This is one of the most quietly revolutionary things any city can do to improve kids' lives & outcomes. If you genuinely care about kids having access to education or safe after school spaces & activities, then fund your libraries, staff your libraries, & make every public school ID a library card.

Most bad decisions aren’t about intelligence; they’re about bias. Framing effect = the way information is presented shapes our decisions. 90% success or 10% failure are the same thing. Effective leaders consider framing before they decide. More: bit.ly/4tgw2td

Most bad decisions aren’t about intelligence; they’re about bias. Sunk cost fallacy = continuing because we’ve already invested time, money, or effort. Effective leaders focus on what’s next, not what’s spent. More: bit.ly/4tgw2td

Most bad decisions aren’t about intelligence; they’re about bias. Pro-innovation bias = we assume that new is better, and we overlook what already works. Effective leaders test before they adopt. More: bit.ly/4tgw2td

Most bad decisions aren’t about intelligence; they’re about bias. Urgency bias = acting on what feels pressing, not what matters most. Effective leaders prioritise impact, not immediacy. More: bit.ly/4tgw2td

To see or not to see? Every single Shakespeare play – ranked!

silotheatre.co.nz/show/arthur-... Looking forward to seeing this tomorrow. #theatre #silotheatre

Most bad decisions aren’t about intelligence; they’re about bias. Loss aversion = we fear losses more than we value gains, so we play it safe. Effective leaders weigh trade-offs, not just risks. More: bit.ly/4tgw2td

Most bad decisions aren’t about intelligence; they’re about bias. Groupthink = harmony over honesty. We go along to get along. Effective leaders invite challenge, not just agreement. More: bit.ly/4tgw2td

Most bad decisions aren’t about intelligence; they’re about bias. Confirmation bias = seeking evidence that proves us right and ignoring what doesn’t. Effective leaders invest effort into testing their thinking, rather than defending it. More: bit.ly/4tgw2td

Most bad decisions aren’t about a lack of intelligence; they’re about bias. Take recency bias: we overweigh what just happened and ignore bigger patterns. Effective leaders zoom out and look for trends, not moments. Learn more (and how to counter it) in my webinar series: bit.ly/4tgw2td

She wanted to pry her late mother’s Oregon vineyard from two of her brothers. Instead, her lawyers were fined nearly $110,000 for citing bogus case law generated by A.I.

I live in Auckland (Tāmaki Makaurau) which is perched on an isthmus between the Manukau and Waitematā harbours in Aotearoa New Zealand. Lately I'm become a little bit obsessed with the city's traditional portages.

Middle Leadership Moments is our video series on high-impact leadership ideas, tools, and routines. It's not about adding more to your plate; it's about sharpening how you use the time and influence you already have. www.themiddleleadershipmanual.com

Most bad decisions aren’t about intelligence; they’re about bias. Anchoring bias = the first thing we hear about something often sets our reference point even when later information disproves it. First impressions count. Effective leaders reset the anchor before deciding. More: bit.ly/4tgw2td

What are the six cognitive biases that most typically undermine the effectiveness of teacher reflection and inquiry? Another way to consider the question is to ask 'Who sabotaged my thinking?' Here's a chunk from my latest webinar exploring the main culprits: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Skd...

Right. I'm into it.

We'd have the iRex ferries by now... Sigh

Nice #rainbow to start the day.

“The Prime Minister has had to cut short his crucial Middle East talks seeking continuation of our oil supplies… The introduction of fuel rationing has given the union cause a large measure of public sympathy…” Dougal Stevenson reads the TV1 news in the opening scene of Sleeping Dogs (1977)

Great run yesterday. Coast to Coast in Auckland.

Check out our webinar series on teaching as inquiry. The next one is 'Bias and the Brain' or the cognitive biases that limit our ability to analyse situations deeply. www.leadinglearning.co.nz/resources/p/...

Our next webinar looks at the cognitive biases that often limit human decision making. More importantly, it also looks at how we can limit the impact those biases have on our ability to analyse situations and take action. www.leadinglearning.co.nz/resources/p/...

Co-teaching for Differentiation: practical strategies to ensure your #coteaching engages and accelerates all learners #collaboration #teaching #education www.leadinglearning.co.nz/resources/p/...

Free webinar on Accelerating Teacher Inquiry 18th Feb 3:30pm NZT. www.leadinglearning.co.nz/resources/p/... #teaching #leadership

In April 2024, Spotify implemented a new scheme: songs with less than 1k streams per year would no longer receive royalties. The data for 2025 was just released via Luminate, and 88% of songs have been demonetized. Read it again: 88% of songs on Spotify have been demonetized.

If a left wing govt did this it would be called fraud. #NZPol

I'm really happy that The Bad Newsletter has a new home at Emily Writes Weekly, and really unhappy that my first piece is about the ultra-munted weirdness that the Chaos Coalition is doing to the new school curriculum www.emilywrites.co.nz/what-the-hel...

Is it good when a major international news organization is actively soliciting stories about people leaving your country because the government has fucked it so hard?

“When you cut nearly 400 jobs in MPI, it's going to make a big, big impact, & the Luxon Govt needs to just admit that it was wrong, step up & fund them properly, & just throw everything at it that they can to eliminate these hornets, before next summer." #nzpol

I developed a Playbook to help leaders apply the 100+ tools and frameworks in The Middle Leadership Manual to their own work. It's free and downloadable here: www.themiddleleadershipmanual.com/playbook

My new book 'The Middle Leadership Manual' has 100+ tools and frameworks that every leader should be aware of. It covers: - Vision, strategy and action, - People and teams, - Structures and systems. www.themiddleleadershipmanual.com/shop/p/middl... #leadership #middleleadership #change

Here's a sample chapter from my new book 'The Middle Leadership Manual': 100+ tools and frameworks to increase the impact of your leadership. Enjoy! drive.google.com/file/d/1QiMF...

Picture this: it’s your first day as a middle leader, and your boss hands you a big folder and says, “Here’s everything you need to navigate the tough stuff—tools, frameworks, solutions. It’s all in here.” Sounds ideal, right? Well here it is: www.themiddleleadershipmanual.com/shop/p/middl...

Exciting news! Pre-orders are open for my new book 'The Middle Leadership Manual': 100+ #leadership tools and frameworks to grow middle (and senior) leader effectiveness. www.themiddleleadershipmanual.com/shop/p/middl...

American Religion. My Stuff #cartoon today #Guns #USA #Religion

Luxon himself handed me the Prime Minister's science prize last year. Let me say this in plain English: he's an idiot for running a govt who budgeted more for AI than for the Marsden fund. any journo reading this can quote me on it #nzpol

Three Dave Dobbyns plucked from different eras, brought to the distant future to save the world from demons! Singing songs and slaying hellspawns, it's Dave Dobbyn: Demon Hunter! You can also grab a print of this poster here: danielvernon.bigcartel.com

A new #MiddleLeadership Manual email is set to go out tomorrow; it's on using 'Servant Leadership' to guide how you grow team members, avoiding the twin sins of creating dependence, and leaving people feeling abandoned. It's free; sign up: themiddleleadershipmanual.com

The fishing industry claimed bottom trawling orange roughy was sustainable, and the greenwashing Marine Stewardship Council agreed, and now it has collapsed to about 8% of original fish. It was never sustainable. Don't eat orange roughy www.odt.co.nz/lifestyle/ma...

BREAKING: Donald Trump officially terminated nearly half of all Education Department staff. This is an all-out assault on our public schools and Americans with student loans.

Pablo Picasso: 'Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.'

What’s the difference between a coach and a mentor? One way to think about it is that a mentor helps from a distance, but a coach ‘watches you play’. Check out the Middle #Leadership Manual entry on coaching. Sign up to access the (free) archive: www.themiddleleadershipmanual.com

Do you coach team members? Learn about three modes of #coaching (directive, dialogical and facilitative) and when each is best employed. We covered them in the Middle #Leadership Manual recently. Access the (free) archive by signing up here: www.themiddleleadershipmanual.com

Do you coach team members? Jim Knight has a useful three-stage framework based on the needs of your coachee. We covered them in the Middle #Leadership Manual entry on coaching. Sign up here (free) to access the archive: www.themiddleleadershipmanual.com