Planners’ Picks — January 27, 2026
We’re still experiencing the high of our most recent session on delivering and receiving feedback effectively; the conversations and stories during this event were amazing, and attendees are better prepared for their midpoint reviews and having lasting impacts on their teams. If you missed it, you’re in luck—we share some of the resources and ideas from Therese Huston and others on feedback in this PP.
:: Image of the Week
The Antidote to Doom is Curiosity
Curiosity is one of the most important strategic capabilities in times of profound change & uncertainty.
For leaders of change, curiosity means engaging with uncertainty—focusing on gaps in our knowledge, exploring them with others, & using what we learn to adapt decisions, relationships, & systems for better outcomes.
Read this LinkedIn post from Helen Bevan on this topic.
:: Developing Better Habits
The Power of 5 Minutes
Jay Shetty shared a brilliant little hack. It’s simple, it beats procrastination, and it helps you get over the hardest part of any task: getting started.
What’s one thing you’d love to make progress on this week? Maybe it’s clearing that one corner of the kitchen that becomes a magnet for everyone’s stuff, sending the email you’ve been mentally drafting for days, or reading two pages of the book you keep meaning to start.
Whatever it is, tell yourself you’ll spend just five minutes on it, and set a timer. You only must commit until it rings. That’s it.
See what happens. You might stop at five, or you might choose to keep going for another five. Either way is a win.
Remember, your inner critic will try to convince you that you don’t have time, that you should wait for a better day, that it’s not worth starting. Smile at it and start anyway. Repeat this tiny practice daily. And each time you show up for those five minutes (or more, if you get into the flow), give yourself a genuine pat on the back and maybe a smug little grin at that inner critic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnbWZnHGyLU
“There are two ways to grow: by adding or by shedding. Do you need to add something, or do you need to shed something?” – James Clear
::Feedback
The Concepts from Let’s Talk by Therese Huston
At CSN’s latest Bite-Size Book Club, we talked about some great topics from Let’s Talk, including:
- We and Me Strengths
- Side with the person, not the problem
- What people actually wanted in feedback meetings
- People want their hard work acknowledged and a chance to tell their story
- Celebrate progress on longer projects
- Focus on high performers who need motivation to stay at that level of output
- Avoid the feedback sandwich
- Learning what their personal goals and aspirations are along with your department’s goals for them
- 5:1 ratio of praise to criticism is needed
- Ask more than tell: Employees need a sense of ownership over problem/solutions by asking questions
- Not starting with why, but instead the what and how of a situation.
- Effective evaluation method:
- State your observations
- Describe the impact or result
- Learn More
- Identify Next Steps
- Offer reassurance
- Thank them
Resources from Let’s Talk can be found here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1mrAUli1NBFuwY064mCi0ULjHBCW07mWa?usp=sharing
In addition, here are some other resources from Therese and past book club authors on feedback:
Giving Effective Remote Feedback – Therese Huston
Providing effective feedback in the workplace is a universal struggle. And now that many of us work remotely, those feedback conversations have gotten even more challenging. Therese Huston is here to help with three worthwhile tips for giving remote feedback to peers, employees, or even your boss–that turn average performers into the hardest workers and stars into superstars. Therese Huston, author of Let’s Talk, gives us some tips.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egrVfZxmnCw
How to Deliver Hard-to-Hear Feedback – Heather Younger
Does someone in your workplace, community, or another realm of your life frustrate or disappoint you?
Do you want to know how to give them some feedback without damaging the relationship?
I recently found myself in a situation like this, and my podcast guest this week, Heather Younger, organizational culture strategist and leading expert on active listening at work, reminded me of exactly what I needed to hear—
When we invest attention in showing people we care about them and that we have their backs, they’re far more apt to listen when it comes time for us to tell them something that may otherwise be hard to hear.
I put her advice to the text a couple days later, and I was delighted how well my feedback landed.
If you want some support in delivering potentially hard-to-hear feedback, I hope you’ll listen to this week’s episode of Conflict Decoded—How to Deliver Hard-to-Hear Feedback.
https://callingsandcourage.com/how-to-deliver-hard-to-hear-feedback
“A person who chases two rabbits catches neither.” — Confucius
Good Feedback (#375) – Robert Glazer
Most leaders I know want people to learn from mistakes and even criticism, but they don’t know how to make that learning systemic in their organizations. The key is to build a feedback culture, which is synonymous with a learning culture.
The first step to building a feedback culture is to create a high degree of psychological safety. Many leaders, in attempting to model and encourage high performance, inadvertently make the mistake of creating a culture where employees are afraid to make mistakes or share failures.
Instead of making an example of people who make mistakes or punishing them publicly, it’s better to reinforce that mistakes are a natural part of growth, and that they are acceptable as long as people learn from them. I have always loved the adage, “it’s okay to make mistakes here, but it’s not okay to repeat them.”
Once psychological safety normalizes the discussion of mistakes, the next step is to ensure managers and leaders respond to those errors quickly and productively with effective feedback. Doing that requires some ground rules.
https://robertglazer.com/friday-forward/give-effective-feedback
:: CSN’s Book of the Week Recommendation
The Other Side of Change: Who We Become When Life Makes Other Plans
Life has a way of thwarting our best-laid plans. Out of nowhere, we’re confronting the end of a relationship, an unexpected diagnosis, the loss of a job, or some other twist of fate. In these moments, it can feel like we’re free-falling into the unknown.
As a cognitive scientist, Maya Shankar has spent decades studying the human mind. When an unwanted change in her own life left her reeling, she sought out people who had navigated major disruptions. In The Other Side of Change, Shankar tells their riveting, singular stories and weaves in scientific insights to illuminate universal lessons hidden within them. The result is a rich portrait of our complex reactions to change and a deep well of wisdom we can draw from during these experiences.
Shankar invites us to rethink our relationship with change altogether. When a big change happens to us, it can lead to profound change within us. The unique stresses and demands of being thrust into a new reality can lead us to uncover new abilities, perspectives, and values, transforming us in extraordinary ways. What if we saw moments of upheaval as an opportunity to reimagine who we can be, rather than as something to just endure? What potential could we unlock within ourselves?
Whether you’re processing a past change, grappling with a present one, or bracing for a future one, this book is a wise and thought-provoking companion to help you discover who you can become on the other side of change.
:: Gratitude and Recognition
The Gift of Gratitude
“One striking finding from our research is that flourishing is contagious. Gratitude doesn’t just benefit us. It creates ripple effects that influence the people around us. “
Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin–Madison research scientist and meditation teacher Cortland Dahl explains what’s so great about gratitude, no matter the time of year: https://lnkd.in/g7wfq3aY
“Appreciation can make a day, even change a life. Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary.” — Margaret Cousins
Pre-Printed Thank You Cards Available at DPPS
Did you know that DPPS sells packs of pre-packaged UW-themed thank you cards on our website? Check out some choices at the bottom of this page: https://printing.wisc.edu/ordering/
:: Tools and Resources
Students can now access Adobe Express Higher Education
Students will have access to a new tool, Adobe Express Higher Education, for free by the start of the spring 2026 semester! Accessing this service will be easy — simply log in with your NetID at https://www.adobe.com/express/.
Who should use it? Everyone. Are you a seasoned graphic designer? Great! Take advantage of the many tools and benefits that come with Adobe Express Higher Education. New to design? Don’t fret—this design tool will help you create high-quality visual content quickly and easily for your academic or personal needs.
See more about this at https://it.wisc.edu/news/coming-soon-student-access-to-adobe-express-higher-education/
:: Communication
Trapped by rightness: When our instinct to believe we are right closes us off to the ways we are wrong
It feels so lovely to be certain about something—we feel clear, comfortable, even righteous. Daniel Kahneman summed up his core findings from his Nobel-prize-winning work as learning that: “Our comforting conviction that the world makes sense rests on a secure foundation: our almost unlimited ability to ignore our ignorance.” Because this “comforting conviction” is so widespread, it was once probably adaptive and helpful. If we thought we were wrong most of the time, we’d be paralyzed.
See this article from Jennifer Garvey Berger on ways to open your mind and curiosity.
“I used to be afraid of failing at the things that really mattered to me, but now I’m more afraid of succeeding at things that don’t matter.” – Bob Goff
:: Upcoming Events
CSN presents Maximizing Potential: Focusing on Individual Employee Development at the Midpoint Performance Cycle
The midpoint of the performance cycle provides a valuable moment for leaders to pause, reassess progress, and make meaningful adjustments that strengthen each employee’s growth and success.
Join us for this focused workshop designed to help managers strengthen their ability to guide development conversations and strategically use UW–Madison’s learning resources.
Whether you attended last year or are joining for the first time, this session provides practical tools you can apply immediately with your team. You’ll engage in discussions, real‑world scenarios, and hands-on planning to help you better understand where employees are now—and how to help them advance.
Why Attend?
- Refresh and deepen your managerial toolkit. Even if you joined us last year, this is a chance to sharpen your approach, reflect on what worked, and build new strategies for 2026.
- Support your team more effectively. Learn how to identify strengths and development needs through conversations that are constructive, motivating, and tailored.
- Navigate UW–Madison’s professional learning resources with confidence. Understand what’s available, how to match resources to your employees’ goals, and how to remove barriers to growth.
- Create meaningful follow‑through. Leave with a concrete, personalized plan for promoting employee development—not just at mid‑cycle, but all year.
Outcomes
- Conduct effective conversations that surface strengths and development needs
- Leverage UW–Madison learning and career resources to support employee growth
- Build a structured plan to track and follow up on development progress
This session is a valuable opportunity to invest in your team, strengthen your leadership impact, and set your employees up for success in the months ahead. We hope you’ll join us!
Date: February 5, 2026
Time: 1:30-2:30 pm
Location: Online via Zoom (link will be shared with registrants)
Questions? Contact Christopher East
Register Here: https://go.wisc.edu/0i682d
All-Campus Spring Career & Internship Fair
The All-Campus Spring Career & Internship Fair will take place at Union South’s Varsity Hall and will feature two days of opportunities on February 11 & 12 for UW–Madison students to connect with a wide range of employers for internships and full-time positions.The Fair is open to all enrolled UW–Madison students, plus recent alumni who graduated within the past two years. Students are encouraged to attend both days as a different variety of employers will be present on each day. Students can view attending employers and register for the Fair on Handshake, and can check out other upcoming campus fairs here.
The Fair is presented in partnership by the College of Agricultural & Life Sciences, School of Business, School of Human Ecology, School of Education, and SuccessWorks at the College of Letters & Science.
Please consider sharing the Fair with students, employers, and campus contacts. Printable flyers, a social media graphic, and a slide are attached to this email for distribution, and you can also view our Faculty/Staff Marketing Toolkit for additional messaging and tips to help students prepare for the Fair.
“Luck writes the first chapter, but your actions write the rest.” – Shane Parrish
Leadership Improv with CSN
We’re doing it again! Through a variety of fun, engaging activities, Amanda and Jason from IT Connects will demonstrate how improvisational comedy skills can help supervisors work through difficult situations with staff and peers, as well as practice leadership skills in a light-hearted and low-risk environment.
No comedy or improv skills necessary; we just ask that you bring your willingness to be curious and open to trying new things.
Date: Thursday, March 19, 2026
Time: 2:00-3:15 pm
Location: 1210 W. Dayton St. (DoIT), Room 3139