Cognitive Psychologist Robert Sternberg and Researcher Rex Jung Talk Intelligence & Creativity (Video)
Posted by Robert Bacal in Psychology and Cognition, Videos of Note on March 11, 2010
Robert Sternberg is a cognitive psychologist and Dean at Tufts University, and is known for his theories on intelligence and creativity. In these segments Robert and Rx Jung talk about:
Percontations: Intelligence and Beyond
Defusing Hostile Customers Workbook For Public Sector (Third Edition) Getting Closer – Free Excerpts
Posted by Robert Bacal in Site News, customer service on March 11, 2010
We’re getting pretty close to completing the editing and adding of material to our flagship book – Defusing Hostile Customers Workbook For Public Sector (Third Edition). We will be updating regularly on this blog to tell you about what improvements we’ve made to the book, changes in how you can purchase it, options and more.
Don’t [...]
Dr. Russell Ackoff On Systems Thinking (Videos)
Posted by Robert Bacal in Managing and Organizations, Videos of Note, organizational development on March 11, 2010
Dr. Russell Ackoff is considered by many to be the father of systems thinking. Definitely worth getting into and understanding. Here are some videos of him speaking. We’ve posted the series so you don’t have to hunt them all down.
1) Systems Thinking – Part I
Why I Yell Against E-Learning Propaganda (Part 1)
Posted by Robert Bacal in Education and Schools, Robert's Editorials, Training & Technology on March 11, 2010
Just posted a comment on Why Elearning DOES Work It’s a partial answer to the title of this post.
I’ve reproduced it below:
Ackoff and Greenberg: Turning Learning Right Side Up Book Talk Part 1 (Video)
Posted by Robert Bacal in Education and Schools on March 10, 2010
This will resonate with many people, and in particular old hippies and the new generation of fanatics who believe that social networking will replace schools, and who want to dismantle the existing school system. Ackoff and Greenberg are the real deal, smart, great to listen to, personable.
Here is the problem. What they have to say [...]
Comparision of Instructional Design Models Slideshow
Posted by Robert Bacal in Training Tools & Techniques, adult education, instructional design on March 8, 2010
If you are looking for a fairly good overview of the major approaches to Instructional Design, check out this slideshow on the topic. It includes a nice chart referencing, classroom, product and systems approaches to the design of instruction. Ideal for teachers, designers and trainers, since any person involved in helping others learn should understand [...]
More Self-Centered Idiocy From the Social Network Fringe.
Posted by Robert Bacal in Stupid Trainer Tricks, Thought Jolts, Training Wisdom or Training Foolishness, Writing & Publishing on March 5, 2010
In a virtually rambling and incoherent blog post, BFChirpy seems to write about metrics, knowledge and such stuff. Take a quick look. A great example of self-indulgent writing and thinking, AND the common extreme self-centeredness of almost all the most active social media pundits and fringe members.
I posted a response on the blog, but you [...]
Venters Vs. Hoarders (Handling Negative Emotions)
Posted by Robert Bacal in For Learners, Thought Jolts, customer service on March 4, 2010
Thought I’d pass this along. It’s based on something in our Defusing Hostile Customers Workbook, but it pertains to how people handle negative emotions.
The ROI of Your Labor Force: Optimize Your Most Important Asset
Posted by in FREE!, human resources on March 3, 2010
The workforce is more than the aggregate of all employees—the workforce is the engine of operations. As your largest single controllable expense and largest driver for value creation, your workforce as a whole must be managed optimally. This workforce optimization provides the two key ingredients of strategic HR. It provides the real-time labor input for core HR efforts, while also producing the measurable business impact that HR needs to deliver. Leading HR organizations have driven real returns by extending their reach to the front lines of people processes. As investors increasingly scrutinize measures like profit per employee and labor cost as a percentage of revenue, the need for HR to measure its business impact in dollars has never been more intense. Request Free!
Why I Cannot Abide Social Learning “Experts” And Why You Should Beware
Posted by Robert Bacal in Robert's Editorials, Training & Technology, Training Wisdom or Training Foolishness, adult education on March 2, 2010
Not a single day goes by without some fool of a social media/social learning “expert” blogging, tweeting or otherwise writing to promote the use of social media tools in classrooms. Every day I see articles (actually, blogs mostly since they require no editorial review) telling us how Twitter is a great tool for creating engagement [...]

