SORRY WE MISSED YOU
This event has passed, but it won’t be the last. Be the first to know about future events from Third Factor by entering your information below.
The awards are a result of our participation in Bayer’s innovative Rise and Thrive program, a microlearning experience based on the idea that if you have two minutes, you have enough time to become a stronger, more empathetic, more inclusive leader. The experience comprises bite-sized content including short videos, curated articles, and 2-minute “dares.”
Rise and Thrive was pioneered by Bayer’s U.S. Learning Lead, Renee Landry, and Senior Leadership Expert, Rachel Lamb. The interactive experience was developed by e-learning development company SweetRush and supported with video and learning content by Third Factor.
Approximately half of Bayer’s 4,000 US leaders voluntarily participated in the program, which has received outstanding quantitative and qualitative feedback from participants as well as attention from the broader learning industry.
The awards include:
- Gold: Best Advance in Custom Content
- Gold: Best Unique or Innovative Learning and Development Program
- Gold: Best Use of Video for Learning
- Silver: Best Unique or Innovative Leadership Program
When people ask me what about my regrets in life, I always say I have none. Yet Daniel Pink's research points to regret bringing clarity, meaning and focus to all that is important to a person. My flip answer of ‘no regrets’ reflects my optimistic personality, and this summer I will get a little more curious about the value of digging a little deeper to see what I can learn. I would love to hear from others who explore this ‘new to me’ emotion.
Easily my most gifted book of the past year, Why We Sleep is a tour de force exploration of the nature, benefits, and challenges of sleep. The research Walker cites is profound and varied, and the way he presents it is engaging, accessible and actionable. Whether you are looking for the motivation to commit to more sleep or strategies to sleep longer or better, you’ll find it in here. Plus, as a bonus, it’s the only book I’ve read where the author actually encourages you to fall asleep while reading.
While it appears to be a book about finance, this book uses stories about people and money as a way of illustrating the real world dynamics of human behaviour. The content is entertaining, the writing clear and the insights well worth pondering.
While this book has Alzheimer’s prevention at its heart, it’s a powerful read for anyone who wants to “do good” for their brain to improve memory, prevent cognitive decline, and eliminate brain fog. Packed with tons of practical information backed by research, this is an easy-to-read perspective on how we help our most vulnerable organ (the brain) by digging deep into the fat, protein, carbs, sugars, vitamins, and minerals it needs to function optimally.
I borrowed this book from a friend around a decade ago and never gave it back, with good reason. Dr. Posen breaks down stress using simple stories, relevant information, and a few hard truths. The book is divided into 52 (mercifully short) chapters, each ending with a highly actionable "prescription" to help you convert the concepts into action and make small changes that add up to a much healthier relationship with life's demands.
Where the Crawdads Sing (Recommended by Reese’s Book Club and my Hockey Moms Book Club) is about Kya Clark, an isolated, abandoned “Marsh Girl” who is educated in the swamps of North Carolina living deep with nature. A coming-of-age novel that covers prejudice, friendship, solitude, desertion, and education, the narrative is as rich as the setting Owens describes. Make sure to read it before the motion picture comes out this summer.
My pick provides a fascinating look at how you can apply design thinking to your own life to create options, possibilities, and a mindset that allows you to craft a life well-lived. Haven’t been to design school? Don’t see yourself as a creative person? No problem. Get this book, grab a notepad, and be ready to think outside the box, because Bill and Dave will take you step by step through a series of exercises that will get you thinking like a designer to solve problems and mental blocks, brainstorm the “many lives” you could live productively and happily, then choose the one that speaks to you most. Happy summer reading!
This is a fun history book about film, music, sports, politics, culture, global events, and the momentum of the internet. If you are interested in reliving the nineties in an unconventional manner, this is a terrific read. Chuck Klosterman writes with engaging insight and humor that will evoke both memories and questions and explains things I wasn't able to explain for myself.
For those who love historical novels with a twist, this is a fabulous read. It is the story of a young, bright woman with a restless spirit who rebels against the mores of her time. Sue Monk is a daring woman herself as she introduces Jesus who meets up with this young woman when they are both older teenagers and marries her. It is a marriage of convenience that serves both well. The writing is grounded in meticulous research and written with a reverential approach to Jesus’ life that focuses on his humanity. And it is an inspiring and unforgettable account of one woman’s bold struggle to realize her own potential in a dangerous time for women to speak up. More than that, it is just great story telling and good writing. I love learning about historical periods in this way. Enjoy.
My pick synthesizes the findings of the author’s year long project to become as productive as possible. Grounded in the concept that productivity comes from managing your time, attention, and energy, Bailey shares his year long journey of productivity experiments like getting up at 5:30 every morning, cutting out caffeine, becoming more intentional and deliberate in his work, and so many more. Each chapter includes a challenge to implement his insights into your own life. Chris Bailey’s writing is fun and witty! When I finished the book I felt like I’d gained a year’s worth of knowledge in just a few days, which already had me feeling pretty productive!
The Canadian Ski Team
Ski Cross is one of the most exciting freestyle skiing events at the Games. We’ve been proud to work with the athletes and coaches on both the men’s and women’s teams to help them build self-awareness, leverage their strengths, and perform under pressure. We’ll be cheering them on in the Ski Cross events on February 17th & 18th. Our work with Alpine Canada has also taken us to the downhill skiing events. We’ll be keeping a close eye on Team Canada at the men’s and women’s Slalom, Giant Slalom, and Super-G events.Figure skaters from around the world
Brian Orser and Tracy Wilson are not just Olympic medallists, but widely regarded as the top coaches in the sport. They’ve shared their perspectives on performing in critical moments with us, and we’ll be cheering on their skaters as they compete for the podium in Beijing.
Tracy Wilson is an Olympic Medallist and 7-time Canadian champion
The Canadian Women’s Hockey Teams
We’ll be staying up late to watch Team Canada battle to reclaim Gold. We’ll also be keeping our eye Marie-Philip Poulin who is not just one of the best pressure performers in the world, but the best hockey player in the world, full stop according to our co-founder Peter Jensen. Imagine you’re organizing an in-person learning event for a group of 30 senior leaders. You’ve spent weeks getting the details just right. It’s the first time this group will be getting together in over two years, and you can’t wait for two days of interactive, collaborative learning. And then, the calls start to come in. One week out from the event, the head of marketing tells you there is a case of Covid-19 in her daughter’s classroom, and she will need to attend the session remotely to keep her in self-isolation. Then, three days before, two more calls come from sales leaders who need to travel to meet with clients and will need to participate remotely. In a matter of days, 10% of your group needs to attend remotely. More requests are sure to come in, and your team now needs to come up with a way to accommodate both in-person and remote learners on short notice. This is the new reality. The question is no longer whether to deliver learning remote or in-person – but rather whether to be fully remote or to host a hybrid learning experience. By assuming all in-person events will need to accommodate remote participants – and planning accordingly – you can create learning experiences that are ready to adapt to whatever may come.Hybrid is to Netflix as in-person is to Blockbuster
Hybrid learning events struggle to achieve their goals when they’re treated as an in-person experience first. But as many industries have learned the hard way when undergoing disruption, you can’t do what you’ve always done and expect the same results. Much as Blockbuster failed to recognize Netflix as a serious disruptor, learning organizations stand to fail by ignoring the importance and permanence of hybrid learning.Much as Blockbuster failed to recognize Netflix as a serious disruptor, learning organizations stand to fail by ignoring the importance and permanence of hybrid learning.When L&D professionals do as Blockbuster did and try to carry on with business as usual, the result is a poor experience. The overarching problem is the lack of interactivity between in-person and remote participants, resulting from poorly adapted technology and resources, limited opportunities for participants to connect with each other, and a failure of the event organizers and facilitators to understand participants ahead of time. At the heart of solving these problems before they happen is a focus on creating a unified experience for all learners. Successful hybrid learning events do this by giving careful consideration to how technology is used, creating opportunities for participants to connect, and getting to know participants ahead of time. In delivering hybrid learning to our clients, we’ve observed some innovative practices that exemplify this philosophy.
Adapt technology to the human experience – not vice-versa
Inequality in hybrid learning environments often results when the human element is considered secondarily to technology. For example, remote participants suffer when their experience is made possible by a laptop placed near the front of the room. Thoughtful hybrid learning design considers the desired experience first and then uses technology to build quality and efficiency, creating a “one-classroom” model where all participants feel included and barriers to communication are removed.Bring the online experience into the room
One of our clients, a major quick-service restaurant chain, added a screen at the front of the room displaying the online experience. This ensured everyone in the room, including the facilitator and participants, were constantly aware of the people who weren’t physically present.Create a screen-friendly experience for online participants
In early 2020, our partners in the Full-Time MBA program at the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University found a way for remote learners to experience the class in the same way as the in-person cohort by hiring a full-time videographer. As the approach has proven successful, the program is now leveraging technology to deliver the experience more efficiently with an automated system. As a low-cost alternative, the quick-service restaurant chain asked in-person participants to bring their laptops and join the online meeting, keeping their cameras on so remote participants could see faces and hear comments. An AV support team set up microphones at every table to ensure remote participants could hear discussions clearly and both the in-person and remote conversations were moderated. We like this approach enough that we’ve adopted it for our own hybrid staff meetings – with great success.Have support to bridge the gap
The Smith MBA program addressed cross-medium communication challenges by placing a staff member in each classroom to act as a moderator, managing the incoming Zoom information and filtering it to the faculty to ensure the remote participation was managed efficiently.Create opportunities for participants to connect with each other
What we know as we gain more experience through this hybrid world is that people are craving more opportunities to connect on both a personal and professional level with their colleagues – a part of the experience that’s often neglected for online participants. At larger events, we’ve seen this solved with formalized “brain dates” in which participants have scheduled time to meet one-on-one or in a small group, and indicate their preference to meet live, online, or hybrid. Meetings can be on a subject relevant to the event or less-formal opportunities for networking. Our team at Third Factor has addressed this by scheduling a regular meeting with cameras on to share from our learning experiences and connect about what’s happening at a personal and professional level. We don’t just stop there though, many of us set up informal coffee chats to reconnect with each other, have a laugh, and sometimes we actually have a coffee!Understand the field before playing the game
In our 3×4 Coaching program, we teach that people can’t commit without having clarity on what’s expected and why it matters. Successful hybrid learning events require the organizers and facilitators to have clarity on who the participants are and what their needs are. One of our favorite ways of building clarity comes from the legendary basketball coach Jack Donohue, who would ask: “what would you see,” and “what would you hear.” I.e., what would you see and hear if you were a remote participant having a positive, engaging experience? The Smith MBA Program called this “understanding the field before playing the game.” The instructor got to know remote participants’ names and locations ahead of time, and was able to use that information to engage them – acknowledging them personally and asking questions of them throughout the session.Keep your eyes wide open
As Albert Einstein said, “you can’t use an old map to explore a new world.” To execute successful hybrid learning events, learning & development teams need to recognize that the choice isn’t between remote and in-person learning; it’s between remote and hybrid. Every in-person event will inevitably need to accommodate remote participants, at least in the near-future. To ensure your next learning event is successful, this shift in designing your learning experiences will require thoughtful planning to put the human experience ahead of technology, create opportunities for participants to connect with each other, and get to know your participants ahead of time so everyone can be included. What’s the most pressure you’ve ever been under? Dane Jensen joins CTV’s Your Morning to discuss what he learned by asking this question and share his advice for how you can use the energy that accompanies pressure to thrive.
Join Third Factor CEO, Dane Jensen, to celebrate the launch of his new book: The Power of Pressure: Why Pressure isn’t the Problem, It’s the Solution.
In this virtual book launch event, Dane Jensen will tell unforgettable stories of pressure, teach practical skills for performing in peak moments and over the long haul, and leave you with renewed energy for tackling the biggest sources of pressure in your life.
Registration is $29.99 and includes participation in the live event on September 1st or 8th, 2021, access to a recording of the session, and a hardcover copy of The Power of Pressure.
- You are a senior leader in need of strategies to perform through pressure
- You are an HR professional responsible for leadership development in your organization
- You are looking for powerful new ideas to present to your business audience
- You want to build your own capability for performing under pressure.
Dane Jensen is the CEO of Third Factor, an acclaimed speaker, an instructor at Queen’s University and the University of North Carolina, a regular contributor to Harvard Business Review, and the author of The Power of Pressure (HarperCollins).
The Canadian Women’s Soccer Team
The Women’s soccer tournament is already underway in Tokyo. We’ll be cheering for the entire team, and cheering just a little harder for captain Christine Sinclair who appears by video in some of our programs with helpful advice on using negative emotion as fuel for performance.Rosie MacLennan, Trampoline Gymnastics
In Dane Jensen’s new book, The Power Of Pressure: Why Pressure Isn’t The Problem, It’s The Solution, Rosie shares how making connections with others helped her recover from an injury and regain confidence in her sport. We’ll be watching her attempt for a third Gold Medal at her fifth Games when she competes on Friday, July 30th.
Rosie MacLennan recovers from injury / Source: Instagram