Katherine J. Haxton

Picard management tip: Work should be useful, stimulating, and challenging, not wasteful, tedious, nor impossible.

Teal and pink promotional graphic for BCCE 2026 highlighting global remote participation. Large heading reads “Global Remote Engagement.” Text indicates the conference is committed to meaningful participation for remote attendees and references virtual poster interaction, globally timed symposia, and live-streamed and on-demand content. The BCCE 2026 flamingo logo appears on the right, with conference details noting UW–Madison and July 26–30. A website link to the BCCE 2026 conference page is included at the bottom.

Geography shouldn’t limit participation. #BCCE2026 is expanding access so #chemed colleagues around the world can present, connect, and contribute—from wherever they are.

⏰ Abstract deadline: 7 days. conferences.union.wisc.edu/bcce2026/sub...

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Image of cover of Gordon Ramseys ultimate cookery course book

Resorting to comfort food for Sunday dinner.

The Educational Designer Working efficiently, effectively and maintaining boundaries - This guide shares practical strategies for working more efficiently and maintaining healthy work-life boundaries as an educator. Learn how to work iteratively, set clear communication expectations,…

Something not mentioned in this post is maintaining mental boundaries. Don't let toxic colleagues weigh on your mind when you're not at work. Notice the thought, then choose different ones. Ruminate on their toxic behaviour during work time instead. Get paid for it. #MentalHealth

Thanks all, really interesting chat tonight. Thanks to @profdamienpage.bsky.social for the questions and much to think about. Hope the rest of the week goes well for all #LTHEchat

Not just senior managers, build a culture of effective leadership from the first leadership roles people acquire. Capacity building for efficient meetings! #LTHEchat

Don't they just make the case that the alternative is so bad there's no choice and hence to hell with the consequences? Perhaps the time to restructure successfully is when not in financial crisis #LTHEchat

Training on how to chair meetings and get from agenda to achievable actions would be a significant and positive step #LTHEchat

A6 a sense of shared purpose and values. Acknowledgement that everyone in a university from grounds staff, cleaners through to the VC are utterly essential to a flourishing university with a positive and effective culture. #LTHEchat

Nice analogy. Perhaps factoring in the recovery period from significant changes when considering the impact/cost/benefit of such things. #LTHEchat

I think I'd have to re-skill in reading varied handwriting! #LTHEchat

I agree. It would require sufficient value to be placed in SoTL institutionally to ensure it is given some priority, particularly for those who need to develop their SoTL literacy in a new post. #LTHEchat

A5 an effective way of determining whether any change is (a) actually going to bring substantive benefit or solve a clearly defined problem, (b) an opportunity for a post-holder to demonstrate they changed something, (c) different but not better. If (b) or (c), maybe just don't. #LTHEchat

A project most likely implemented by people who then left for bright new opportunities before those unintended consequences became clear #LTHEchat

I agree but wonder how this would work when senior leaders come from professional services or industry where teaching/research was not part of the role and so is not part of the expectation. #LTHEchat

Does 'thanks in advance' count? #LTHEchat

A4 Undercover might be a bit of a stretch in a smaller institution, but if those involved with change management processes could shadow 'real life' I suspect they'd see how inefficient processes are, that AI is not the magic bullet, and that human interaction is paramount #LTHEchat

Agreed, 100% #LTHEchat

I don't think I'm coherent enough regularly enough for anyone to threaten me with serious policy stuff...but it could be fun #LTHEchat #Chaos

A3 effective line management and people who will support, defend, and champion you. We're so often forced into the self-promotion (aggrandisment) game, but having someone else showcase things you did well is gold #LTHEchat

I quite like reading policies as well. It's nice to define the constraints/boundaries/principles that govern systems and then find a way to work within those. #LTHEchat

The word flourishing makes me think of gardening, and tending the ecosystem, and the decisions about what gets to grow and what doesn't, keeping an eye on the future. You can't be shortsighted without consequences #LTHEchat

And what we permit, we promote. Values and norms and what is accepted without challenge matter so much right now. #LTHEchat

A2 Anything else is short-termism and false economy. But creating/maintaining/repairing those flourishing conditions takes substantial effort and we've only got a finite amount of effort. Deciding where to put it to greatest effect is a challenge. #LTHEchat

The not having to rush through stuff is so important. Feeling like you can take a little time and actually enjoy the tasks... #LTHEchat

A pink and white amaryllis lower and an orange orchid flower

A1 The right balance between the important stuff and the interesting stuff, a balanced workload (across the full year) and balanced portfolio of roles and activities. Psychological safety. The office plants are flourishing right now fwiw #LTHEchat

A single daffodil bloom in the middle of a green field

Good Evening #LTHEChat Katherine, Chemist, Keele. Hope you're all having a good day. I managed to spend a wee bit time in the sunshine at lunchtime and spotted the first daffodils of the year!

LTHEchat 351: Leadership and Academic Flourishing Join us on Bluesky for #LTHEchat on Wednesday 28th January at 8pm GMT with guest Prof Damien Page to discuss Leadership and Academic Flourishing. University leaders juggle a lot. Financial sustaina…

One hour to go to get ready :) Read the blogpost lthechat.com/2026/01/26/l... and follow the hashtag #LTHEchat - it's that easy.

It was unusually quiet in our garden when we sat down to do it. Then a sparrow hawk landed so I guess we know why the wee birds were hiding.

LTHEchat 349: Redundancy, Resilience, and Finding What’s Next There’s no nice way to talk about redundancy. It doesn’t arrive as a single moment, even when there is a single date attached to it. It arrives in phases: uncertainty, waiting, the conversation its…

#LoveLD - love the weekly chat: #LTHEchat 349: Redundancy, Resilience, and Finding What’s Next lthechat.com/2026/01/12/l... Weds, 8-9 in Blue Sky - follow the hashtag - join the conversation - because frankly - it is personal!