Friday Mindset #187

Happy Friday!

Last issue before the holidays, folks. We’ll be back on Friday 5th June.

In the meantime, get your teeth into this lot…

Something we're reading...

We’ve already bent your ear about Rutger Bregman’s book Moral Ambition, which we loved. Bregman makes the case that, though every country has its best-and-brightest, very few successfully encourage those people into work that will actively make the world a better place.

Where do these superstar students go instead? In America at least, its mostly finance and consulting. Moving rich people’s money around and making minor changes to how multinationals are run. Bregman regards this as a colossal waste of their talents, and argues instead they should have moral ambition - that with great talent and ability comes the responsibility to explore how best to improve the world.

If you haven’t read the book, consider this video a great way in. Bregman goes to Harvard to speak to students, urging them to adopt a more proactive approach. After a little intro, what you get is an edited version of Bregman’s presentation. Half an hour of really interesting practical philosophy. One to watch yourself, but perhaps share with a sixth form tutor group, your Medics, or an Oxbridge group.

(Subscribers, you get a Moral-Ambition related bonus image lower down!)

Enjoy…

Portal Talk...

Half term is nearly here, which means one of two things: you’re either about to enjoy a very well-earned break… or you’re about to open your laptop “just for five minutes” and somehow end up planning September with 47 tabs open and a cold cup of coffee. Possibly both.

So, in the spirit of productive procrastination, we’ve opened up a free VESPA Academy 2.0 trial for anyone who would like to have a proper look around. The trial gives you access to a set of dummy users, so you can explore the platform with real-looking data rather than staring at an empty dashboard wondering what’s supposed to happen next. You can see:

• the student questionnaire

• individual VESPA reports

• coaching insights

• the new dashboards

• student reflections

• activities and interventions

• the overall feel of the rebuilt 2.0 platform

A great chance to have a look andconsider whether it might help your school, college or sixth form next year!

Scope out VESPA Academy 2.0 for free:

Freebies abound! We’re also running a free, 30-minute online session with Martin Griffin on Wednesday 3 June at 4.00pm.

Martin will look at why some students underperform even when they appear to be working hard, how the VESPA model helps identify the habits behind performance, and how structured coaching conversations can help students move from vague advice to practical action. A replay will be shared with everyone who registers, so no panic if half-term brain has already taken over by then 😁

Register below:

Finally, in a terrifying act of modern professionalism, we are trying to get better at LinkedIn! Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing more of the story behind VESPA Academy, the move to 2.0, and how schools are using the model to support better student conversations. So if you’re on LinkedIn and fancy joining us over there, come and say hello.

Follow the VESPA LinkedIn posts:
Tony Dennis | LinkedIn | Martin Griffin | LinkedIn | Steve Oakes | LinkedIn

As always, if you would like to learn more about what we do, please book in a demo and a chat below:

Something to try...

Brad Stulberg, a journalist, writer and staff member at The University of Michigan, has written a new book, The Way of Excellence. In it, he ponders what excellence might mean on an individual level - not in terms of grinding it out, beating the competition, or having hyper-focussed success in a single field. Stulberg’s thinking is much wider, and more humane; more what does a satisfying, fully-rounded life lived to the full look like?

Recently, he reflected on everything he’d learned writing the book, and shared 35 insights. We’ve edited and trimmed, and turned Stulberg’s suggestions into a powerpoint for you! This will make a really good assembly or tutorial activity…

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