Cultural Cohesion
Fast Company ($) - Sep 28, 2021
The secret to creating amazing work? You have to hate it first
In ‘Creative Acts for Curious People,’ the Stanford d.school’s Sarah Stein Greenberg offers tangible ways to embrace creativity and work through obstacles.
Rob Bier - Trellis - Medium ($) - Sep 15, 2021
Are You A One-Eyed CEO?
In a previous post, I wrote about the point in the scaling journey where too many CEOs fail miserably: the transition from a stage 2 to a stage 3 CEO.
Fast Company ($) - Sep 15, 2021
The world’s most creative people have this one thing in common
Researchers used artificial intelligence to study the careers of 4,500 directors, 70,000 scientists, and 2,000 artists. The most successful among them share an important trait.
LibertyIT - Medium ($) - Sep 15, 2021
Some thoughts on being a plank
The Ship of Theseus is an artefact in a museum. Over time, its planks of wood rot and are replaced with new planks. When no original plank remains, is it still the Ship of Theseus? Secondly, if those removed planks are restored and reassembled, free of the rot, is that the Ship of Theseus? Neither is the true ship. Both are the true ship.
Keren Agbonika - Medium ($) - Sep 6, 2021
7 Real Business and Life Lessons From Jack Ma That Will Boost Your Business and You.
Without Sugarcoats.
strategy+business ($) - Sep 8, 2021
Are you stuck in a “logic box”?
Beware the trap of making a smart choice among flawed options.
McKinsey & Company - Sep 7, 2021
Author Talks: Vanessa Bohns on our hidden potential to persuade
Social psychologist Vanessa Bohns discusses why failing to recognize our ability to influence can lead us to miss opportunities or misuse power.
Fast Company ($) - Sep 28, 2021
The potential pitfalls of crafting a mission statement for your organization
Aspirational statements sound good, but if they’re not accompanied by visible efforts to achieve those aspirations, they’ll quickly be viewed as symbolic of an organization’s failures.
The Startup - Medium ($) - Sep 26, 2021
Boring Work Is Important (But Not in the Way You Think)
Lack of interest in a task may be a sign that you’ve made a mistake in priorities.
Fast Company ($) - Sep 7, 2021
The lives of two Stanford-students-turned-founders reveal tech’s misplaced priorities
Joshua Browder and Aaron Swartz were both technologists who attended the prestigious Silicon Valley school. But history treats them very differently.
peopleHum - Medium ($) - Sep 30, 2021
Culture and influence in the workplace: Collectivism vs Individualism
Culture is a singular factor that can have an influence on how people think and behave. Within this significantly vast field of study, a particular area that cross-cultural psychologists often study are the differences and similarities between individualistic cultures and collectivist cultures.
SmartBrief - Sep 23, 2021
Rethinking new-manager development: An operating system to support success
Learning to manage is a kinesthetic experience. It takes time in the job and ample experimentation to promote true learning. Classroom time creates exposure to tools and approaches, but for new managers with little context for the role, the benefits of training are muted.
strategy+business ($) - Sep 14, 2021
Leading under pressure
To control the anxiety produced by moments of intense pressure, first step back and analyze the stakes.
HBR.org ($) - Sep 7, 2021
Collaboration Overload Is Sinking Productivity
Many people have had the experience of being asked to do something and knowing with every fiber of their being that they should say no, but in a nano-second convince themselves why they need to do this thing after all. They jump in and then wonder six weeks later why they never have time for work that interests them.
I think this is the challenge of our day – How to embrace opposing viewpoints? Seems like we’ve lost the art of diplomacy, or maybe we’ve lost our ability to be self-aware. This article walks through a process to “build capacity to withstand cognitive discomfort”. The author leverages an analogy of building muscles in the weightroom, “as it requires us to embrace tension, grow through stress, and address damage”.
MIT Sloan Management Review ($) - Sep 15, 2021
The Problem With Certainty
One of the events that will be remembered from the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games is U.S. gymnast Simone Biles’ decision to withdraw from several competitions — and then return to the stage to win a bronze medal. Media coverage of Biles’ actions echoed what tennis star Naomi Osaka experienced after her decision to withdraw from the 2021 French Open.
I believe in a strong focus on the employee experience – what the article terms as EX. I really appreciate the way the post breaks it down into the employee’s social experience, work experience, and organizational experience. I think that we need a good rubric for thinking about our employees. This is the beginnings of one. Definitely worth reading.
McKinsey & Company - Sep 30, 2021
This time it’s personal: Shaping the ‘new possible’ through employee experience
In an era of workplace upheaval, companies that create tailored, authentic experiences strengthen employee purpose, ignite energy, and elevate organization-wide performance.
This article is a tribute to the power of being present with and listening to one’s colleagues. I love the simplicity of the post, its message and its supporting anecdotes. The author calls this practice, “mindful attention”. In my consulting, I’ve been dismayed by how few leaders are actually mentally present with their staff. They appear to be listening, but their questions lack any type of playback or inquiry. I feel that the practice of “mindful attention” may be one of the biggest drivers of a healthy corporate culture.
Lauren Segedin, PhD - Medium ($) - Sep 14, 2021
Strengthen Your Work Culture With This One Technique
When we cultivate the skill of mindful listening, we can become more effective at our job while also improving relationships with colleagues, partners, and clients.
MIT Sloan Management Review ($) - Aug 26, 2021
What You’re Getting Wrong About Burnout
The burnout crisis is here, but many managers are failing to address the root causes of stress for employees.
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about problem definiton, problem framing, and problem reframing. This article pushes us to recast our thinking from being binary – Yes or No, This or That, etc… Instead, can we reframe our thinking to consider Both And or a Win-Win situation? I think that reframing is one of the most important skills of leaders. It shows empathy (to understand the other), curiosity, and flexibility. But, for some reason, it’s not easy!
strategy+business ($) - Aug 23, 2021
Five ways to avoid the pitfalls of binary decisions
Before you decide, check how the question is framed to ensure you have all the information you need and have considered all your options.
This title says it all, “Compassion and Accountability Aren’t Mutually Exclusive”. Many times, both will be needed! Managers should have compassion and take account of the individual contexts of their employees (especially after the challenges of this past year), but they can also hold their employees accountable to the tasks at hand. This article lays out helpful hints to do both at the same time.
HBR.org ($) - Aug 16, 2021
Managers: Compassion and Accountability Aren’t Mutually Exclusive
Since the pandemic began, there’s been a call for managers to be understanding and lenient with employees as they navigate the stressors the global crisis has brought on. Now that restrictions are lifting in many parts of the world, some managers are wondering how to continue to balance compassion for the people on their team and accountability for getting work done.

All Time Favorites
strategy+business - Feb 15, 2016
George Veth
Most of my work revolves around facilitating cross-boundary collaborations to solve complex problems. However, I agree with this article which states that we need to be careful about how much time we are collaborating – and be sure to maintain “focus time (defined as two-plus hours per day of uninterrupted time that can be dedicated to a task or project)”.