What are you reading?

Currently I have two books going. One is titled "Encore" by Mark Freedman, and it's about baby boomers retiring and finding work that matters in the second half of their lives. ... Every so often, I get to read fiction, so I'm reading "Aloft," by Chang-rae Lee. It's a book in common we're reading with the English Department here, and it's about a guy living in the suburbs of Long Island in a middle-age crisis. ... There's also a book called "A Whole New Mind" by Daniel Pink, and in it, he talks about the rise of right-brain thinkers. ... And a book called "Moneyball," by Michael Lewis. It's fun for me as a former baseball player, but it's a new way of evaluating talent, or people resources.

What do you like about Freedman's and Lee's books?

"Encore" is just giving me a different way to view the demographic transitions in the faculty. So what's happening for us in schools with the retirement of the baby boomers is you have this massive teacher shortage that's upon us. This has given me ways to reframe this. ... And most of my reading list is nonfiction, so "Aloft" is a nice treat.

Do these stories about people in transition help you envision how Punahou students and faculty can model and promote environmental sustainability?

Even though sustainability is a thrust for us, something like "Whole New Mind" actually fits into that. We're trying not just to change kids' behavior ... but for them to see systems and the interdependence of systems and for them to become not just recyclers but also more inventive and innovative and resourceful about how they might do things differently. We're producing the next generation of change agents, not just the next generation of consumers. ... If we can get from a 5-year-old to an 18-year-old to a 50-year-old faculty member to think about the interdependence of systems, then you're really changing how people conceptualize the world.