Six Professional Game Changers from Improv
I’m part of a team that is delivering a big piece of work using agile methodology, which I’ve written about before. With our project moving and changing so quickly we find ourselves reacting to new circumstances and having to improvise…
Say No to Meetings
That have no agenda. That are not organized. When you have no control over the outcome, content, and/or dialogue. That overlap with existing commitments. When you know they will suck your energy and wellbeing. That have the phrase “pick your…
Cormac McCarthy and creativity and influence
Cormac McCarthy has passed from this world at the age of 89 and he was an icon of American literature and his real and violent words and stark sentences unabashedly embraced the run-on sentence to paint a real and brutal…
Five Ways to Cultivate Dissent on Your Team
Creating a culture of dissent on your team will enhance performance and effectiveness.
Five Things That Being Allergic to the Sun Teaches me About Inclusiveness
Spring is arriving in the Northern Hemisphere. For many folks – especially those of us on the dreary West Coast – the long, sunny days generate plenty of positive vibes. For me, the sunnyness makes me feel quite the opposite…
The Value of Interdisciplinary and Cross-functional Thinking
Nearly a decade ago I wrote this book review for Active History (reposted below). The idea was for academic books to be reviewed by non academics. While my review holds up okay, I want to underscore the idea that interdisciplinary…
Five Ways to be a Better Career Influencer
Last week I joined my fellow CERIC board members in a planning session that focused on the future of our charity, which is purposed with advancing career development in Canada. We fund and publish research, share learning and build community…
Five Ways to Connect Your Workplace
The purpose of so many organizational teams, like innovation labs, and startup ecosystems, like Silicon Valley, is to disrupt the status quo. I’ve written about why we need to disrupt our workplaces and how to do it. The thing is…
Three Professional Lessons from Barber Shops
I go to Uptown Barbers in Vancouver’s (Mt. Pleasant ‘hood to get my hair cut every six weeks or so. Marco and Ben – the two barbers who I most often visit – deliver haircuts as good as the banter…
Why Connected Neighbourhoods Solve Loneliness
Amidst all the crises we’re facing, folks are understandably overlooking the epidemic that nobody is talking about: loneliness. This problem has been plaguing humanity for decades and the pandemic is only making things worse, as some country’s are reporting that…