Learning Chaos

Leaders, including teachers as well as supervisors, either rely on imposing leadership - making others compliant, or exposing leadership - giving people a place for commitment, space to show up with their own unique leadership voice.

The second Learning Chaos newsletter focuses on making something in the class room and in adult training. Sitting people in rows and talking at them is not learning, it's punishment. "Build it and they will learn"!

After nine years of research and revisions, Learning Chaos: How Disorder Can Save Education, is finally available in print and as an ebook (Amazon inc. Kindle, Nook, iBooks, Kobo). I'm proud that, with the help of my amazing editor Beth Rubin, I can offer a method to transform the classroon. The book is for parents, teachers, students, administrators, anyone who thinks we need to make learning the priority rather than mere attendance. You can find out more, and read the inrtoduction, at www.learningchaos.net. Thanks, MacBeth

Customer Service is really about relatinships, not just about goods and services. In schools, especially, we need to align the idea of service to include everyone in decisions at every level, especially schools' primary customers: students.

Lateral Listening is a technique that enables us to listen toward uderstanding rather than merely judgment. It's not hard to learn and practice, and its payoff is very powerful, especially for teachers and leaders.

Time Management. It's a popular concept, with lots and lots of books, slide presentations, and seminars. The idea arrived with the industrial revolution, along with the assembly line, org charts, and sweatshops. It's past time (as it were) to shift our focus to energy management - how we drain and charge our work "batteries."

I’ve loved (and played) music all my life. I also grew up in a time that generated lots of musical dissonance, from John Cage to Frank Zappa. In music, the tension between dissonance and melody benefits both. In my work, and in the organizations I serve, dissonance is increasing as more diversity—of generations, values, and expectations—creates conflict. We can see this as a threat or as a source of creative energy. Why not choose the latter?

I have just finished a book. I needed some promotional expertise. A friend recommended Marsha Friedman, so I called her. I knew nothing of her company, but was struck by her no - BS approach: “Don’t count on your book for a living.” was one of the first things she said. I’ve been in contact with other PR operations, and the very hazy quality of their service rang warning bells. EMSI, Marsha’s firm, is well-established and a bit of a maverick. They deliver rather than suggest. Her story is interesting, her staff smart and enthusiastic, and her brand (like mine) is a bit off-center. Marsha embraces relationships as the core of her business.

Seeing ourselves without judgment takes some reprogramming. Learning to see myself more clearly, without framing my preferences (shyness, introversion, stuttering) as deficits, has been a bonus in my work and life. The best part is I no longer tend to frame other’s “stuff” as deficits, but just who they are. Like Episodes One, Three, and Six, this podcast accompanies an AzaLearning newsletter on the same topic. Get in touch at macbogert@azalearning.com if you’re interested in subscribing to my newsletter.

I met Ken Green when I almost ran into his boat. I was struggling to sail up a narrow creek with an engine that wouldn’t start. Since then, we’ve discovered a common passion for learning, a childhood on Barnegat Bay, NJ, and two lives transformed by recovery. We both have trod an interesting career path and started our own companies in the past twenty years. Ken is passionate about his life, the environment, and renewal. His home is Greennest—I’ve been there, and the name is perfect—and his company is SusDev Tech. I’m still grateful for a bad starter switch.

I shared stages with Johnny a couple of decades ago and we worked in the studio together. I reconnected this spring online and found him as candid, unapologetic, and focused as ever. He’s a father, a joker, and a fabulous bass player. He and I both share the belief that no band can exceed its rhythm section. He currently drives the Nighthawks and the Thrillbillys as well as sparking memorable studio tracks. If the feet ain’t tappin’, the song ain’t happ’nin’.

Courage, vision, and a sense of humor make an effective leadership tool box. For Brian Crawford, all three accompanied him when he left his job in food service and set out on his own a short time ago in Stroudsburg, Pa. Rootin’ Tootin’ Hot Dogs is the result. Brian believes in connecting with other people as a primary value. It shows in every aspect of his business. His story combines the warmth of genuine character with the drive of the entrepreneur. http://rootintootinhotdogs.com/ will tell you everything else you need to know.

David Brendel has traced a winding and successful path through philosophy, brain science and psychiatry. This journey led him to found Leading Minds executive coaching. Leading Minds focuses on personal truth, values, and behavioral change. The result is increased self-understanding through the Socratic method and dialogue. As he says, “Great leaders ask great questions. Of others, and, more importantly, of themselves.” I read a couple of his posts on the HBR site and knew I’d found a kindred spirit. I was right. His new project is Strategy of Mind, a more ambitious approach to helping organizations and individuals. His method centers their values through the discovery of core questions. He then provides coaching to help them move toward a more mindful and aligned practice. David's website is www.LeadingMindsExecutiveCoaching.com

A broadcaster and a podcaster engage in a conversation about the power of the voice. Wayne has been a radio pro since 1988. He’s half of the Wayne and Jayne Morning Show on EZROCK in British Columbia, loves interviews with all kinds of folks, and believes in the medium of radio with enthusiasm and passion. In 2004 he branched out with On-Air Publicity, which helps people learn how to market themselves through the airwaves. He’s a voice for other voices, in more ways than one.

Lex is the CEO and managing partner of The Brick Companies. He oversees management of Port Annapolis and Atlantic Marinas, Queenstown Harbor and South River Golf Courses, as well many other commercial properties in Maryland and Virginia and other investments. He has fostered an important change in company strategy to focus on environmental protection. This includes the construction of the first commercial building in Anne Arundel County with a living roof—leading to a great story for the podcast. In order to address changing work force habits, TBC’s pioneer program, Launch Workplaces, has created a novel (and successful) model for commercial spaces that promotes community and innovation. Lex also helped create The TBC Foundation, which supports social responsibility and environmental leadership.

John Hargrave grabbed an epiphany as he threw away his alcohol supply—Don’t believe everything you think. He is, in a nutshell, recovering from his physical and cognitive dependence. Our covers a lot of ground, but always comes back to focus on managing our thinking better, whether with problems of dependence, creativity, or life in general. John’s book, Mind Hacking, is due for release in January. The book walks us through insights and techniques to reprogram, or “hack”, our minds (for the better!). It'll be available from Simon and Schuster’s Gallery Books in January 2016, or you can read a pre-release copy here: http://www.mindhacki.ng John’s company, Media Shower (www.mediashower.com) celebrates an integrated approach to content, promotion, and marketing.

If the name rings a bell, it should. Fred is my brother. As kids we used to play guitar and bass, plugged into our dad’s hi-fi and probably damaging the speakers. I consider myself a player. Fred is a musician. While we both love music, Fred’s life has always centered on it. He plays a gazillion instruments. He’s sung, toured, produced and composed. His music weds love and social comment. I gave up trying to figure out how he pulls it off. So I just sit back, listen and rejoice in his talent. His latest song is about the First Amendment. Here are links to two very Fred songs ―and to Fred. Harmony of Faith: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-tffZBOvzU I'm More Non-Judgmental Than You https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rscDGdaAcnU Fred Bogert fredbogert.com

Bob Ward’s first novel, Shedding Skin, showed up in 1968, capturing his gypsy years between Baltimore and Haight Ashbury. He taught school for a short time until Tom Wolfe urged him to write again. He paid attention and moved to New York City to join the new journalism movement, hotfooting it from piece to piece for GQ, Rolling Stone and other major publications. He’s written novels, movie scripts (including Cattle Annie and Little Britches with Burt Lancaster and Diane Lane); TV—award-winning, long-running Hill Street Blues, and was show runner (Head Honcho) for Miami Vice. I’m currently reading Renegades, an outrageous compendium of his road trips and celebrity interviews. The Stone Carrier, a new novel about a gonzo journalist in New York, will be published shortly. Bob also plays a mean guitar. He and his wife Celeste live in L.A.

Brigtsen’s restaurant lies in the River Bend neighborhood of New Orleans, a short stroll from where the St. Charles streetcar begins its return run to Canal Street. Brigtsen’s has been a top-rated bastion of contemporary Creole cuisine, utilizing fresh local ingredients, for nearly 30 years. Chef Brigtsen and his restaurant have garnered numerous awards in a city obsessed with―and known for―its exceptional cuisine. Brigtsen trained “on the line” for seven years under Chef Paul Prudhomme before opening Brigtsen’s with his wife, Marna, in 1986. Devoted to New Orleans cuisine and to his city, he teaches at the New Orleans Cooking Experience and in local schools, mentors aspiring chefs, and was the recipient of the James Beard Foundation Humanitarian Award in 2006.

Zaza Karenna Suzian shares her story and candid insights on learning to use the power of her voice. An accomplished singer and performer, she’s been my vocal coach and friend for decades. We’ve shared gigs with myriad bands―from back porches to concert halls. Before we met, she performed in New York City clubs and recording studios. She’s talented, wise, and tells it like it is.