• Harrison Owen on Open Space, via Viv McWaters' blog
  Lyrical and rather brillant stuff

You probably know the story, quite possibly apocryphal, of Ernest Shackletons newspaper ad for crew for his expedition to the South Pole:

MEN WANTED FOR HAZARDOUS JOURNEY. LOW WAGES, BITTER COLD, LONG HOURS
OF COMPLETE DARKNESS. SAFE RETURN DOUBTFUL. HONOUR AND RECOGNITION IN
EVENT OF SUCCESS

And then I wondered if any readers out there had examples of other remarkable invitations theyve heard about or experienced?

Fascinating report from The Economist: How to tell when your boss is lying. Researchers identify a number of patterns common to CEOs and CFOs who turn out, with hindsight, to have misled analysts. Apparently, the liars tend to make more references to general knowledge ("as you know"); and use the first person less.

They also tend to superlatives ("fantastic" rather than "good") and swear more. And they use less phatic speech (ums and ers). Vehemence is no substitute for true certainty.

Hat tip: Bob Sutton

• The Cognitive Biases of Hierarchy
  More on the theme of how power corrupts

Im co-hosting a workshop in Finland on October 14th, alongside Simo Routarine and Viv McWaters.

This will be part of the IAF Europe Conference in Helsinki. Heres a bit of the blurb:

Status, or power, games are inherent in meetings - whether acknowledged or not. Sometimes status can get in the way, creating tension between individuals and limiting the potential for authentic communication and engagement.

Status can play out in many ways: sometimes a connection occurs between strangers and they just feel they communicate on the same wavelength; or a careless step on someones toes - an unseen status challenge - creates tension, or even conflict between individuals.

The facilitator is in a unique status position and can use this to their advantage, enabling them to see status gaps and, most importantly, close those gaps to enhance communication.

We cant avoid status games. This workshop is about learning to recognize them and how to play them more effectively.

Details and registration

• Blockbuster tells Hollywood studios it's preparing for mid-September bankruptcy | Company Town | Los Angeles Times
  Yikes. And I suspect the list of organisations who should be paying attention include a lot of higher education bodies, IMHO.
• Studies Show Why Students Study is as Important as What - Inside School Research - Education Week
  If the teacher focusses on what will be assessed, the quality of pupil performance suffers. via @hjarche

• M*A*S*H* Up with Improv, Scientists & Alan Alda | Yes and Space
  Geoff Jones found this 10min video of Alan Alda using improv games to show scientists how to connect more with their own enthusiasm, and with their audience.

• Consortiumnews.com
  Craig Murray gives his account of the consequences of not towing the party line for the Foreign Office. Bureaucraicies/hierarchies at their worst.

• Being Weird - Only Dead Fish
  Neil Perkin points to research suggesting much of popularly accepted psychological research is limited by the worldview of western industrialised democracies, and misleads us about how the wider world population thinks.
• Maps: How Mankind Remade Nature | Wired Science | Wired.com
  via @boetter
• Dynamic Faciliation - 'how to' anual
  A clear guide to the 'Dynamic Facilitation' process originally developed by Jim Rough. Not my normal style of working but it has a lot going for it, especially in terms of allowing connections to emerge without forcing, and (IMHO) a more permissive approach than brainstorming.
• Oxford English Dictionary 'will not be printed again' - Telegraph
  "Until six months ago I was clinging to the idea that printed books would likely last for ever. Since the arrival of the iPad I am now wholly convinced otherwise. "The printed book is about to vanish at extraordinary speed. I have two complete OEDs, but never consult them – I use the online OED five or six times daily. The same with many of my reference books – and soon with most. "Books are about to vanish; reading is about to expand as a pastime; these are inescapable realities"" via Preoccupations
• Inspiration and Chai - Regrets of the Dying
  I'm always wary of people who suggest you might regret things when you're dying. I say I plan to be too busy dying to have time for regrets. But this article makes me think again.
• E-book self-publishing tempts authors large and small | Open (minds, finds, conversations)...
  Antony Mayfield reflects on his experience of being conventionally published and the alternatives
• Faking It: Why Wearing Designer Knockoffs May Have Hidden Psychological Costs: Scientific American
  "Wearing counterfeit glasses not only fails to bolster our ego and self-image the way we hope, it actually undermines our internal sense of authenticity. "Faking it" makes us feel like phonies and cheaters on the inside, and this alienated, counterfeit "self" leads to cheating and cynicism in the real world." Some interesting comments too. Via Andrew Sullivan's blog.

• Robert Paterson's Weblog: The end of text books - the end to school?