Are You With Me Now? AJ Ryder Near In and Far Out — Wayne Shorter, one of the all-time jazz greats, born in Newark, NJ. One week in San Diego, CA, and the next in Newark, NJ. This is how this year’s work is shaping up. After Big Bang, I’m glad I had time in San Diego last week. All over California, schools are about to start up, so being home kept the focus on California, especially the work going on in San Diego. Taylor came down to join Anthonette and me to work on the enti

The Slow Waltz This year's personal theme for Big Bang was The Slow Waltz. The composition refers to a way of approaching life. This time I used it to guide me through the conference. I took my time. Maybe it was the Texas heat, or maybe it began with Taylor opening the conference by introducing BPLiving's Lifestyle Measures, but everything seemed to move at just the right pace. Nothing felt rushed. Conversations lingered. People had time for one another. I loved it, and judg

“Are you with me now?” AJ Ryder Building What Lasts “And Big Picture Learning, with its focus on advisories, relationships, and internships, comes the closest we’ve seen to doing all of these at once.” After more than 30 years, a new report arrives with this observation. The striking thing is that people have been saying versions of this about Big Picture Learning almost since we began. Yet the education system has become more rigid, more standardized, and more bureaucratic t