LABORER 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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WHAT PIQUES YOUR CURIOSITY?
Several years ago, I posed the question about what people were curious about and the seven people responded with these interesting questions and musings. I commend them to you in the interest of your own curiosity. CS Why do I (and many others as we get older) wake up at 3 am? Will we
0PAYING ATTENTION TO THE INSIDE
With gratitude to Peter Senge, who talks often about decentralizing the role of leadership in order to enhance the capacity of all people to work toward healthier human systems, I offer these observations, insights and experiences. . As leaders, we are acutely aware of trying to meet the needs of multiple constituencies – directors, associates,
0LIFE IS FRAGILE AND UNPREDICTABLE
Joe Nathan writes a regular column and I respond from time to time. I’ve known Joe for almost 20 years. He started the first charter school in the United States in Minnesota in 1992 and is now the Director of the Center for School Change at Macalaster College. He and I are often on the
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