This week on Field Notes, we're talking about career paths. We've broken this conversation down into four questions. We'll dive into a different question each day this week. Today is the final day of this week-long conversation. The last question we're exploring centers around overcoming the obstacles you've identified. How do you close your learning gaps? How do you convince your boss to take a chance and give you that project? When pondering how best to tackle the obstacles in your way to career advancement or change, you must first … [Read more...]
Research, Reports & Real People Talking About the Arts (Oh My!)
There've been many great responses to today's posts and there are so many smart people already looking and thinking about how we might rethink advocacy. I wanted to list a few of the resources/examples that folks have shared with me over the course of the day. Please continue to share with me... and with others outside the arts. Createquity Earlier this month, Createquity featured a post "A New Way to Think About Intrinsic vs. Instrumental Benefits of the Arts" in which they talk about a new report “Cultural Ecology, Neighborhood … [Read more...]
Charities’ Zero-Sum Filing Game
The minimalist ratings of nonprofit organizations, using overhead and fundraising ratios, are deeply flawed. Are we collectively making the situation worse by shaving the numbers? A recent study found that over 40% of nonprofits report zero fundraising expenses, which suggests nonprofits can't be trusted to share information in the public interest and the rating agencies are all that more essential. Our collective actions are feeding the current system rather than demonstrating its irrelevance through honest, open and more comprehensive and … [Read more...]
Lies, Damned Lies, and Medical Science
His model predicted, in different fields of medical research, rates of wrongness roughly corresponding to the observed rates at which findings were later convincingly refuted: 80 percent of non-randomized studies (by far the most common type) turn out to be wrong, as do 25 percent of supposedly gold-standard randomized trials, and as much as 10 percent of the platinum-standard large randomized trials. These were challenging facts for me, as a deep believer in science and rigorous research. It's worth considering the meaning of these findings … [Read more...]
Agnes Gund: Taking the Arts Seriously
An opinion piece that has been highlighted many places but I still wanted to flag. The piece reminds one that the construct of "the arts" marginalizes artistic and creative activity. It makes the end product the focus of attention, rather than the role artistic activity is playing in society, the process of creating and participating in art, and the affect on people engaged through the work. "The arts" has its purpose in organizing a passionate interest group and securing resources, but I wonder if the cost is greater than the benefit, … [Read more...]
Motivated Multitasking: How the Brain Keeps Tabs on Two Tasks at Once: Scientific American
For those convinced they are adept multi-taskers, a slim line of defense against the prevailing wisdom that it can't be done. Motivated Multitasking: How the Brain Keeps Tabs on Two Tasks at Once: Scientific American. … [Read more...]