Archive for May, 2010
Some Days School Is Harder Than Others
February 26th, 2010 by John Creighton in Dispatches
Have you ever experienced a loss? The death of a loved one? A divorce, perhaps? Maybe a close friend or a child moved to another town? What did that feel like? How productive were you during this time? Both my parents died after long battles with disease. The last weeks of their lives were grueling—both for them and those of us who loved them. I did my best to work during that time. I went to the office. I took [...]
Read more...Narratives Can Create or Destroy
February 23rd, 2010 by John Creighton in Dispatches
Tags: Education, Leadership, Public Values
Narratives are powerful. The stories we tell ourselves and others don’t just explain the past and present. They shape our future. Indeed, our stories can literally pave the roads we travel not just predicting but creating our life experiences. The movie What the Bleep Do We Know documents scientific theory behind the power of narratives. The person who develops an internal narrative that he is a klutz creates a self-fulfilling prophecy. He imagines in his subconscious that we will, for [...]
Read more...Grown Up Conversations. Are We Ready Yet?
February 19th, 2010 by John Creighton in Dispatches
Tags: Democracy, Public Leaders
“[W]e are at a point right now where it doesn’t make a damn whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican if you’ve forgotten you’re an American.” – Alan Simpson Amen! Alan Simpson is one of the first members of the political class I’ve heard talk like a grown up in a long time. I am hopeful that the former Republican Senator from Wyoming and his Democratic counterpart, Erskine Bowles, can help our country have adult conversations about the fiscal challenges facing [...]
Read more...Producer Nation
February 15th, 2010 by John Creighton in Dispatches
Tags: Citizen Centric, Culture-Structure, Social Media
Patrick Allitt describes the United States as “America the Miserable” in a recent addition of The Spectator. The mood of the country certainly seems stressed. But, Mr. Allitt says that American gloom is more than just a temporary blip. The source of immediate stress for many American families is neither hard to trace nor difficult to understand. Nearly one in five American adults are either unemployed, underemployed or have given up looking for work as my colleague Brad Rourke reportedrecently. Lack of [...]
Read more...Does Sarah Palin Go Too Far?
February 11th, 2010 by John Creighton in Dispatches
Tags: Civility, Democracy, Public Leaders
Are you old enough to remember the 1988 Presidential Election? The Democratic Party nominated Senator Lloyd Bentsen for vice-president. The GOP nominated 41 year-old Dan Quayle for this position. Senator Quayle’s age was considered a liability. To compensate, Senator Quayle pointed out often that he was of a similar age as John F. Kennedy when Kennedy became President. Senator Bentsen capitalized on Senator Quayle’s age and the comparisons to President Kennedy during their vice-presidential debate. Senator Bentsen’s quip is legendary, “Senator, I served [...]
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