RWL Newsletter #46
Greetings from the University of New Hampshire! Wow - I am just back from a writer's retreat at the Mountain View Grand Hotel - part of the University of New Hampshire's Writing Academy program. That's the MVG at night. Definitely worth a visit. The retreat was funded by a very generous donor and it allowed about 20 UNH faculty to get away for three and a half days to focus on academic writing. I set a goal of writing 5000 words while I was there and I actually got about 5500 down on electrons, so it was a very productive event for me. It was really a great experience because the faculty participants were drawn from across the university and all disciplines. I had a chance to discuss research and writing with faculty from law, chemical engineering, linguistics, marine biology... On a day to day basis, life at the university is pretty stove-piped. You don't get much of a chance to see what other people are doing in other departments, so it was very cool to talk with other faculty and share my research as well. It was a great way to kick off what I hope will be a very productive summer.
So to kick off your weekend, here are some links to think about:
Read
What: HBR, Your Team Is Brainstorming All Wrong by Art Markman
https://hbr.org/2017/05/your-team-is-brainstorming-all-wrong
Why: I was really surprised when I first heard that brainstorming (as typically conceived) doesn't work. I'd been in many meetings where we did something along these lines. This article does a good job explaining why it doesn't work ("As soon as one person throws out an idea, it affects the memory of everyone in the group and makes them think a bit more similarly about the problem than they did before") and offering some solutions. It's worth a read.
Watch
What: Uni Common Knowledge, Elon Musk Anti-Motivational Video
https://youtu.be/bF1uoeCDwKs
Why: A compilation of interviews with Elon Musk about risk taking. I have not paid much attention to Musk - I hear about him all the time, of course, but I've not been part of the Cult of Tesla. For those of you who are like me, this might be a good introduction to Musk. Sort of a Musk's Greatest Hits. It's actually pretty inspiring in an egg-head sort of way.
Listen
What: The Ezra Klein Show, VC Bill Gurley on transforming health care
http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/vox/the-ezra-klein-show/e/vc-bill-gurley-on-transforming-health-care-50030526
Why: Some interesting discussion here about how the market for healthcare could be transformed. A "VC" is a venture capitalist - someone who invests in early stage companies that have high potential for growth. As an investor class, they are looking for investments that can explode (in a good way) and disrupt their competitors. for those of us concerned about cost, quality, and access, you have to ask why current models aren't doing a better job. That's where VC's come in. They sift through all the seemingly whacky ideas and invest in companies that they think could actually deliver on change.
That's it for this week!
If you find these links interesting, won’t you tell a friend? They can subscribe here: https://tinyletter.com/markbonica
I'd love to hear what you think of these suggestions, and I'd love to get suggestions from you. Feel free to drop me a line by e-mail, or you can tweet to me at @bonicatalent .
Thanks for reading and see you next week!
Mark
Mark J. Bonica, Ph.D., MBA, MS
Assistant Professor
Department of Health Management and Policy
University of New Hampshire
(603) 862-0598
mark.bonica@unh.edu
Health Leader Forge Podcast: http://healthleaderforge.org
Twitter: @bonicatalent
"I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavor." - Henry David Thoreau