Blog
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July 29, 2022
Making Strategic and Ethical Practice Choices
A Guide for the Idealist: Rick Willson, FAICP, offers an original framework for decision-making in the planning process. Using reflection on choices considering types of information, and analysis tools, as well as addressing the values served and the planners interactions with the public and elected officials. -
February 25, 2022
Reflect | Act | Release
A Guide for the Idealist post from Rick Willson, FAICP expands on the process of reflection in practice as it works both at the moment and after the fact. Action is on a scale that can go from listening to forgiving. Release refers to letting go of personal expectations and doing one's best without the guarantee of the outcome. -
October 18, 2021
Reflection Reset: Pathways to Effective Practice
A Guide for the Idealist post on using reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action to make practical judgments on planning episodes that are grounded in ethical and practical considerations. -
January 15, 2021
Reflection for Radical Planners
A Guide for the Idealist post: Planners need to be more reflective about their practice, and radical planners might adopt different reflective frameworks. -
November 13, 2020
Reflective Planning: Navigating Idealism and Realism
A Guide for the Idealist post: The value of professional reflection is widely recognized, but how do you do it? A new book looks at how to develop reflective habits. -
August 18, 2020
Being an Idealist in Difficult Times
A Guide for the Idealist post: Challenging times may challenge idealist commitments but they endure with a focus on higher ideals of justice, truth, and beauty. -
July 27, 2020
Changing Planning Practices to Honor George Floyd
A Guide for the Idealist post: Planners of all types have a role to play in addressing racial injustice by connecting each decision to its effects on the whole community. -
May 29, 2020
Cultivating Planning Career Resilience
The pandemic has caused a delay in the job search processes, leaving many challenges for recent grads and job seekers. In this Guide for the Idealist post, get ideas on how to keep moving forward with optimism. -
January 10, 2020
Reflex or Reflexivity: Which One Is Good for Planners?
A Guide for the Idealist post: Practicing reflexivity — asking "why" in the middle of things — is a skill worth developing for planners. -
December 13, 2019
Spinning Planning Experience into Practical Wisdom
A Guide for the Idealist post: Spending time reflecting on your planning experiences will develop a storehouse of practical wisdom that supports real-time practice decisions. -
October 15, 2019
Time Triage for Planning Managers
A Guide for the Idealist post: Determining priorities and managing time are skills worth developing for new planning managers. -
August 6, 2019
Negotiation Skills Are a Must for Planning Managers
A "Guide for the Idealist" post: Negotiation skills are a must for planning managers, both inside the office and in the community. -
July 9, 2019
First-Time Planning Manager? Let Go, Step Up
A "Guide for the Idealist" post: New planning managers need to know when to let go and when to step up. -
April 8, 2019
Career Ordeals Await — You Can Build Resilience
A "Guide for the Idealist" post: Be on the lookout for obstacles and ordeals that can help you be a more resilient planning professional. -
February 11, 2019
Do You Plan With Caution or Courage — or Both?
A "Guide for the Idealist" post: In the career of every planner, there is tension between personal hopes and preferences and the constraints of the process. -
January 8, 2019
Did I Take the Wrong Job?
A "Guide for the Idealist" post: What to do when you start a new job with high expectations and smack up against a reality that is much more complicated. -
October 16, 2018
I'm an Underworked Planner and I'm Losing Heart
A "Guide for the Idealist" post: Exploring the other side of being too busy. What does the lack of job responsibilities mean for your career? -
September 12, 2018
Tips for the Overworked Planner
A "Guide for the Idealist" post: Practical tips on how to manage the pressures of professional practice to avoid overwork. -
August 13, 2018
The Workplace Conspiracy Against Change
A "Guide for the Idealist" post: Tips for planners on how to be effective change-makers. Take a broad view of the change process and your role. -
July 24, 2018
Reframing Anxiety
A "Guide for the Idealist" post: Useful anxiety in your planning practice deepens you and reminds you of the importance of choices. -
July 10, 2018
Moving Into Planning Management
A "Guide for the Idealist" post: Tips for planners entering into management. -
June 5, 2018
7 Answers to Questions About Mentoring
A "Guide for the Idealist" post: Answers to common questions about mentoring. Mentors can help you interpret events, reflect on your practice, make decisions, and see the bigger picture. -
May 16, 2018
5 Scenarios for "Reading" Your Supervisor
A "Guide for the Idealist" blog post: An important career management ability is to see circumstances and issues through your supervisor’s eyes. They are not only managing you, they are managing a process. -
May 1, 2018
Finding Your Way to the Best Planning Job
A "Guide for the Idealist" blog post: Choosing from among a variety of planning jobs can be made easier by doing research and assessing the employer. -
March 27, 2018
Trust: A Must-Have for Credibility, Influence, and Power
A "Guide for the Idealist" blog post: Trust is a prerequisite to credibility, influence, and power and underlies effectiveness in your role as a planner. -
March 6, 2018
Credibility, Influence, and Power: How to Get It, How to Use It
A "Guide for the Idealist" blog post: How do you identify and integrate credibility, influence, and power in your career? -
January 9, 2018
Theories of Change and Your Planning Career
A "Guide for the Idealist" blog post: How do planning theories of change affect planners both personally and professionally? -
November 28, 2017
Planning Theory: What Is It Good For?
A "Guide for the Idealist" blog post: Think of planning theories as tools rather than expressions of truth. -
October 31, 2017
Mentoring and the Planning Fountain of Youth
"A Guide for the Idealist" blog post: Rick Willson speaks to his peers on why they should consider mentoring. The benefits include growth for both parties. -
September 11, 2017
So ... No Planning Degree?
A "Guide for the Idealist" blog post: Direction for those interested in starting or changing careers in planning without a planning degree. -
August 15, 2017
Can I Work Part-Time as a Planner?
A "Guide for the Idealist" blog post: Answers to a member's question about part-time planning jobs, exploring the difference between permanent part-time work and gig-type employment. -
July 26, 2017
Should I Start a Planning Consulting Firm?
"A Guide for the Idealist" blog post: Some essential questions to ask yourself to determine your competitive advantage. There are risks involved in going on your own, but also great rewards. -
July 7, 2017
Strategies for the Delayed Career Launch
"A Guide for the Idealist" blog post: Rick Willson, FAICP, gives encouraging advice to recent grads who are finding it hard to launch their planning careers. -
June 20, 2017
What Can a Mentor Really Do for Your Career?
"A Guide for the Idealist" blog post: Idealist planners consider a mentoring relationship, mentors aren’t a prerequisite for success, but they provide valuable help. -
May 30, 2017
Organizational Dos and Don’ts for Your Career
"A Guide for the Idealist" blog post: Idealist planners should start their careers with a basic set of behaviors and then modify them to fit their workplace. -
April 25, 2017
How to Recognize (and Respond to) an Organization's Culture
"A Guide for the Idealist" blog post: Idealist planners succeed by understanding and adapting to an organization’s culture, whether it is a bureaucracy or a nonprofit. -
March 28, 2017
Don't Get Along With Your Manager? Try Tolerance
"A Guide for the Idealist" blog post: Understanding your manager's point of view is a step in creating a positive and productive relationship with your boss. -
February 28, 2017
Am I Making a Difference?
"A Guide for the Idealist" blog post: As your career proceeds, the impacts of your work will be more clearly seen. -
February 14, 2017
Steering a Career Between Your 'Right' Answer and Reality
"A Guide for the Idealist" blog post: What happens when the idealist planner knows the “right” answer but encounters political, economic, or administrative resistance? -
January 31, 2017
Career Plans Are Useless
"A Guide for the Idealist" blog post: You can’t control the trajectory of your career, but you can increase your probability of success with the right mindset. -
January 3, 2017
'Principled Adaptability' Blends Realism and Idealism at Work
A "Guide for the Idealist" blog post: A "principled adaptability" work style addresses the tension between idealism and realism, a balance that's needed to remain grounded in principle and engaged in day-to-day work. -
December 20, 2016
I Need to Quit This Job — Now!
A "Guide for the Idealist" blog post: Tips for addressing adversity at work while saving your dignity and sanity. -
December 6, 2016
Early Career Angst
A "Guide for the Idealist" blog post: Reflect on your desired purpose to get to the root of career anxieties. -
November 22, 2016
Beyond the Public / Private Dichotomy: Big Workplace or Small?
A "Guide for the Idealist" blog post: Weighing the options between working in a small or large firm. -
November 7, 2016
Dealing With Doubt: Am I Good Enough?
A "Guide for the Idealist" blog post: Being honest about your strengths and developing your weaknesses helps you move on from doubt. -
October 25, 2016
How Can I Align My Work With Me?
A "Guide for the Idealist" blog post: The best way to discover your most fulfilling career path is to know your values and temperament. -
September 23, 2016
Your Career Path Is a Journey — Are You Navigating?
This is the first blog post in a series called "A Guide for the Idealist," on launching and navigating a planning career.
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