In this edition of This Week On LinkedIn, I share an exchange I had with the Oodie company that has potential to lead to a dynamic and comfortable e-learning product, I get to grips with a hammer analogy, and I share a little secret about what gets me up in the morning (and it involves my students and my Good Lady Wife).

There are some other stories too, and this category of article is provided to keep my faculty and students in the loop of the great, evangelising I do for our approach to MBA Thinking, amid people everywhere, with or without degrees.

In space, nobody will feel more comfortable

Early in the week, I came across and article from SouthStart, reflecting on some wise words from Flavia Tata Nardini of Fleet Space Technologies fame, in which she urged us all to keep trying new things. Here’s the post.

I replied to SouthStart, thus:

“One day you will try something and it will feel right. You will feel like, oh wow, I was born for this.” Hear hear!
I certainly had an experience of that intuitive “rightness” when I tried on my first oodie from The Oodie, and now I have my students set with the task of reaching out to them to make academic gowns in this style.
Not quite as amazing as Flavia Tata Nardini‘s feat, but still, in my orbit, it is out of this world to me!

To which, The Oodie Company replied:

We would love nothing more than to see your students graduate in Oodies! 🎓😍☁️

I would like to pursue a chat with the most creative Oodie insider because there is a great collaboration idea we are sitting on. Comfortably!

A little bedtime insight that makes getting up easier

The Female Lead shared an intriguing meme about creating alarm clocks with sounds that inspire and encourage.

I was heartened to see that other people are equally as creative with their alarm clocks, so much so, that I then shared my little bedroom secrets:

I had my students record, “Is that you, Professor?“ and, “Professor Longsword I need you,” and I find this audio as my alarm not only arouses me, but it complements my Good Lady Wife’s urging that it’s time to “get up”, Sebastian. I can’t describe how wonderful it is to arise to such a chorus of morning glory.

And a shout out to Karen Richards for liking my approach.

Wave at anybody in your street

When I apply MBA Thinking, I really do go out of the box and Damien Drayton did this too, with his suggestion to wave at everybody in your street.

I wholeheartedly support this exuberance because it makes the world more connected and, from an MBA Thinking perspective, that means more potential to engage with customers. I replied:

This is da bomb, as the youngsters say. I always wave at people while tending to my good lady wife’s garden, which she asks me to trim weekly, in our front yard. I find people often smile, laugh, and even point, as they see me. I should say she prefers me to only wear underwear while tending her bush (so I don’t soil her carpet when I come inside), and some friends say this I why I turn so many heads.

Let me know if I’ve ever waved at you.

Adele and the wonders of teaching

Viola Kanu, who as an Associate Assistant Principal, shared an insight from watching Emma Thompson interviewing Adele, in which the singing star praised her Year 8 English teacher, only to have that teacher emerge from the audience.

I thank Viola for sharing this because it enabled me to shine a light on work I do behind the scenes to make sure I am there for whenever a student praises me publicly.

This is beautiful. I know I certainly spend a lot of time and money following our graduates wherever they are speaking publicly, or even holding birthday/anniversary celebrations publicly because if and when they mention my role in their lives, I want to be able to surprise them with a warm hug. Of course, I’m always in my robes, which means to maintain the element of surprise I need to lurk behind screens, fixtures, and very large pot plants. But as a passionate teacher, I’m proud to say it’s worth the strange looks, awkwardness, and occasional restraining orders.

God bless teachers.

Offering Tourism Australia a little more zest

Tourism Australia shared a new campaign about gifting experiences from Australia.

The ad contains many of the usual suspects from whitewater activities to bridge climbing, so I offered to add a more cultural offering into the mix.

For the next ad in the series, please call me. I’d recommended my lecture on Australian philosophers: From Burke To Buckleys With A Dash Of Keating. Admittedly, it is short. But it does contain a lot of swear words so it will appeal to young people and commercial FM radio listeners.

Who would you buy my Australian Philosophers experience for?

The MBA School boosts Adelaide’s standing

The prolific Daniel Gannon shared this post and observation about Adelaide being our most liveable city.

I didn’t want to be indelicate, but MBA Thinking compelled me to not a correlation between Adelaide rising in these surveys AND the arrival of The MBA School Of MBA Credentials.

And it would be remiss of me not to point out that our city’s recent rising in the stakes correlates with the emergence of The MBA School Of MBA Credentials and our world-beating, Lunchtime MBA. I’ll ask my next round of students to graph the causality factors. They start the subject, The Emergence Of The Town City, next week, with a field trip to the old LeCornu site.

Connecting Kangaroo Island to the world

Perhaps the most stunningly imaginative post from the week was this one. It was originally shared by Paul Goiak, who is from South Australia’s Department of Innovation and Skills.

There were two comments that preceded my insightful suggestion for the South Australian Government. The first was from Lisa Kennewell:

Scott, the real deal!

To which, Scott replied:

Awesome – would be even more impressive if there was a connection into S.A. (and K.I.) wouldn’t it

And that was all I needed to kick my MBA Thinking into gear.

Scott Bayliss I’ve looked at that model and I’ve looked at KI’s position. One of my students calculated that 1,347 of these “Click 25m 250V 10A Heavy Duty Extension Leads” from Bunnings would connect KI to the cable going past.
You could then talk to South Australia’s Innovation Minister, Hon. David Pisoni MP, and our Chief Entrepreneur, Andrew Nunn, and arrage a cable to mainland SA and charge the state a fee. Wouldn’t it be lovely for KI to be the place that doesn’t have blackouts for a change?
PS The good thing about this is it will only cost $29,634 and is over the limit that qualifies for free shipping – Kangaroo Islanders don’t hear that every day!
https://www.bunnings.com.au/click-25m-250v-10a-heavy-duty-extension-lead_p0189131

I should add, for the record, that my students and I would be happy to Lay Cable For Kangaroo Island, and we could even create a campaign for it.

If I had a hammer …

The final entry this week, was spurred by a post from Damien Mair from Fusion.

Damien’s post really got me thinking about his hammer analogy, and inspired this:

An intriguing start to a Saturday morning. My good lady wife and I have just been lying in bed and thinking of you and your post, and I think we’ve discovered a new position.
Yes, buying a hammer does not build a house, however it’s impossible to build a house without one.
Ergo, we think you’re hinting that if we want to erect something, we should borrow or steal a tool.
Both actions lead to some stimulation. Theft leads to more police and forensic work; keeping police officers employed, while also arousing insurance companies to pay the owner of the original hammer to go to Bunnings to buy a new one. Borrowing leads to visiting a friend with some goodies and a cuppa and then buying a thank you gift when we are finished.
This might well be universally applicable, for example, does it follow that “buying” a car doesn’t make for a great road trip? We say, yes.
Therefore, thanks to you, Damien, my good lady wife and I are now debating whether to steal or borrow a car for the weekend.
But first, she said she wants to help me with some “digital transformation”, and then she winked.
Thank you for slipping into our morning.

I’ll sign off for now, to give you time to ponder.