Don Laackman

Happy New Year

Not sure when I am coming back to Chicago . . . .

It is raining and I am stuck at home on this Saturday morning waiting for UPS to deliver my new Visa card sent to replace the one Amazon informed me has been stolen and used to purchase unspecified items sent to unknown addresses. This, following the discovery that I gifted my Kindle Paperwhite by leavingContinue reading “Seminar”

Laackman’s Theorem

Laackman’s Theorem states: “80% of the world’s problems are caused by role confusion.” I have yet to be confronted with a problem for which I cannot find a root cause tied to role confusion. Throughout my career, I have striven to clearly define the roles of team members and organizations. I think deeply about the roleContinue reading “Laackman’s Theorem”

Choices in College

Steven Dubner posts a must-read interview with the authors of Getting the Best Out of College. The piece starts with a great quote: “Your choices in college matter more than your choices ofcollege, so choose wisely,” but there is much more wisdom shared in the interview. The author wades into the value of liberal arts, career training, and choices ofContinue reading “Choices in College”

You Get What You Measure

“You get what you measure.” This trope guided discussions in many measurement plans in my corporate life. Once a company tracks a performance indicator, then employees start to change their behavior so that they look good in relation to the measure. Taken to extremes, poorly designed measures may have unintended consequences. The story outlined in Freakonomics aboutContinue reading “You Get What You Measure”

Harold Washington

The Sun-Times has a nice article marking the anniversary of Mayor Harold Washington’s passing, twenty-five years ago today. Mayor Washington died the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. On Friday, he lay in state in City Hall. The lines waiting to see him in the gusty raw November days stretched around the block on LaSalle, Randolph, Clark and Washington. NewsContinue reading “Harold Washington”

Skills and Jobs

Also worth a read in this Sunday’s The New York Times is Thomas Friedman’s article, “If You’ve Got the Skills, She’s Got the Job.” Two main takeaways for me are that first, jobs today require a higher level of analytical competency than in the past. Welding is the example of a job that in the past sufficedContinue reading “Skills and Jobs”

Irony

I was working on an ironic post about the liberal arts, prompted by the recent exchanges between Kojo and the Lounge, when I read “How to Live Without Irony” in today’s The New York Times. My hobby as an ironist was launched by Professor Wayne Booth’s “Rhetoric” class. We read Jane Austen’s Persuasion, and Professor Booth askedContinue reading “Irony”

Assessment

One of our HWC Operating Plan priorities for FY2013 is Assessment. HWC has long had a strong culture of assessment. In our 2008 accreditation visit, HLC lauded HWC’s faculty-driven assessment processes. This year, I wanted to expand and improve our assessment capabilities. We are investing in faculty release time to take part on the Assessment Committee.Continue reading “Assessment”

A Dorm for All Colleges

More than one friend emailed to make sure I had seen this article from Sunday’s New York Times, “A Dorm for All Colleges.” The article highlights the great work Raul Raymundo and his Resurrection Project have done, including the dorm space they have created for students. Teohua Nieto, one of HWC’s students, is featured. They also discuss MeganContinue reading “A Dorm for All Colleges”