10 Better Things to Say than “Be a Man”
“Be a Man”. We’ve heard the phrase jabbed at a dude caught in a circle of dudes (sometimes women are there, too) who are using peer pressure tactics. Or it’s a classic movie line aimed at motivating male protagonists to…
The Definitive Analysis of how Co-operatives Show up in Pop Culture
It’s Co-op Week in Canada. Unfortunately, the co-operative movement has a communication problem. Even though economists, journalists, academics, activists, titans of industry, and communities from around the world laud the traditional, yet disruptive, business model, co-operators often struggle to simplify…
Three Ways Sports Teach us to Manage Disappointment
A lot of us are taking losses these days. For many people and communities on the margins these losses might mean eviction, acceleration into poverty, or death. Many more folks in our communities have lost their job, failed their first…
Three Leadership Lessons from How Steve Nash Played Basketball
Steve Nash was inducted into the Hoops Hall of Fame last week. He is my favourite basketball player of all time and he’ll go down in history as a transcendent innovator of the sport in spite of never making it…
Seven Things I’ve Learned as a First-Time Entrepreneur
I remember it vividly. Mexico City, late January, sitting in an Uber in the front seat, while my MBA classmates were chattering away in the back. I’m sure they were talking about something interesting – my cohort has become my…
Three Workplace Trends to Watch
Work will never be the same after this. The coronavirus pandemic is challenging what we know about how, when and where work happens. Why organizations exist and what companies produce is being questioned, too. We have an opportunity to use…
Black Lives Matter
I want to be on the record – on this side of history – as someone who stands against systemic racism and who believes that Black lives matter. This is also a time for guys who look like me to…
99 Ways to Make Remote Work Awesome
Organizations around the world have enabled people to work remotely as part of a global effort to #flattenthecurve (and also plank it) with social/physical distancing. Nearly half of North Americans are working from home (many aren’t working at all). For…
Three Human Capabilities Being Surfaced by the Pandemic
We are amidst a global pandemic and these are unprecedented times. Communities around the world are rallying, failing, connecting, and experimenting amidst the spread of the novel coronavirus. Observing what’s being revealed about human behaviour is everything – I’m fascinated,…
Three Reasons Why you Should have Guiding Principles
Most people would say they are principled if you ask them. But if you drill down a little more, many will have difficulty telling you what exactly their principles are. Asked when they consider them, you’ll get blank look and…