A Spring Anticipation Haiku
Agility melts. Daffodils punch frozen soil. Anticipation. - A Spring Anticipation Haiku by John Horn that underscores how we humans often get more excited and engaged by the anticipation of something (as opposed to doing/experiencing the actional thing); here is an...
The Community Building Potential of … Malls?!
There we were, skipping and laughing ironically through Kitchener-Waterloo’s largest mall. My grad school roommate and current awesome friend, Jim, and I were hilariously lampooning the community building potential of malls by drawing a clear counterpoint to how they...
How to Show Love at Work
Expressing gratitude, joy and affection at work boosts productivity and creativity. One effective method is using gratitude jars. Here’s how to show love at work (or school or your community): Create a table with two columns: one for names and one for compliments....
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...
How to Create a Sense of Belonging in Your Community
Today is Staff Day at BC Pension Corporation. The experience provides time and space for employees to connect and learn together. This year’s theme is we belong together and we chose it because of the force-multiplier that a sense of belonging creates for individuals...
Systems of Agility
Systems of agility represent an approach or framework designed to foster flexibility, adaptability, and responsiveness in both work and life. It encompasses various elements, including flexible structures, malleable, diverse, and redeployable talent, and a culture...