If We’re So Smart: Lately, there have been many articles on most media platforms about how we humans are purposely manipulated by other humans. On the surface, that seems a bit crazy. After all, we are the most intelligent species on earth, right? Yet, we see suckers being born every day. The Silly Season Let’s start with the misleading and …
Bad Rap: We all use groupthink, whether we admit to doing so or not. I hear groupthink used as an epithet — “Avoid groupthink” or “That’s just groupthink.” I gather that the point of the warning to avoid groupthink is to make sure that I do think. And question not only my assumptions but the assumptions of others. I don’t …
In a recent leadership group meeting, I was prompted to think a bit more about common leadership traits. I have settled on what I believe to be common leadership traits based on the great leaders I know personally. And of course, I added a few leaders about whom I’ve read but who I do not know personally. I came up …
Which Guns? There is a misconception on some folks’ part that leaders must take a decision and stick to it. “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!” I don’t think that is always appropriate or useful. I do believe it is true that a leader must show decisiveness. I also think it’s important that a leader not let the team lose …
Curiosity: In a previous post, I wrote about curiosity and its importance to leadership. I find that many of our organizational policies, procedures, and cultural norms go unexamined. I want to expand on the topic of curiosity a bit more. What drives me to do so is ruminating on my experience with classes I facilitate for veterans around the topic …
Critical Thinking: I’m struggling a bit with my thoughts on how to prepare people, especially our young people, for the work world ahead of us. Indeed, some necessary skills will be required. But which ones? It is next to impossible to predict what “jobs” will exist, let alone what skills will be needed. Surely, we will be required to work …
Use By: We’re all used to our perishable food coming with an expiry date. They take various forms such as: Sell by mm/dd/yyyy or Best if used by mm/dd/yyyy. And sometimes, they don’t say much of anything. There’s just a date and maybe some undecipherable lot code. It’s up to us to guess if the date is the expiration date. …
View: I slept late the other morning. When I rolled out of bed and looked out the window, I noticed it was gray, overcast and looked like it might rain. When I got to the kitchen, the view out that window was partly blue sky, high clouds and filtered sunshine. It didn’t look like possible rain at all! Amazing. What …
Happy Fourth! As those who read my newsletter know, we are on vacation in Europe at the time of the publication of this blog post. And while I usually shy away from any political topics in this business blog, I think it is appropriate to pause and think about patriotism on this day. I believe that is especially appropriate when …
Words: What do you hear when I speak? I’m trying to paint a word picture of what I see in my mind so that you see “the same picture” in your mind. I share those words with you. We speak the same language. Let’s agree that the language, whatever it is, is native to both of us. But I have …