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Gistermiddag om kwart voor twaalf zaten we met een grote groep belangstellenden klaar in het auditorium van de Vrije Universiteit: onze collega Martijn van Ooijen verdedigde zijn proefschrift en kreeg de doctorsbul uitgereikt! Met deze feestelijke gebeurtenis sluit Martijn een uitgebreid onderzoek af waar hij de afgelopen jaren met een schier onuitputtelijke bron van energie aan werkte.

Special news: Kessels & Smit, The Learning Company is now also based in Rwanda! Also here we hope to contribute to movement and impact with our people-oriented approach to organizational development. Colleague Martine van Es is in Kigali with her family to set up and expand the activities of K&S Rwanda. First insights into the market show that attention to organizational and leadership development is growing. Taking an appreciative, learning perspective on e.g. midterm reviews, collaboration issues or culture change is also gaining traction. And we as K&S are excited to contribute to that.

Why are some getting sick and others not? You might be thinking, "healthy people don't get sick". Nothing could be further from the truth! A person is supposed to be sick now and then. After all, there are a lot of pathogens flying through the air and a well-functioning immune system protects us by triggering reactions that we consider 'being sick'. So actually, symptoms of illness are a sign of an effective immune system.

The question of the effectiveness of learning programmes has probably been asked for as long as structured learning programmes have existed. How do you know if a learning programme is meeting its objectives?

Out of curiosity about Positive Psychology, Rosa Helmantel hit the road with Theo Visser and Ilse Boersma in September. What is Positive Psychology? And how can you use it as a manager? In this blog, she describes her experiences of the two-day training course 'Positive Psychology' for managers.

How much you really believe in something can only be shown by what you are willing to risk for it. This is a quote from Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of the book Skin in the game. In recent months, I had the privilege of meeting many people who are actually doing just that: turning their belief in a better, just, healthier, sustainable world into action. They are 'leaders of the future' who are initiating great change within the context in which they work by following their compass and 'just' doing what their heart tells them to do.

Suppose you are enjoying making an impact; you have started enthusiastically and the first results are visible. The feeling of progress motivates and gives you a boost. In general, we are good at starting something. We feel like it, the energy is high and we are comfortable in the action. But how do you maintain that feeling?

The November issue of AI Practitioner, the International Journal of Appreciative Inquiry, is out. The theme is: Learning and Leveraging Generative Approaches to Intercultural, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

When designing learning trajectories, I like to use the critical incidents method. I find this a fine way to capture the essence of a profession, function or role. Together with the people who perform the job or know the work well, you systematically map out the situations that matter. You can then analyze those characteristic situations for the competencies people need to deal with them effectively. Those abilities then form the starting point for designing an appropriate learning path.

"So what we're putting on stage here is the conversation between you and the division director." "That's right. I've got that conversation pretty much coming up." "What makes the conversation so difficult for you?" I just can't get to him. He's not willing to talk, he's impatient and suspicious. It makes me feel insecure every time." Do you know this too? You have a difficult conversation coming up or need to get an unpleasant message across. Someone annoys you, triggers you, you fall into the same trap again and again, or you are dissatisfied with the outcome. Sometimes it helps to simply practice the whole thing.