by Ari Yares | Feb 20, 2017 | Design Thinking, The Innovative Dad Blog
One of the best lessons that I learned in graduate school was to ask myself the question, “Do you want to die on that hill?” My advisor would pose that question when it seemed like we were putting on our armor to tilt at a windmill just like Don Quixote. He would...
by Ari Yares | Jan 30, 2017 | Design Thinking
On a recent family trip, we visited a pretzel factory (many of our family vacations involve touring food factories) where I learned two interesting things about the classic hard pretzel. First, it’s a relatively new innovation. All pretzels were soft pretzels...
by Ari Yares | Nov 18, 2016 | Design Thinking, Menu Planning, The Innovative Dad Blog
Packing school lunch is one of my least favorite tasks as a parent. It has to happen every school day. And then happens again the following night. Then, the lunches come home, often not completely eaten, with the kids complaining about what you packed and saying that...
by Ari Yares | Nov 8, 2016 | Design Thinking, The Innovative Dad Blog
No, that’s not a typo. My kids are not Vulcans. They are, however, volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. Hence, VUCA. The Harvard Business Review defines VUCA as one of those trendy management catch phrases which is short for “Hey, it’s crazy...
by Ari Yares | Sep 16, 2016 | 21st Century Learning, Design Thinking
Like many parents at this time of year, I am somewhat dreading “Back to School Night.” It’s not out of any sense of school phobia or flashbacks to my own education. After all, I’ve spent my entire professional life working in schools. I’m...
by Ari Yares | Sep 6, 2016 | 21st Century Learning, Design Thinking, Writings
The school year has started and many educators are already talking about failure. This isn’t the failure that many of us are familiar with from school (not from personal experience, just from being in school. It isn’t the glaringly big red F that we...
