Posts

The Present from Mister Rogers

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A few nights ago, my wife and I settled in to watch a little TV. I asked her if she wanted to “binge-watch” Psych or try a movie on Amazon Prime called “Mr. Rodgers and Me.” [1] She chose Mr. Rodgers and what a great choice. I knew a little about this TV personality, but I never imagined the depth of the man. This film explores the life and impact of Fred Rodgers by interviewing some of the well-known people whose life he impacted. There is so much to admire and emulate in this man. From the start, this film resonated deeply for me. In the first five minutes they begin to explore a key quote from Mr. Rogers. “I feel so strongly that deep and simple is far more essential than shallow and complex.” [2] Deep, simple, and elegant is so important and, is often ignored because these things are not easy and they take so much energy to create. Easy does not make it right. I know this and still, all too often, don’t slow down and spend the energy it takes to create deep, simple, and e...
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The Story of Common Things

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While listening to an interview with the author of Hidden City? I was inspired to look for the story behind common things. How often to we pass by something without giving it a second thought. What interesting stories might we be missing? I decided to use this inspiration as a tool to encourage my curiosity and to help me become more present in my daily life. I challenged myself to stop at least once during the week to wonder about something that I would normally pass by. Occasionally I stop by Point Mugu State Beach in the morning before a day of meetings. I use this time to read, journal or just enjoy the ocean. I’m visited by various creatures. I’ve seen sea lions, dolphin, squirrels, and pelicans. One creature I see every time I’m there is “pigeon of the sea,” the seagull. They are intrusive and annoying. Since I was a child, visiting the beach, I’ve learned to loath these birds. This particular morning I was thinking about my challenge to find the story behind somet...
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Doing Great Things!

Doing Great Things! I’m a firm believer that everyone could benefit from having a coach. If you have a “growth mindset” [1] you’ll get this idea. Many, however, don’t see the need. “I’m at the top of my profession, why would I want an outsider observing me?” As a coach, I’ve heard this, or something similar, often. [2] As a former athlete and sports fan you can’t help but notice every top performing athlete has a coach. Pro teams have them. Olympic athletes have them. Athletes at all levels engage coaches to move them toward their next step closer to greatness. Atul Gawanda, a surgeon and public health profession, shares a powerful perspective from someone at the top of a complicated profession. Take 17 minutes to listen to this moving story of how coaching moves professionals to greatness… and saves live [3] . Let me know if you want to talk about getting a coach or becoming a coach. [1] Carol Dweck dives deep into this idea in her book Mindset: The ...
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Feeling Persecuted? Two people and four questions for choosing differently

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Do you feel unappreciated? Did you get passed over for a position or opportunity you deserved? Maybe you’ve been punished for doing the right thing or, even worse, for reasons you don’t understand at all. I know of two people who faced greater challenges and chose differently. These two people didn’t just get punished, demoted or fired. They were imprisoned. One for life for doing right. The other sentenced to death for no good reason.* Nelson Mandela watched the injustice inflicted by the apartheid system of South Africa and set about changing the system. For his stance he was sentenced to life at the Robben Island prison with hard labor. For doing the right thing he faced a life of breaking rocks in the limestone quarry and confinement in a small cell. Most people in his situation define their context as prison and themselves as prisoner. Mandela made a different choice. In his 18 years on “The Island” he mentored many other young activists and political prisoners. He was s...
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Change and Transition: 4 ways leaders can help their people

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Change and Transition: 4 ways leaders can help their people We're experiencing great change in my organization right now and I don't think we're alone in this. We prepared our leaders for this by sharing the "J-curve" model for managing organizational change. While helpful for the organization it did not help the individuals who were being asked to change. Organizations can determine a "go live" date when they flip the switch and have a new system or organizational structure take effect. People don't work like that. When the switch is flipped the organization sees this as the end of change (or at least the middle). This "ending" starts a longer transition for our people.  Organizations change, people transition William Bridges (Managing Transitions)points out; "every transition begins with an ending." Organizations need to plan for change and also help people deal with the disruptions that come along with any cha...
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Games, Gameing & Gamification from Learning2012

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 Infograghic and notes from Learning2012 session
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Finding Your Story (a visual blog)

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 A Visual Blog for How to Find Your Story
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Good Leader + EI = Great Leader

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 An infograghic from Learning 2012  Good Leader + EI = Great Leader
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Presenting with an iPad dongle-less

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 A picture blog of how I use Apple TV, Airport Express and a HDMI to VGA converter to present with my iPAd
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The Myth of "Work-Life Balance"

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The Myth of "Work-Life Balance" Looking at my own life and the lives of the people I work with reveals work-life balance is an unachievable myth. When I think about balance my brain pictures a scale, like the scales of justice but with three plates; work, personal/home and sleep. Each day has 24 hours or "chips" to place on one of the three plates.  Balance is achieved by placing eight chips on each plate. Rarely do I experience a balanced day. It's the rare exception and not a sustainable state. Change is the norm. There is too much variance in my life to keep the chips evenly spread across the scale. One unexpected event throws my balance all out of whack. Work-Life Balance may not only be unachievable but undesirable. Maintaining balance implies reacting to change and variance. Balance implies a static state; no movement. Once balance is achieved we do what we can maintain it. A focus on balance can make us "change-averse" in a world tha...
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