Mid-Summer Checkpoints Issue 120, August 3, 2023 It’s been a hot summer for most of us. The political conversation continues to escalate. The war drags on. Inequity and inequality divide us. Next gens still raise their voices with demands and pleas for the planet. But not all news is divisive and frustrating. One fact in the ongoing swirl is that only change endures. It would appear that our marketplaces and societies are settling into new models and realities as we…
Can You Imagine Living Only in the Past? Issue 109, May 18, 2023 What if there were term limits on your ideas, thoughts, hopes and dreams? What if you reached a point in your life where you learned nothing new and were limited by your past experiences and body of knowledge? And if this were the case, and you led an organization, you might become irrelevant pretty quickly since you wouldn’t have the knowledge and scope to address today’s issues…
When Less Is More Issue 92, January 26, 2023 “We’re too big to fail.” Try that one out on Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg. If there were ever two visionaries with an overabundance of hubris, they’re the ones. Although the concept of “too big to fail” technically refers to an organization that is so important to a financial system that a government would not allow it to go bankrupt due to the seriousness of the economic repercussions (Wiki), one could argue…
It Was the Best of Times …and Maybe the Worst Issue 86, December 15, 2022 It’s that time of year for stories. We’ve all got them: holiday merriment, missteps, and mayhem. All the stories that we remember and pass on from our portfolio of family and personal legends. We have a few stories as well. In our new book, The Truth About Transformation, we have an entire section devoted to dispatches (aka case studies) that are some of the most…
How Illusion and Delusion Derail Organizations Issue 56: May 19, 2022 Two colleagues just attended their monthly executive committee meeting. One is the chief revenue officer of the organization, and the other is the head of marketing. The organization is struggling with diminishing membership revenues and sponsorship sales are running behind. The salesperson gave an upbeat, optimistic presentation asserting they would close the revenue gap by the end of the quarter. The marketing executive had a completely different take on…
Are You Holding Everyone Back? Issue 53: April 28, 2022 Some people are quick processors, others way slower. Some people are decisive, others less so. Some people thrive on structure, others won’t be boxed in. And some people are planners, others can’t be bothered. We all know the types: Planners get to the airport hours before the flight; their nemeses are always running to the gate. What happens when key members of a team don’t process quickly enough, are indecisive,…
Inflation + True Value Issue 41: February 3, 2022 This is the first time since 1982 that inflation has grown at such a fast pace and become such an urgent short-term issue for so many organizations and individuals around the world. It is clearly affecting consumers forcing them to make fundamental changes in their choices and their overall lifestyles. The consumer who is now having to be more discerning about their own expenses contributes to a set of challenges faced…
Eight Predictions from 2040 As we rush headlong into the holiday season and the end of another surprising year, it’s a good time to take stock. The learnings from the pandemic have solidified new business models, changed the context and viewpoints of individual values, and changed the direction that seemed so clear as we started the year. For some organizations seeking to align and embrace new learnings, they have placed people before short-term profits out of sheer necessity and the…