Ideas

  • The Most Important Skill for Leaders Heading into an Uncertain Future

    The Most Important Skill for Leaders Heading into an Uncertain Future

    I’ve just returned from a week in Frankfurt Germany. While there, I co-facilitated a strategic leadership workshop for a group of executives at a global technology company with my friend and colleague Nick Noyes. Nick is a partner and co-founder of Insight Experience, the company that designed the business simulation we use in the program.… Read more

  • The Unstuck Minds Method: How to find the better question

    The Unstuck Minds Method: How to find the better question

    Four steps for finding a better question Read more

  • Everybody’s Talking at Me

    Everybody’s Talking at Me

    Harry Nilsson’s Grammy award winning song has been stuck in my head all day. I actually met Harry Nilsson years ago when I managed a restaurant in Southern California called Severino’s. Nilsson’s sister and her partner Severino Surace owned the place. Nilsson decided to make a surprise visit to his sister and walked into the… Read more

  • We Don’t Need Artificial Intelligence to Protect Ourselves from Disinformation, We Need Actual Intelligence

    We Don’t Need Artificial Intelligence to Protect Ourselves from Disinformation, We Need Actual Intelligence

    In case you missed it, the 2015 Jade Helm military exercises were back in the news this week. While promoting his new book, The Assault on Intelligence: American national security in the age of lies, Retired General and former head of the National Security Agency Michael Hayden suggested that Russia had fomented paranoia in Texas… Read more

  • A New Take on Employee Retention: Thanks for stopping by

    A New Take on Employee Retention: Thanks for stopping by

    What would happen if the mission of your Human Resources Department looked more like the mission of a university’s job placement center? Last week, my colleague Beth and I co-led a workshop on innovation and collaborative problem solving for a group of 30 leaders from a company that provides information technology services and systems integration… Read more

  • We’re Asking James Comey the Wrong Question

    We’re Asking James Comey the Wrong Question

    The weather forecast called for a 50% chance of rain showers. A woman named Tracy decided to take her umbrella with her on her commute to the office. The rain never came. After work Tracy met friends at a bar for happy hour. When she left the bar to walk home, she forgot to take… Read more