This weekend I have been reviewing the evaluation reports for the modules I taught last semester. Doing so always triggers soul searching reflections about what it means to be a good teacher. Having spent so many years in education, I have seen my fair share of great educators. This is what I have learned over … Continue reading What makes a great teacher?

My #followfriday recommendation this week goes to @arjantupan, someone who inspires me to write and to be social. I confessed how, sometimes, I struggle to write, even if I love it and even if my career depends on it. Yet, I have read that writing is like exercise: that you need to get in the … Continue reading #followfriday: @arjantupan

At a time when everybody and their dog has a social influence score, and business models are built around the number of times a blog post or status update is shared, it seems that influence is all about quantity. But it isn’t. This post explores the nature of influence, and what it means for how … Continue reading Understanding influence

Writing. I love it and I hate it. I love the idea of writing. Being able to share with others what I found after having thought deeply, read widely and investigated thoroughly a particular topic. But I really struggle with the act of writing. First, I struggle with the blank page - the enormity of … Continue reading Like crossing a desert

#followfriday (or #ff) is a tradition started by Micah Baldwin (according to Mashable), whereby you name Twitter user your followers should know about. It is important to provide information about the name user, to help others decide whether to follow them. Hence, in addition to naming interesting users on Twitter, I provide a bit of … Continue reading #followfriday: @pushingsocial

We have established that, as individuals, we need to be familiar with various social media tools, including blogging. But what about the wider impact of all this digital activity? What is the value for firms or, indeed, society at large? Well… I don’t have the answer myself; but I came across two fascinating articles that … Continue reading Blogs and the bottom line

Most likely, you have heard before that organisations should treat high and low value customers differently. I, for one, recommend that on a regular basis! Today, though, I am doing the opposite – this article is about the reasons to treat all customers the same. We are all different. We all like to feel special. … Continue reading The case for NOT making customers feel special

The advantages of looking at things from a new perspective Here at home, sometimes, we play games against the rules. For instance, in chess you position your pieces so that the opponent has to capture them. I call it being ‘Miss Contrary’ (you know, from the ‘Little Miss’ series, by Roger Hargreaves) It’s a great … Continue reading Miss Contrary

#followfriday (or #ff) is a tradition started by Micah Baldwin (according to Mashable), whereby you name Twitter user your followers should know about. It is important to provide information about the name user, to help others decide whether to follow them. Hence, in addition to naming interesting users on Twitter, I provide a bit of … Continue reading #followfriday: @tomfishburne