How often have you quickly formed an opinion of someone you just met? You probably were totally blown away by them, you really didn’t like them, or you were simply ambivalent and quite frankly couldn’t care less. All reasonable and understandable reactions and feelings I am confident in saying that we have all experienced. Have …
A few years ago, in an executive boardroom consultation, I innocently began by asking the Director, “Who’s the problem?” The person in question came alive as never before. It was as though I had hit a real nerve. I could almost see the veils of his protective self just melt away, and instead of that …
I don’t hate Bill Gates. I really have no reason to do so because I’ve never met the man and I use his products daily – as do most of us. I hear people complaining that Microsoft products are ‘crap’, yet they seem to work and no other company has successfully marketed a better product …
A parent brings a bouquet of roses to a child playing the part of a bush in the winter pageant. A father buys his son a drum set as a reward for eating carrots. And the classic, in my view, the parent who demanded a retake of the school photo because her child was in …
As I write this piece in the aftermath of the Parkland massacre, the Paris bombings, the bombing of the Russian airplane, the airstrikes and the thousands of civilians killed in the ongoing ISIS confrontations, the floods and fires, climate change and senseless atrocities recounted on each newscast, I wonder what it all means. Certainly everything …
Enjoyment at work and play comes from doing what comes naturally. The French call this “joie de vivre”, the joy of living. The ancient Greeks had a great word for it, “enthusiasm”. In English we call it “passion”. Many people have lost a sense of passion in their work and play and seek motivation. Perhaps …
An eighteenth century philosopher has been quoted as saying “the state of unequivocal harmony and bliss is the purest form of hell”. Wow, that’s a mouthful, but what did he mean? Essentially his point is there must be some pushback; some element of disagreement, some questioning or opposing opinion otherwise society will stagnate. As a …
Have you ever noticed how most organizations relentlessly form committees to work on anything and everything and at the same time try to ensure that everybody under the sun, even the dog, are on it. They call it inclusiveness. Mistake, big, bad, ugly mistake! Start with only three people. That’s the magic number that will …