Justin Reich

In this interview, Don MacPherson is joined by Justin Reich. Justin is an assistant professor at MIT and the director of the MIT Teaching Systems Lab. Don and Justin discuss the future of education, focusing on the impact of COVID-19, online learning, demands on the education system, and how technology will (or will not) disrupt the way we learn.

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The Future Entrepreneur with Gino Wickman

In this interview, entrepreneurial expert and best-selling author Gino Wickman joins host Don MacPherson to discuss what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur including how to tell if you are a “true entrepreneur,” how to plan for a successful career, and how to make the best decisions for your business. They also discuss common mistakes made by entrepreneurs, the entrepreneur’s identity after they sell their business, and the impact of COVID-19 on entrepreneurship.

An entrepreneur since the age of 21, Gino has an obsession for learning what makes businesses thrive. Gino is the founder of Entrepreneurial Leap and EOS Worldwide. He has also authored Traction and Entrepreneurial Leap while continuing to help entrepreneurs-in-the-making thrive and succeed in their endeavors.

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Leadership, the Brain, and Managing Lasting Change - An Interview with Dr. Robert Eichinger

Leadership guru Dr. Robert Eichinger shares his wisdom on the topics of:

Neural leadership, change management, the brain at work, neural plasticity, mindfulness, women in leadership, emotional competence, confirmation bias, innovation, leadership and Artificial Intelligence, anger management, narcissism, and derailment research

“You cannot manage change cognitively. It has to be managed from an EQ standpoint. People get promoted based on smarts and fail based on people skills.”

Dr. Robert Eichinger

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