Thanksgiving: US Style Many cultures have days of gratitude. Some are somber and religious; others are tied to the bounty of the year’s harvest. Some are flexed according to lunar calendars; some are on a fixed day. In the United States of America, Thanksgiving Day, T-day, Turkey Day, is on the fourth Thursday of November. […]
Management is a Social Science. Well, at least those who study of management, leadership, organizational development and industrial psychology, call it a Social Science. People steeped in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines might disagree as they are often confounded by the unpredictability of the human element. “Squishy. Too many intervening variables.” In his […]
“Mom, you can tell me what to do, or how to do it, but NOT both.” My wife cracked-up. My stepson had successfully gotten her to back off her “over-management” tendency. I logged the line for future use. Now all I have to say is “As Gabe once said…” It gets some dirty looks, but […]
“Stay away from him, Mia. He is not of this village. We can’t trust old men of the woods around our small daughters.” “He was nice. He told us a story about the blackbird who said that beauty is not in glossy black feathers. It is in the colors inside our chests.” “I said STAY […]
Is a Consultant a Change Leader? I can tell you that when I started in consulting, I didn’t think so. I wasn’t the only one. My first partner told me “Don’t use the C-Word. Change scares people.” I was encouraged in my belief that a consultant’s job was to provide information upon which clients might […]
I know things are bad. The RE words are back. I have lived a long time. I hope not as long as I will live, but long enough to have witnessed several reiterations of the RE Word Rerun. Pick up a newspaper or a business magazine. Wait. Whoops. That was revisiting an earlier reality. Sorry. […]
I think of myself as a communicator. In my life, I have called myself an actor, communicating the truth of character, contained in the words of a playwright. I have called myself a booking agent, arranging for the truth of celebrity speakers to be spoken live to college students and business conferences. For almost forty […]
It has been more than seven years since I was a consultant. That doesn’t seem so long to me. “You have no idea,” said a friend who is still consulting. “Things are much faster now. AI assisted search and data analysis. We fly a lot less; everyone does Zoom meetings for weekly updates. We also […]
Change Leader? Who Me? Hard-Earned Wisdom for Those New to Leading Change is finally published. Here is the preface and opening story. Preface When I say ”change,” I’m talking about behavioral change, basically an individual doing something different or doing a familiar task differently. Behavioral change may require a new insight, new knowledge, and/or different […]
“Did you get this thing from April?” “Yeah, I did.” “Well are we gonna go?” “I dunno. Whaddya think? “I dunno. I mean it’s not like I interacted much with these kids in high school and you’re the only one I even talk to at all since.” “Yeah, well. I think you had a better […]
