2024 is About Investing in Caring
To ring in every year, I like to share some ideas and tactics for reflecting and goal setting. From habit building to interrogating the sustainability of gym memberships and dry Januarys, setting intention for career aspirations and healthy relationships is an...
Five Tips for Setting Strengths-Based Goals this Year
For many of us, a new year brings opportunities for improving skills and building resilience through goal setting. We call such goals “resolutions” and human beings are notoriously bad at achieving them. In fact, over 90% of us will not follow-through on our...
Five Adaptive Planning Strategies from Die Hard
Die Hard is one of the greatest Christmas movies of all time. The iconic action film starring Bruce Willis is not just a festive classic that includes holiday outfits and Christmas carols, but it is also a masterclass in adaptive planning. Beyond the explosive action...
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 and cross-functional thinking brings...
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 at our annual Cannexus...
Learning Styles Do Not Exist
Learning styles do not exist. Given that many educators and students have long believed in the concept of learning styles, this probably feels like a bold statement. The idea that individuals have fixed preferences for how they absorb information - you might be a...
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 that when the status quo is disrupted...
Nervited
When humans feel the combination of nervousness and excitement we are nervited. Our team was feeling nervited last week because we delivered a conference for 600 employees that blended inspirational speakers, peer-learning, good food, and digital creativity. We felt...
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 in their shop. Being able to start and sustain great conversations while...
How Replacing a Toilet Uses Modern Learning Practices
Last weekend my friend and I replaced the toilet in my en-suite bathroom. I’ve written before about the lessons learned from home renovations, which this article builds on, highlighting how the art and science of toilet repairs/replacements reflect the ways that...
The Lego Dad Activity
This weekend my youngest son burst into the office and proudly showed me his Lego creation - it's me sipping coffee while riding a "pizza delivery hover bike with other foods, like apples and fried chicken!" And so the Lego Dad Activity was born! This invention makes...
Three Ways to Augment Work with AI
As technology continues to advance, organizations are turning to AI and natural language processing tools like ChatGPT to automate repetitive tasks and free up employees' time. By leveraging these tools, employees are able to focus on higher-level, more meaningful...
Five Tips for Navigating Worklife Complexity
Worklife is complex. Whether we are making sense of hybrid work and its impact on the employee experience, raising a family, or changing career paths, every day we make decisions amidst complexity. Recognizing this reality and the impact that it is having on leaders,...