Month: September 2010

3 things common to most successful people

Posted on September 22, 2010 by Doug Belshaw

This post represents my current thinking on the nebulous concept of ‘success’. A prerequisite to what follows, of course, is that an individual’s conception of success is aligned with that of the majority of the populace. That’s not always true (or desirable!)

I don’t think talent makes you successful.

Talent doesn’t make you successful because talent is just a word which sums up three different character traits. These can all be developed; they’re not ‘innate’.

People who are successful tend to be:

1. Confident

Confidence is a preference. I strongly believe that. Confidence isn’t something borne out of particular experiences; it’s a decision, a statement of intent, a way of approaching the world that can’t really be taught. It has to be grasped.

2. Tenacious

There’s a time to let things go. Of course there is. But that dogged determinism is why people gain PhD’s and top jobs. It’s all about commitment and, quite often, sacrifice.

3. Articulate

This, of course, involves being able to present well. In fact, for some people, the ability to present other people’s ideas (without credit) leads to their success. But being to articulate your thinking, in words spoken and written is extremely important.

Why I’ve turned off GMail Priority Inbox

Posted on September 22, 2010 by Doug Belshaw

My priorities change.

Emails from my mother may usually be important, but something time-sensitive from a person who’s not emailed me before is likely to be even more so.

However much you try to automate these things, get GMail to ‘learn’ your preferences, ultimately it needs human input.

So I’ve turned off GMail Priority Inbox after playing about with it for a few weeks. Interesting concept, but not for me. 🙂

Scottish Learning Festival 2010

Posted on September 22, 2010 by Doug Belshaw

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I’m at the Scottish Learning Festival (#slf10) Wednesday and Thursday this week. In addition to fact-finding and promoting JISC stuff wherever I can, I’m also attending TeachMeet SLF 2010 (#tmslf2010). As part of that I’m leading a workshop on Google Apps Education Edition. Here’s relevant links:

Google Apps Education Edition

25 mins

Google Certified Teacher after #GTAUK – http://sites.google.com/site/gtaresources/events/2010-07-29/
Differences between ‘standard’ Google tools and Google Apps Education Edition
Google Apps Marketplace – http://www.google.com/enterprise/marketplace/ (e.g. Aviary, Flowr, OffiSync, SurveyMonkey)
Google Apps Training Center – http://edutraining.googleapps.com/
Google Apps Education Edition Certified Trainer – http://google.starttest.com/

Wednesday

I was impressed by the two keynote speakers – Mike Russell, Scottish Education Secretary and Richard Gerver, former Headteacher and public speaker – but for different reasons.

Mike Russell gave a politician’s keynote, a stand-and-deliver lecture without much in the way of visuals. It contained, as I suppose it had to, buzzwords relating to strategy and a dig at the former government for leaving things in a mess. But the thing that impressed me was his obvious commitment to education, his insistence on grassroots innovation, and his tenacity.

Richard Gerver, on the other hand, was entertaining. Whether intentionally or accidentally, 80% of his keynote was anecdotes with 20% focused on ‘the message’ which (I think) was focused around allowing children to take risks, the importance of community, and not imposing ‘creativity’ upon people.

The TeachMeet in the evening was an enjoyable affair with a slightly different structure from those I’ve previously attended. I led a 25-minute round-table workshop on Google Apps Education Edition and there was a ‘World Cafe’ section. This, and the now-standard 2 and 7-minute talks were followed by an excellent curry at India Quay.

Thursday

After getting soaked on the way from the hotel to the conference centre due to a idiotic truck driver/puddle combo, I was delighted to hear Thornlie Primary School singing wonderful Georgian melodies in the conference hall.

After a bit of a wander, catching up with some folk, I attended an absolutely fantastic session on games-based learning in the Early Years by Derek Robertson. Lots of wonderful ideas, backed up by evidence that I could take home and use with my 3 year-old son!

The final keynote I attended was a bit disappointing. You know when he’s still talking about what ‘this speech is going to be about’ 20 minutes in you’re onto a loser. Which was a shame, as Eric Booth was very enthusiastic.