By: Kristin Hamilton on October 19, 2017
Edwin Friedman’s theories about family systems changed my life. In my MDiv program we read Generation to Generation in one class, followed by Failure of Nerve a year later. These two books opened my eyes and gave me the courage to make some very important changes in my life, including where I lived, how I…
By: Christal Jenkins Tanks on October 19, 2017
As I began to read his book, my curiosity grew as to who was Edwin H. Friedman. I asked myself “why was his input on the subject matter of leadership and family seen as important?” In searching the web for information, I stumbled upon his obituary in the Washington Post dated November 7th, 1996 entitled…
By: Jean Ollis on October 19, 2017
It’s been a surreal week as the Elite 8 cohort has struggled to read and respond to Derek Rowntree’s Learn How to Study: Developing the study skills and approaches to learning that will help you succeed in university. While I couldn’t locate but one insignificant review on this book, I jumped in to the reading…
By: Jay Forseth on October 19, 2017
I am a little sorry, but the first thing I noticed about Bayard’s book was the common usage of the letter S instead of the letter Z in words like “memorising” and “analysing”. I understand this is not a very deep first impression of an academic publication, and it should NOT have surprised me, especially…
By: Mark Petersen on October 19, 2017
In Learn How to Study: Developing the Study Skills and Approaches to Learning that Will Help You Succeed in University, Derek Rowntree offers basic and practical concepts to aid learners in assimilating and retaining the vast amounts of material we will encounter in our DMin program. I’ve decided the best way to approach the learning…
By: Stu Cocanougher on October 19, 2017
“Leadership is essentially an emotional process rather than a cognitive phenomenon.” (Friedman p. 14) Edwin H. Friedman was a rabbi, a family counselor, and leadership consultant, who was best known for his 1985 book Generation to Generation which applied the concept of “family systems theory” to churches and synagogues. In his follow-up book, A…
By: Mary Walker on October 19, 2017
Edwin H. Friedman lamented the fact that leaders were not more decisive. He said that “leadership in America is stuck in the rut of trying harder and harder without obtaining significantly new results.”[1] Why? Leaders experience ‘paralysis’ because of their inadequate concept of the ‘social science construction of reality’. Their construction does not explain the…
By: Dave Watermulder on October 19, 2017
Reading “Learn How to Study” by Derek Rowntree brings the movie Groundhog Day back to mind. It seems as if we were just having these same discussions about the topics that this book takes on and tries to cover. The genre might be called “study skills”, and it seems as if we are continuing to…
By: Jason Turbeville on October 19, 2017
“For many students essay-writing is the bane of their lives. They question the usefulness of essays, make heavy weather of writing them, and generally try to put off the task for as long as they can get away with it” [1] This is how I felt about Derek Rowntree’s book, Learn How to Study: A Programmed…
By: Chris Pritchett on October 19, 2017
In the first chapter of his book, “Learn How to Study,” Derek Rowntree begins in the first chapter with a compelling reason for this book: “We usually don’t improve at it unless we give some thought both to our own purposes and to what those other people expect of us.”[1] In a manner designed around…
By: Jennifer Williamson on October 19, 2017
Confession time: When I began reading Learn How to Study, it was with a dramatic roll of the eyes and a haughty “been there, done that” attitude. Honestly, I’d wager that people who go on to do post-graduate studies have pretty much figured out how to study. And worse, much of what I read seemed…
By: Katy Drage Lines on October 19, 2017
I remember my mom often saying to my siblings and me, especially when we were teenagers, “the only thing you can control is your attitude.” By this, she meant that sometimes circumstances or events occur that we have no control over; we only have the power to shape how we respond to them—our attitude. As…
By: Greg on October 19, 2017
With 1.6 billion people in China, everyone needs a job. Every apartment complex has guards that sit in booths so they can wave and comment on your life as you walk by. They are friendly, but we often call them “Captain Obvious”. When leaving they say, “Oh your leaving.” When you have groceries they say,…
By: Jennifer Dean-Hill on October 19, 2017
To develop a strong sense of self while still being a part of a community, and fostering a sense of togetherness is the challenging goal of a self-differentiated leader. Friedman maintains that if one wants to be a bold effective leader, self-differentiation is required, and without this, they are at risk of being ineffective leaders…
By: Kyle Chalko on October 18, 2017
The reading and writing of this blog post was a unique experience for me this week. I started with my traditional “sigh” and “OK, let’s get through this” as I started on the preface and chapter 1. A few pages into chapter 1 and I ran across this quote explaining the purpose of studying and…
By: Lynda Gittens on October 18, 2017
Books on leadership usually focus on how to be an effective leader through guidance and direction. They will share skills and techniques to help you become successful. There are leadership books that help you with time management. For example, the Leadership an Art by DePree stated “The first responsibility of a leader is to define…
By: Dan Kreiss on October 18, 2017
If the title was enough to grab you it will be necessary to dig a little to find inferences to sex, but they are there. Happy reading! I think Jason put this book on our list to give us all practice at skimming. I read or didn’t read, or forgot I read this text wondering…
By: Shawn Hart on October 18, 2017
(Do you remember the old joke that goes…”Doc, it hurts when I do this.” So then the doctor says, “Then don’t do that.” I keep getting that frustrated feeling with some of these books, wondering how books on how to read a book, how to talk about a book, and now, how to study could…
By: Jake Dean-Hill on October 17, 2017
I have to say, Derek Rowntree’s book, Learn How to Study: Developing the study skills and approaches to learning that will help you succeed in university, was painful for me to read. His writing style was overly elementary and his constant dialogue back and forth with the reader was annoying. Although he had some helpful…
By: Jim Sabella on October 17, 2017
I found Failure of Nerve a refreshing and challenging book, packed full of what I would consider wisdom on being a leader at a time were strong leadership seems to be giving way to a “softer” form where everyone gets a trophy regardless of the outcome. It goes without saying that few if any appreciate a…
