choosing a practiced way of life

podcast collection with the late Peter B. Vaill

Listen in as management educators Peter Vaill and Dave Fearon discuss everything that is Practice with a capital “P”- a concept originated by Peter B. Vaill. Listen to the many other conversations Dave has with a wide variety of practitioners on the main podcast page

Want to listen on the go? Head over to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or our YouTube page now!

Introduction-Why We Care About Practice

In our inaugural episode, we look into discovering our fascination with learning “in action,” to keep practices going in ever-changing circumstances.

episode 1-Getting started

In this episode, we get started on the basic ideas of Practice, probing our own teaching and writing experiences to unearth why Practice means something to everyone.

episode 2-How to look at practice

In this week’s episode, we develop our main way of thinking about Practice from which many current and future “conjectures” arise.

interlude 1-Cristina Negron mitusina

Our HR professional, Cristina Negron Mitusina, shares the most recent practice phase in improving employees.

episode 3-Myths and Assumptions

In this week’s episode,  we tackle some myths and untested assumptions by tapping  into our way of thinking about Practice, to open up curiosities and conventional wisdom about Practice.

episode 4-practice grows us?

In this episode, we speculate on learning as “fresh baked” into our Practices in the “heat” of constant change.

interlude 2-jackie geraci bardoorian

Corporate leadership development professional, Jackie Geraci Bardoorian, talks about a big leap to a new context to continue her practice.

episode 5-How We Should think about practice

In this week’s episode, we sharpen our perspectives on Practice by treating Practice itself as perspective; never holding still like a picture frame, but hung out as a shingle.

episode 6-Practice and systems

In this episode, we discuss systems that shape Practice and are shaped by Practice, performing in systems unique to the practitioner’s situation.

interlude 3-brittany ernst

Soon to complete her PhD in organizational science, Brittany Ernst makes Peter and Dave nostalgic about their work with such fine students.

episode 7-Social technical systems

Social technical systems?  Yes, they are always in our faces. In this episode, we talk about the balancing game for Practices, which constantly tilt between technical and human influences.

episode 8-digitization

Digitization?  Hard to say, impossible to ignore. In this week’s episode, we highlight our irony in digitizing our conversations in a podcast to extend our teaching practices beyond courses and writings.

interlude 4-john uliano

Seasoned manufacturing managerial leader John Uliano shares his story about continuously improving a 124-year-old business.

episode 9-refining and tweaking our way of thinking

In this episode, we continue to refine and tweak our main way of thinking. Practice grows its practitioners as increasingly-challenging results are pursued and (sometimes) caught.

episode 10-is practice real to a practitioner?

Practice is real to us.  Is it real to a practitioner?  In this week’s episode, we ponder what is “real” to the individual, which raises questions about intention, naming, knowing, and learning for one’s Practice.

interlude 5-steve meisel

LaSalle University management professor, Steve Meisel, joins us to share stories on the fruits of our teaching practices.

episode 11-considering management practice

It’s everywhere we look. In this week’s episode, we hone in on a type of Practice we know well, and about managerial leadership as a practice for organizational results.

episode 12-the practice of learning

Vital to all Practices – a Practice of learning. In this week’s episode, we commend a practice of learning to any sort of Practice, free from the walls of classrooms, as it’s main power source.

episode 13-Practice is an organizing principle: part one

In this episode, we have an epiphany; Practice is an organizing principle.  Conjecturing anew, we realize that a job (even a hobby) can be a Practice if we decide to make it and keep it.

episode 14-Practice is an organizing principle: part two

In this episode, we continue to look at Practice as an organizing principle. We see Practice as an interaction between the individual and a practice that distinguishes a person’s own way of doing things.

episode 15-looking ahead

In the last episode of 2019, we pause and reflect upon what we have offered so far and look ahead towards the future.

episode 16-the practice of conversing with practitioners

In this episode, we tackle how bringing practitioners into our conversations will benefit ourselves and our listeners.

episode 17-lessons learned

In this episode, we reflect on what we’ve learned from practitioners in conversation thus far.

a sudden end, a hopeful beginning

In this short note, we acknowledge and mourn the loss of Peter Vaill, one of our founding Conversationalists, a management educator, a role model, a father, and a dear friend. We will move past this and continue to develop, what Peter called, “our Practice of Practice.” We will miss him greatly.

episode 18-honoring peter (with eric dent)

In this episode, we pick up the pieces and move forward as we further our search into the nature of Practice with ethics professor, and former doctoral student of Peter’s, Dr. Eric Dent.

interlude - Pausing to remember Peter Vaill

This brief interlude in our Practice? Podcast series marks the second anniversary of Peter Vaill’s death.  Dave ponders how and why his ‘practice of Practice’ has kept him satisfyingly busy these last two years.  Since March 2020, there have been 127 more episodes.  The digital-first book that Peter could not finish, Practice as a Way of Being, is now ready for preview or purchase at https://www.mylibrary.world/. Dave carries on the work started and inspired by his ‘favorite teacher’ Peter B. Vaill.