Three Metaphors for Modern Organizations
The workplace is like a factory: a hyper-efficient, soul-crushing assembly line where creativity is bolted down with automated machinery and lean processes. Workers create value as cogs in an industrious, uniform way. In some warehouses, they maximize productivity by...
Why Conflict is a Good Thing
The Potential of Dialogue Meaningful dialogue is an elusive thing in our communities. Having a respectful conversation with someone about something on which we do not agree isn’t common. Yelling opinions overtop of someone else or building a newsfeed that reinforces...
A Happy New Year Haiku
Happy new year goals. Pathways full of potential. Make the luck you need. - A haiku about 2025, which is a year full of promise and potential for all of us (especially when we embrace planned happenstance by making the most of whatever situation the world throws us...
Three Bold Worklife Predictions for 2025
The year 2024 has been a wild ride for worklife, packed with game-changing technologies that are reshaping how we work and all sorts of tinkering with employee value propositions (EVP) from Google to the Ontario Teacher’s Pension Plan. Generative AI has become our...
A Happy Holidays Haiku
Festive family. Find many moments of joy. Take it easy, friends. - A holiday haiku for everyone who needs to take a break, feel good vibes, and help out their community. Merry Christmas!
The Definitive Pros and Cons of Keeping a CYA Folder
Keeping a Cover Your Ass (CYA) folder can be a career lifeline. This practice is designed to protect our reputation by keeping documents, emails, and other evidence that can be used to clarify misunderstandings and defend against unfounded accusations. The concept is...
Career Advice from Your Favourite Holiday Characters
The holiday seasons are upon us and we’re awash in the magic of Christmas, Hanukah, Love Actually, my parents’ Awesome Semi-Pagan beliefs, and, of course, Festivus. As we share stories of holiday joy with friends and family, it’s important to remember that this time...
Total Football and Generalism
I’m reading Tribal by Michael Morris (it’s good) and the book begins with an analysis for “Total Football”. In the 1970s, the Dutch national soccer team transformed the sport with a philosophy where any outfield player could seamlessly assume the role of another on...
Five Tips for Bouncing Back from Obi-Wan Kenobi
Resilience is measured by how we recover from setbacks, as opposed to how well we endure tough times in the moment. Obi-Wan Kenobi knows a thing or two about bouncing back from a bad day, which fans observed and opined throughout the semi-divisive Disney series. We...
A Bomb Cyclone Haiku
Bomb cyclone is here. Wisdom of trees; perspective. Catastrophizing. - A haiku about how weather these days has different, scarier names than it used to; if this is catastrophizing, I hope it is effective...
Four Ways to be Resilient When You Feel Like Crap
This past weekend was brutal for my physical health. Food poisoning and a nasty flu bug took away my bodily fluids and ability to sleep. In the grand scheme of things this was a minor setback and I was able to recover and perform at an acceptable level as a dad by the...
Tension: What It Is, Why It Matters, and How it can Realize a Community’s Potential
My Tension Tension happens in work and life all the time. Recently, I found myself in situations where tension was both palpable and enabling. The first instance occurred during the planning of an important event. Initially, there was considerable confusion and...
Four Tips for Work Appropriate Halloween Costumes
It's Halloween! If you're in one of many workplaces that celebrate this spooky day, you may be invited to come in costume and celebrate in style with the usual staff costume photo set to be pasted all over the organization's intranet or social feed. Halloween costumes...