Remote Listening

Listening – really listening – can be challenging if the person you’re having a conversation with is sitting across from you. Nowadays, when most conversations are online, the challenge is even greater. Consider this: Don’t interrupt – allow for pauses; Focus on what the person is saying – turn off distractions like extra monitors; When…

Stop Planning – Act

Meeting after meeting, reports pile up on your desk, deadlines loom. You can get bogged down with too much talking, and too much planning can also hamper you. At some point, you need to make a decision – you need to act. Plans are never perfect, and they don’t need to be, so hold them…

Listen to Feedback

You have an idea – a goal to accomplish. You need people to get it done. Every person with whom you share your idea will have some sort of feedback for you. People have ideas of their own, so sometimes you won’t like the feedback. The important thing to remember is that you need to…

Right Battle, Wrong Vehicle

Colin Kaepernick should be playing football right now. But, there are bigger issues at play. What we need in our lives is a commitment to consistency and to being smart, not so much about the battles we choose, but about the vehicle we use to get to the front lines. It can take great effort,…

Get Smart: Must-Read Books for Leadership & Business

There are so many books that you or I would categorize as “must-read,” especially when it comes to leading well and succeeding in the workplace. What I’ve come to appreciate are resources that challenge the way I think. It’s not enough to simply be told what to do; I want to wake up in the…

You Are a Knowledge Creator 2.0 – Finally

When we make a decision in our organizations we tend to follow a somewhat predictable pattern: we identify the problem and diagnose it, we define available alternatives and then examine possible consequences. Then, we make the decision and finally implement it. If we’re really on our game, we’ll take some time later on to revisit…

You Are a Knowledge Creator 2.0 – Assumption 3

So far, I’ve suggested that 1) when you make decisions in your organization, those decisions are subjective and specific to your own context, and 2) knowledge – the stuff that drives decisions and also results from them – means something because of the value that is attached to it…knowledge is more than just a series…

You Are a Knowledge Creator 2.0 – Assumption 2

Think back to the previous post. We talked about two main ideas: that knowledge in your organization and industry is some new thing you discover in the context of your business, and the idea that the decisions you make in your organization are unavoidably subjective and specific to your own context. Take a minute to…

You Are a Knowledge Creator 2.0

Think about the last time you learned something. By learned something I don’t mean something trivial like, “I just learned that American car horns beep in the tone of F” (that’s true, by the way.) I mean, when was the last time you and your team sat down and wrestled with some piece of information…

Peanut Butter & Guest Houses

The way we assist developing countries needs to change. The story is told of a severe natural disaster in one of these countries and their resultant need. The quick and typical response from the West was to rally numerous financial and consumer product donations to be shipped directly. One such product was peanut butter, which…

BAM!!

Arrived at the BAM (Business as Mission) Global Congress in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Arrived to a tropical last of 98 degrees and a bit of humidity. We’ll get started today with sessions. About 530 people are here from 41 different countries. I’m expecting to hear a lot of great ideas and to connect with a…

Crucible Experiences

I recently gave a TED Talk in which I shared the notion of “Crucible Experiences.” The text of that talk is below. Why is it that certain people seem to cope well with change while others stumble, again and again? What I want to talk to you about are transitions and how people deal with…