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...
From and With Each Other
Learning from and with each other happens everywhere and all the time in agile learning organizations. Microlearning happens when content is delivered in bite-sized (3-5 minutes) bursts at the point of learning need. Learning in the flow of work happens when learning...
A Cite Your Sources Haiku
Cite sources always. Respect, intelligence, growth. Bad plagiarism. - A haiku about the pitfalls of being the VP of Strategy who didn't credit Harrison Owen when they applied (not "invented") Open Space Technology or the COO who takes credit for Toyota's "five whys"...
Five Productivity Lessons from Espresso
I love coffee. It’s delicious, chock full of life-enhancing antioxidants and fosters connections and collaboration, too. After spending a few weeks in Italy last year, I developed a love of espresso. In addition to the concentrated caffeine boost that a shot brings,...
How Language Creates and Erodes Interdependence
I agree with Batman that our actions matter more than who we are underneath because actions reveal our true character. I also notice how much language influences who leaders are and what we stand for. I notice this the most in the world of work, where I aspire to...
A Carbonara Haiku
All the carbonara. Hosting, connecting, friendship. Fueling the cycling. - A haiku the underscores how sharing good food with good friends builds healthy and connected communities that are sustainable for the long term
The Egg Drop is Perfect Performance Evaluation
A few weeks ago I attended the Egg Drop Challenge at my sons' school. Kids, teachers, and parents cheered as creations were tossed from the roof and all of us analyzed the result of the experiment. The experience was transparent, supportive, and easily measurable....
Work Like Nikola Jokić Plays Basketball
Nikola Jokić is a two time National Basketball Association (NBA) Most Valuable Player (MVP). He loves passing the ball almost as much as he loves horses. In fact, Jokić is probably the best passing big man of all time, one of the most efficient and accurate scorers of...
How the Economics of Friendship Shape Work and Life
Friendship is a fundamental and universal human need. This form of social connection cultivates mutual affection, trust, interdependence, and joy. According to one of modern social science’s longest ongoing studies, the social connections of friendship enrich and even...
A Father Son Nature Haiku
"The Mango Tree" So many mangos. In the wind it waves hello to the mountains below. - A haiku co-created by my youngest son and I (we went on to write, like, seven more haikus and all I can say is that writing poetry with kids is pretty fun and I highly recommend it...
12 Things that Make Co-operative Leaders Different
Co-operatives are democratic, highly adaptable and very resilient. In my opinion, the world needs more co-opetition from its leaders – when we compete to make society better then we’re all winning. Leading as a member of a co-operative requires different thoughts and...