Society & Politics - Dr Robert N. Winter

Preserving a Little Magic in a Rational World

Margaret Mead argued for keeping Santa as myth, not deception—preserving wonder while nurturing critical thinking. Treating Santa as symbolic and drawing on diverse traditions fosters imagination, honesty, and cultural insight.

By Dr Robert N. Winter

/ 24 Dec 2024

An artistic illustration depicting a magical urban evening scene. The cityscape is illuminated by a warm, golden glow, with s

Look!, there is a Tiger in that Grass

The first in a series on learning from history and its value for organisational decision-making. Today, those who draw lessons from the past risk being labelled “on the wrong side of history,” much as dissenters in business face exile for challenging dominant narratives.

By Dr Robert N. Winter

/ 12 May 2024

Members Only

Enabling Managers in a GenMe Landscape

Providing more structure, not less, in both the daily tasks of employees and their perceptions about career pathways, offers the strongest viable path to improved staff retention and higher team performance.

By Dr Robert N. Winter

/ 21 May 2023

Illustration of a young man staring at his reflection

Challenges for Leadership when Managing GenMe

By reframing the leadership models presented, propositions for managers can be advanced to enable better leadership of people with GenMe attitudes.

By Dr Robert N. Winter

/ 14 May 2023

Inner Circle Only

Leading GenMe

Given the obvious dichotomy in this approach to work generations, the practical implications for management are that the leadership theories many have encountered will struggle to provide solutions when it comes to developing coherent teams.

By Dr Robert N. Winter

/ 7 May 2023

Inner Circle Only

Our Mind is a Blurry Image of Life

The hope is much, for having gotten this far is to be forewarned and thus forearmed. In that we do well to employ scepticism when listening to a human interlocutor. Because even the best of us are filling in the blanks in our memory.

By Dr Robert N. Winter

/ 18 Feb 2023

Marginalia: Anatomy of a Search Engine

By Dr Robert N. Winter

/ 4 Jun 2022

Inner Circle Only

Pseudo-Profound Bullshit

In this context, we do well to reject the bullshitters of this world, but we do our understanding a disservice if we are sceptical to a fault.

By Dr Robert N. Winter

/ 23 May 2022

Marginalia: Protect Duty

While I am not keen on the idea of self-policing, lest we go the way of some American states, I do wonder if society may not be better able to protect its citizens if its citizens were more involved in that self-same protection. Be it physical, intellectual or cyber.

By Dr Robert N. Winter

/ 18 May 2021

Hail, Lobster!

The moment when left leaning popular culture overreached itself and instead of fascist shaming a once obscure academic into silence, brought back into popular use what had long been taboo and empowered the very thing they thought they were destroying.

By Dr Robert N. Winter

/ 16 Apr 2021

Members Only

The Shape Of Things That Are

Though conclusions drawn from data may be offensive, we should be slow to take offence at data. Even if it contradicts our deeply held beliefs.

By Dr Robert N. Winter

/ 17 Jul 2020

Steven Pinker by Kayana Szymczak for The New York Times

So this is how privacy dies...

To be a part of a society which doesn't take these choices means the most meaningful solution is to look at ambient as well as personal privacy.

By Dr Robert N. Winter

/ 12 May 2020