Articles
“Committed innovators: How masters of essentials outperform”
Originally posted in our June 2022 Top of Mind Newsletter. Continuing to think about future societal development, what do we mean when we say innovation? When organizational leaders use that word, how are they actually committing to it? In a recent McKinsey article, the authors begin to address these types of questions. As the writers outline in a sidebar, there are eight practices to commit to when embracing innovation. These are: aspire, choose, discover, evolve, accelerate,…
“A Brain Capital Grand Strategy: toward economic reimagination”
Originally posted in our June 2022 Top of Mind Newsletter. What is the role of our brains in societal advancement? This might sound like a silly question, but as COVID-19 has revealed, on a global level, we cannot ignore the massive impact on our mental health from pandemic conditions. For example, in an article Nature published in October 2020, we see a compelling argument for improving psychological resilience globally. As the article cites, “[b]rain health disorders…
“The Real Reason MBA Graduates Make Worse Managers”
Originally posted in our May 2022 Top of Mind Newsletter. As many readers will have heard, we at ELI believe that entrepreneurial skills are what employers now require. What they have been getting, however, are those with MBAs. While not a bad skill set to develop, this article and the related study shed light on the fact that business administration still requires a degree of adaptability that many do not get from their master’s degree. What’s…
“Why should an entrepreneurial mindset mean something to you?”
Originally posted in our May 2022 Top of Mind Newsletter. In this piece from Ice House facilitator Nontando Mthethwa based in South Africa, we see an exploration into a mindset gap in her country. As unemployment and economic unrest continue to grow, many organizations in SA are embracing the concept of an entrepreneurial mindset. So much so, that some are questioning what the concept means. Mthethwa discusses the development of entrepreneurial skills at an early age,…
“What every US college should teach their students”
Originally posted in our April 2022 Top of Mind Newsletter. Continuing from the role active learning (with an entrepreneurial lens) can have on student engagement, we turn to an opinion piece from the founder of Best Buy, Richard M. Schulze. Schulze describes how the skillset and mindset of entrepreneurs equip students of any discipline with the drive, passion, and purpose needed to get the most out of their education. According to Schulze, calculated risk-taking is another…
“College students often don’t know when they’re learning”
Originally posted in our April 2022 Top of Mind Newsletter. In school, did you dread group work? Whether it was a research paper or group work on a set of problems in science class, many people report feeling frustrated, confused, and annoyed. However, many studies over the years have shown that this type of work yields much better learning outcomes. While we all have experienced a boring lecture, when you’re lucky enough to attend a talk…
“A ‘Stunning’ Level of Student Disconnection”
Originally posted in our April 2022 Top of Mind Newsletter. Over the last two years, we’ve seen significant shifts in policy around COVID-19. Changes to school, work, and public life were all topped off with extreme ambiguity about when things would get back to normal. For many college students, this constant state of the unknown seems to have had more significant impacts than we first realized. Across the country, higher education faculty are reporting devastating rates…
“The resilience imperative: Succeeding in uncertain times”
Originally posted in our March 2022 Top of Mind Newsletter. As we have examined this month, there are significant ways we should explore our personal and organizational frames of mind. To become resilient to an ever-changing future, we need to adjust our assumptions. This piece from McKinsey shows a direct call to action to make our organizations more resilient. The article outlines the imperative for organizational resilience while also describing the various dimensions of resilience we…
“How thinking about ‘future you’ can build a happier life”
Originally posted in our March 2022 Top of Mind Newsletter. If someone were to ask you to think about your future self, who would you imagine? In this piece from the BBC, the author discusses two general ways people answer this question. One is a relatively vivid picture of the self who is well connected to the person’s current identity. The other is, in many ways, a stranger to the present person. Interestingly, the difference between…