The Smart Thinking Podcast

Join Ted and listen to him with what might be the most enthusiasm he's had yet on the podcast. He found a new Google tool called NotebookLM and he breaks down the power of this AI for use in leadership, organizations, and classrooms. There is a AI generated podcast within the podcast. Super smart thinking this week. List application you have for NotebookLM. Describe your wonderings around applying...

A behavior ignored, is a behavior reinforced. In your culture what are you expecting and what are you tolerating? Listen as Ted describes a mindset and tool to help you have the needed conversations so that your culture grows in a positive way and people are either coached up to the expectations or coached out of the situation.   List the people coming with you and who is not Describe what you nee...

When people are stubborn it is usually for a good reason. Likely fear of change or of the unknown consequences of taking the "risk." Take a listen as Ted explore how to support good people who seem unwilling to change or move into the direction of the storm they are facing.  List people who can help you move past a stubborn moment you are facing. Describe how you can support others who have the wr...

Transactional relationships and mindsets create disengagement, sadness, and resentment. Transactional thinking is the opposite of leadership and keeping score needs to stop. Listen as Ted explores how to shift to a zero-zero mindset and support a positive narrative in your noggin and help you  -  help others grow. Describe where in your life you are keeping score List the people in your life that...

Recess might actually be the process to help children learn more, decrease classroom behavioral issues, and increase teacher retention. Wait, how could that be? In this episode Ted shares research that shows how increasing recess -  decreases all the negative things occurring in school and increases all of the positive things. The answer for improvement has likely been in front of us the entire ti...

Listen as Ted shares great resources to help you grow and support others. These resources are building off of themes presented this season on the podcast and will help you support parents, fuel your inner buffalo and frame your mindset.   Studies: The Evolving Needs of Working Parent’s: Kindercare Study Walton Family Foundation Voices of Gen Z Study: Gallup/Walton Family Foundation Books: Adult Ch...

How does your system support parents? Too often we are casting blame on the parents and not recognizing the opportunities and responsibilities we have to empower parents. Take a listen as Ted challenges us to create systems of support and empowerment while the children are on their educational journey. You can't meet unspoken expectations and parenting is an anxiety riddled journey and everyone ha...

Are you wise enough to be a Sage? YES! This week join us as we discuss the IMPACT our words can have on others as Ted reviews the people who've impacted him and how we can all grow from those around us. Listen to the very end..... for some really sage advice.  Here are the 180 degree cards for purchase: https://store.cesa6.org/products/buffalo-note-cards List the sages in your life Describe your a...

How well do you celebrate failure? In this episode, Ted discusses how we can all learn from slime mold to get ourselves into a routine of never losing and instead, always learning. The road to excellence has no destination and is filled with failures. To keep moving forward -  we have to celebrate all the learning! We're never losing -- we're always learning. Describe where you can apply slime mol...

Join Ted as he discusses the importance of having a process that allows for people to contribute instead of simply complaining. The tool and mindset are simple- operate in “AND” mode not “BUT” mode. This episode has a bonus process tool using wisdom and conjunctions to create a great cultural reflection process (this is what happens when Ted has an idea while recording).  List where this process w...

Behind every Olympian is a story. Listen as Ted breaks down how to become fans of all of those you serve. Every child, colleague, friend and loved one has a complicated story and it is always unique. What if we had a way to learn that story?  It would be like when we watch the Olympics and learn the Olympians "whole" story and suddenly we become that persons fan. Describe your biggest fan List the...

Welcome to Season 7! On this episode Ted shares a process to help you preplan for the unexpected. Ted describes the behaviors needed to have an engaged group of leaders and talks about an accident where he observed random buffalo leaders charge into a WAHBL situation. Listen as he discusses the best of the buffaloes -- a 3rd grade teacher who was everything to everyone at this accident scene. Burn...

In this episode Ted shares the importance of doing a personal strategic review in the summer by utilizing process and taking clarity breaks. Too often we are not taking time to reflect on what works, what needs iteration and what we need to stop doing in our lives. Take a listen as he shares a simple and tested process to support you growing forward. List when you will take clarity breaks. Describ...

Too often in summer or between projects we employ retreats to look at results and we create a bunch of documents that rarely get deployed.  This usually occurs because people are using lagging data and negotiating on what the culture will allow. This episode will help frame the need for cultural languages and tools to ensure that what we want to stick - -stays stuck and works. Organizations create...

Ted is sharing books that he believes must be read this summer to help us all grow as leaders. Especially, those that serve children or have children. The curated list of texts are meant to be read in order to help each of us grow. There is a growing crisis on how children are learning and behaving, and these books will help you help the children in your life. Take a listen as Ted shares seven boo...

When the seasons change, it provides us the opportunity to seek improvement through process. Take a listen as Ted describes a process to help you find the joy in your life. We choose to enJOY our work and there are two hungers we have to feed- ourselves and our passions.   Describe what your passions are. List the people who could be coached to reflect upon their passions. List who you trust to gu...

How do we get more children and adults to read? Take a listen as Ted shares a strategy for increasing the amount of children reading. It all boils down to one key idea -- if we want children to read - -the adults have to read! List who you should read with. Describe the books you like to read verses the books others like to read. . List the books you'd like to read with others. 

How will you remember this school year? Take a listen as Ted explains a process to use to help you and your system reflect - with intention - in an effort to create a realistic memory of the year. Learn how to identify the peaks, the pits and the transitions so that you can celebrate and acknowledge the real journey and use the information to better serve your classroom, school or system in the fu...

Ever wonder how memory is impacted by emotions, or how the amount of books in your home informs your child's intellectual skills, or how electronics are impacting development or what AI is doing to the brain? Wonder no longer -- these and many more questions are answered in this conversation with Jared as we explore the brain and his newest research and discoveries.  Find him: https://www.youtube....

We all need to be both leaders and followers and we can do that if we CARE. Listen as Ted explains the need for us each to be in two lanes at once - lead and follow. CARE is a simple way of explaining what a good follower does.   Collaborate Accept responsibility Resilient Engagement with intention

Listen as Ted reminds us of the power of listening to the "nudges." This is the 300th episode of the podcast and Ted walks through how important it is to listen to the ideas of others and shares a simple process to support coaching yourself to higher levels of engagement and happiness. Song: Sunflower Bouquet by Anderson Coates - Golden Bear Studios   Reflections:  List the "should’s" you heard th...

Too often in our organizations, we forget to provide the leadership so that we have a strong cultural understanding of our journey. As a result, we need a process. Join Ted as he explains why and how to create a unified story(narrative) so that more people can celebrate all they've done together so that you can end the year together!    Process prompts:  Celebrations (Internal) Celebrations (Exter...

What is your process for advocating for yourself and your strengths? Too often other people judge us and do not understand us so we need a process to help others see our strengths. Join Ted as he shares a process to employ for you to create your own self advocacy plan or IAP.  Identify your strengths and soft strengths. Describe who in your world needs to be coached to self-advocacy. List ways in...

This conversation with author and mental fitness guru Greg Harden is going to change you, your leadership and maybe even your life. His book is fantastic, his career is amazing, and this conversation is a game changer. Take a listen as Greg and Ted – two obnoxious optimists – discuss how to support your own journey and how to focus on being your own best friend.   Book: Stay Sane in an Insane Worl...

Join us for a discussion of how an emergency surgery supercharged Ted's belief that empathy is the greatest leadership quality. Hear as he discusses the great care he received and how the healthcare workers supporting him diminished his vulnerability by being empathetic. You'll be inspired to think about how you matter in the moments when others need you the most!  Describe the last time you felt...