Welcome to the 300th issue of the Dialogic Learning Weekly. Today we pause and reflect on this special milestone.
The reason I sit and write this email every Friday is to help educators and innovation leaders enhance their practice with provocations, ideas and mental models, about leadership, learning and innovation.
Here are some stats about my newsletter journey over the years:
- The first issue was sent on August 12th 2016 – which seems like a lifetime. It coincided with the start of my education consultancy business Dialogic Learning.
- I described my ambition at the time to keep the newsletter small but mighty, sharing updates, ideas and links on a weekly cycle.
- Over the years I have used three different newsletter platforms: Mailchimp (1-144) Revue* (145-223) and our current home ConvertKit (224-300) – *Revue was acquired by Twitter and sadly has been shuttered by the new Musk led ownership.
- I have written and published over 200,000 words across 300 newsletters.
- Curating readings, resources and articles for you is central to the newsletter and although it is hard to put a number on how many I have shared, I suspect it is over 1500 curated links.
- I have spent over 1000 hours writing, curating and developing the newsletter, it is part of my creative ritual.
As we celebrate the 300th issue, I want to take a moment to express my appreciation to you. Your support and engagement have been vital in making this newsletter a success and helping me stick with it, even when some weeks I wonder if anyone is out there.
Thank you for reading, providing feedback and sharing it with others. To those who’ve been with me from the start, thank you for being a part of this journey. And to those who are just joining us, welcome to the Dialogic Learning Weekly. I am grateful to connect with you.
Below are some issue highlights from the archives, which I hope you will enjoy.
And if you are thinking about how you can support this newsletter, you can send me some feedback, donate by leaving a tip, encourage a colleague to subscribe or Tweet about this issue.
⟶Issue 142 – three strategic thinking tools that I have used over the years across a range of projects and industries. Includes this lovely quote from F. Scott Fitzgerald which is a joy to rediscover.
“The test of a first-rate intelligence is to hold two opposed ideas in your mind at the same time and still retain your capacity to function. You must, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless and still be determined to make them otherwise.” ~ F. Scott Fitzgerald
⟶ Issue 127 – Popper’s Worlds
an exploration of the philosophical worlds we live in, the impact of new school design and artefacts of cognition.
⟶ Issue 136 – 3 steps to improve your next workshop
The most common piece of feedback I get from my workshops and sessions is about time. People wish for more time and hope they can recreate the experience in the future. More specifically, they express gratitude and appreciation for the time and space to engage in authentic and meaningful dialogue with their peers.
⟶ Issue 246 – Jumbo Jets and Mayonnaise
It is often useful to distinguish between the notions “complex” and “complicated.” A jumbo jet is complicated, a mayonnaise is complex (a least for the French). A complicated system is something we can model accurately (at least in principle). Following this line of thought, one may argue that the notion “complex” is merely a term we use for something we cannot yet model.
⟶ Issue 169 – Restart, Reframe or Recast
Let’s unshackle from the present pressures and look ahead to a further horizon. See these as provocations you can use with your teams as you begin to navigate your way through the next few months. How will you process the transition? What language will guide your thoughts and actions?
⟶ Issue 175 – The Shape of the Lens
Inspired by an optics metaphor used in ethnography, this mental model explores our perception and understanding of behaviour. Use it as part of your team’s developmental dialogue and process.
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Thanks for reading, let me know what resonates.