Ideas

  • Uncertainty is Not the Problem

    Uncertainty is Not the Problem

    We experience uncertainty in two ways. First, there’s informational uncertainty. We experience informational uncertainty when we lack facts and data to help us predict and control our environment. Secondly, there is emotional uncertainty. Emotional uncertainty is the subjective feeling associated with our information gap. Simply put, uncertainty is both what we don’t know and how… Read more

  • Scientist or Philosopher, The Dubious Distinction

    Scientist or Philosopher, The Dubious Distinction

    Adam Grant published a new book. I published a new book too. Grant is a best-selling author, a top TED talker, and a highly regarded professor of organizational psychology at The Wharton School. I’m fairly popular with dozens of clients and colleagues. Bill Gates, Melinda Gates, Daniel Kahneman, and Brené Brown enthusiastically endorse Grant’s new… Read more

  • Introducing SCAN; How to Spot the Hidden Complexities that Keep Us Stuck

    Introducing SCAN; How to Spot the Hidden Complexities that Keep Us Stuck

    To find insights and options we need a way to see the hidden complexities keeping us stuck Read more

  • The Unstuck Mind

    The Unstuck Mind

    You have two choices if making decisions in times of uncertainty feels overwhelming. You can reduce the uncertainty, or you can get comfortable feeling uncertain. Our evolutionary impulse is to reduce uncertainty, even when it’s bad for us. A 2016 study conducted by researchers at University College London found that students who had a 50%… Read more

  • Did 2020 alter your perspective on what it takes to be a good leader? So…what does that say about your competency model?

    Did 2020 alter your perspective on what it takes to be a good leader? So…what does that say about your competency model?

    Let’s start with a quiz. Review the two descriptions below. One is from a global executive competency model1. The other is from the American Kennel Club’s (AKC) breed standard for an Australian Shepherd Dog. Intelligent, well-balanced, attentive, and agile Resilient, resourceful, optimistic, and energetic Click on the description if you need to know which is… Read more

  • What to Ask your Relative who Voted for the Other Guy

    What to Ask your Relative who Voted for the Other Guy

    Those of us in the United States are now moving from election season to dispute season. Tens of millions of Americans will be distressed, maybe even enraged. And some of them will soon be sitting down to a Thanksgiving meal with you. The holidays are approaching. A time for friends and family to reunite. Does… Read more