Seasonal Transitions
It seems like we are often in some kind of transition or shift from one state to another, from one status to another, from one activity to another, from one stage of life to another or even from one time to another. Does that all make sense in your own observations and experience? Maybe it’s
0EVOLUTION not REVOLUTION
I remember a 1940’s radio program called “The Life of Riley” starring William Bendix who played Chester A. Riley, and he used to say, “What a revoltin’ development this has turned out to be!” Bugs Bunny may have picked it up as well. The phrase came to me this morning as I was thinking about
0An Opening in the Clouds Above the Mountain
This morning when I woke up, I looked out the window (at 3 AM) and there was a strange narrow band of light above the mountain, Sierra Negra, which is across the river from where I live. I wondered what it was, why it was there, what conditions caused it to be and then, upon
0LABORER THANKS, 9-3-2012
There are numerous workers who have made my life easier, better or more productive this past year and I want to list them by category and thank a number of them personally for their good work. Here are my top ten: 1. Medical personnel including doctors, nurses, technicians and administrators 2. Police, fire, safety and
0CONSCIOUS AND INTENTIONAL
A couple of weeks ago I wrote a short piece about shifting paradigms and changing a culture. This week I had the opportunity to visit an organization that, three years ago, made a commitment to do exactly that. They engaged with a major university that had a well-researched design component that, if implemented, would significantly
0ECONOMIC IMPERATIVES
–> About 40 years ago I was riding on the 5th Avenue bus in NYC, which more appropriately should have been Madison Avenue, when I began to read the signs above the windows on both sides of the bus. Each one conveyed a message and, either to pass the time or just out of plain
0EARLY MORNING MUSINGS
We have a French Black Copper Maran rooster named Pierre. He guards his small flock of girls with rapt attention, tries to lead them around by showing he is bigger and louder than they are but that seldom works. He doesn’t understand that power alone isn’t sufficient for effective leadership. Watching chicken behavior provides all
0CUSTOMER “SERVICE” and the POWER OF ONE
Whatever system gives you pause for concern, a primary step is to understand how it works and why it is the way it is. It may then be more possible to deal with it in a way to optimize the chances for making it work on your behalf rather than being constantly frustrated because it
0SHIFTING PARADIGMS and CHANGING A CULTURE
No one ever said it would be easy and trying to change mind sets and then help people change their behavior is a huge challenge. Someone once said that there are too many people who mistake the edge of the rut for the horizon. Entrenchment is a familiar condition in many institutions and organizations, partly
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