Peter J. Jessen

Classes Based on Stephen Covey's, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Two class series — one for adults and one for teens — based on Stephen Covey and Sean Covey's books

FRAMEWORK FOR THE READING AND THE DISCUSSIONS

Handouts

• Handout/Posted for SLY (St. Luke Youth), High School, May 4, 11, 18, 2014, by Peter J. Jessen
• Handout/Posted for St. Luke adult class, May 14, 21, 28, June 4, 2014, by Peter J. Jessen

List of "7 Habits" of Steven R. Covey from three books and my Success section

• 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (taken from his class notes in an MBA class he taught
• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families; each chapter ends with a series of discussion questions for (a) adults, (b) sons and daughters, and (c) parents and children together
• Covey’s son Sean's book: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teenagers
• Single words in bold at far right are from my site: Success

Framework for the reading and the discussions

• Thucydidies: 2,500 BCE: “It will be enough for me ... if these words of mine are judged useful by those who want to understand clearly the events which happened in the past and which (human nature being what is is) will, at some time or other and in much the same ways, be repeated in the future.”
• Martin Luther: Diet of Worms, 1521: Historians have described Luther’s trial as the trial that led to the birth of the modern world, for, as Luther biographer Roland H. Bainton noted, "the past and the future were met." Luther said “conscience,” not Popes, Kings, or Councils. Thus, in Luther’s historic “here I stand” speech, he said, “Unless I am convicted of error by the testimony of Scripture or by manifest evidence...I cannot and will not retract, for we must never act contrary to our conscience....Here I stand. God help me! Amen!"
• Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) called Luther’s “Here I stand” statement at the Diet of Worms, “The greatest moment in the modern history of man.”
  Considered in a ranking one of the 3 most influential of the 2nd millennium, CE:  Newton, Guttenberg, Luther.
  Luther was a contemporary of Michaelangelo, Copernicus, and Columbus. Historians acknowledge that hse is one of the ke figures in world history, eg., ranked #25 in The 100:  A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons In History).
• Hans Rosling: Author of 200 Countries, 200 Years, 4 Minutes - The Joy of Statistics. To reveal the story of the world's past, present and future development, … using augmented reality animation: the story of the world in 200 countries over 200 years using 120,000 numbers - in just four minutes. Plotting life expectancy against income for every country since 1810, Hans shows how the world we live in is radically different from the world most of us imagine.
• Ben Padrow: “You cannot not communicate.” (First chapter in You Can Talk to (Almost) Anyone about (Almost) Anything: A Speaking Guide for Business and Professional People. By Elaine Cogan and Ben Padrow.  Behavior is Communication.
• Peter Berger: sociologist; Ph.D.; Lutheran, a "godder," one of world's most respected sociologists;Berger's books include:
  • Marriage and the Construction of Reality (PDF)
  • Don’t break role --- and --- Habits and roles: instinct substitutes
  • Invitation to Sociology:  A Humanistic Perspective:  “Don’t break role.”    “There is no activity, however important, that should be allowed to supersede the capacity for laughter.”
  • Pyramids of Sacrifice: Political Ethics and Social Change, Calculus of Pain, Calculus of Meaning. The pros and cons of both capitalism and socialism.
  • The Capitalist Revolution: Fifty Propositions About Prosperity, Equality, & Liberty. The “winner.”  Even China & Russia are capitalist today.  Next question:  what kind of capitalism to have? Democratic? Social-Democratic? Crony? Authoritarian? Dictatorial? Religion?
  • In Praise of Doubt:  How Have Convictions Without Becoming A Fanatic,In other words, in developing a “worldview,” it is important that it “…Be Able To Present Itself As A Middle Position Between Relativism [Anything Goes] And Fundamentalism (Only One Way To Go].” [Think Lincoln's 2nd Inaugural] In other words, in developing a “worldview,” it is important that it “…Be Able To Present Itself As A Middle Position Between Relativism [Anything Goes] And Fundamentalism (Only One Way To Go). Thus: hold your convictions without becoming a fanatic.
  • Adventures of an Accidental Sociologist: How to Explain the World Without Becoming a Bore.
  • The Social Construction of Reality:  A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge.  “Every human society is a human product of world building.  ….   Society is a dialectic phenomenon in that it is a human product, and nothing but a human product, and yet continuously acts back upon its producer."
  • For more insights from Berger, go here.
• Hannah Arendt: Love each other, as admonished by both Jesus and the Buddha. Hannah Arendt says the human condition requires forgiving others, as words and deeds are irreversible, and keeping promises, as that keeps chaos at bay.
• Carl Dahlstrom: Wrote 10 Contemporary theses, including:
  • Thesis #4: The American Young Will Have to Understand That Education is a Privilege;
  • Thesis #5: The Modern Revolution Has Been in Progress For More Than 200 Years;
  • Thesis #7: Without a moral consensus, a society will waver more or less disastrously between anarchy and despotism
  • “The continuum of occurrence, man’s experience thereof and human reports of the experience are three quite different phenomena.”
• Mary Pipher:  Tools, Activities, and Ceremonies for Implementing the Healing Wisdom of Mary Pipher from Resource Book of Community Initiatives:  Rebuilding Our Families and Communities Symposium, featuring Mary Pipher, Lewis and Clark College, September 12 and 13, 1997, pp. 63-66.

Peter Jessen:

• Policy Planning for Human Kind, Fields Within Fields…, Peter Jessen, Spring 1974.
• The Role of Energy Ideologies in Developing Environmental Policy, Peter Jessen, Chapter 7 of Environmental Policy Formation: The Impact of Values, Ideology, and Standards, 1981.
• Youth anxiety on the rise amid changing climate  …    “Constantly exposed to doomsday talk' on global warming.”   Caveat from psychiatrists, May 1, 2014.. 
• Economics of Racism, Peter Jessen, Nov 2002 condensed version of original, Minn, Mn, December 9, 1992.
• Economics of Racism, Peter Jessen, Nov 2002 condensed version of December 9, 1992 original in Minn, Mn.

Ron Edwards and Peter Jessen

• The Minneapolis Story, Through My Eyes,Beacon on the Hill Press, 2002, by Ron Edwards, as told to Peter Jessen.
  
• Through My Eyes, The Minneapolis Story Continues, weekly column by Ron Edwards, in the Black weekly newspaper, The Minneapolis Spokesman-Recorder, since March 2003, column editor and archive web master Peter Jessen., Black weekly newspaper, Minnesota Spokesman Recorder, archived at The Minneapolis Story.
  
• 47 (so far) solution papers listed, based on (1) book The Minneapolis Story, Through My Eyes,Beacon on the Hill Press, 2002, by Ron Edwards, as told to Peter Jessen, (2) book, A Seat for Everyone: The Freedom Guide that Explores A Vision for America, Beacon on the Hill Press, 2008, by Ron Edwards, Edited by Peter Jessen and Craig Jessen, (3) column, “Through My Eyes, The Minneapolis Story Continues,” by Ron Edwards, weekly column in the Black weekly newspaper, The Minneapolis Spokesman-Recorder, since March 2003, with column editor/researcher/and archive web master Peter Jessen.