In this week’s episode, Tom is talking with author and thought leader, David Price, on the power of us.
David is an author, educator, consultant, and public speaker based in North Yorkshire, UK. He has written two Amazon best-selling books, the latest titled, The Power of Us: How We Connect, Act, and Innovate Together. David has led innovation in education projects around the world for the past twenty years, following leadership roles in community, adult, further, and higher education. David is an advisor to the Mastery Transcript Consortium in the United States, the Canadian Education Association, Learnlife in Spain, and New York-based cultural consultancy, Sparks & Honey. In 2009, he was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by the Queen for services in education.
Tune in for the conversation as Tom speaks with David about his most recent book, The Power of Us, and some of its most important takeaways.
Key Takeaways:
[:10] About today’s episode with David Price.
[1:02] Tom welcomes David to the podcast!
[1:10] David speaks about his early life, where he grew up, where he has traveled, life as a freelancer, and growing up as a musician.
[4:35] About seven years ago, David wrote a famous book called, Open, which previewed the new age of open source and open talent. He shares what led him to write the book and what he wanted to accomplish by writing it.
[6:58] Open both encouraged people and companies to operate in a transparent and open manner. It also outlines the new open economy and how people can lead really fulfilling and productive lives in the freelance and gig space; what John Winsor would call the open talent space. Would David agree that for everyone to be able to step into this space that it would require a new social contract?
[9:25] Tom congratulates David on his new book, The Power of Us: How We Connect, Act, and Innovate Together, and reads an excerpt from the introduction.
[10:44] David tells the story of his update to The Power of Us and how he came to a conclusion that felt more true than ever.
[13:55] A summary of Chapter 2 of David’s book, The Power of Us, on scalable learning.
[16:11] An explanation of chapter 3 on people-powered innovation.
[18:22] The second part of The Power of Us is on mindsets. David speaks about two mindsets he writes about in the book.
[20:12] The next section of the book talks about the operating system; a shorthand way of describing how an organization works (the culture, the structure, and the systems that either collectively inhibit or enable innovation). David elaborates on how organizations either block or promote innovation.
[21:41] Part 4 of the book talks about leadership. David argues that it requires a very different kind of leadership to enable bottom-up innovation. He describes what this leadership looks like in practice.
[24:20] Part 5 in the book is a great toolkit with sections on trust and transparency, engagement and equity, and mastery and meaning. David elaborates on these sections in the toolkit.
[28:07] David offers some advice to school heads on how they can incorporate key ideas from The Power of Us into their schools.
[30:02] Tom and David further elaborate on the importance of schools focusing on agency and community.
[31:30] Tom and David share what they love about High Tech High.
[32:15] Why the work that the Mastery Transcript Consortium does is important to David.
[35:19] Tom shares a profound excerpt from The Power of Us.
[36:37] Tom thanks David for his book, The Power of Us, and shares why you should pick it up!
[37:03] David gives a closing thought that sums up the opportunity that’s available to us right now.
[38:14] Tom thanks David for joining the podcast.
Mentioned in This Episode:
The Power of Us: How We Connect, Act, and Innovate Together, by David Price
Open: How We'll Work, Live and Learn in the Future, by David Price
Canadian Education Association
Getting Smart Podcast Ep. 275: “John Winsor on the Open Talent Economy”
Larry Rosenstock | High Tech High
Getting Smart Podcast Ep. 208: “Esther Wojcicki on Raising Successful People”
Difference Making at the Heart of Learning, by Tom Vander Ark and Emily Liebtag — Enter code Smart20 to save 20% off the cover price!
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