I hear a lot of “either/or” language in work situations: We “must” do this thing. Here’s an example: We’re not agile if we don’t do some practice, such as standups. We “cannot” do exactly the same thing. We can’t do that practice, such as standups, and be agile. I hear either/or language in personal situations, too: […]
When Can You Recognize and Avoid the Trap of Either/Or Thinking? Read More »
When do you notice a change? Do you notice a change when it occurs? Maybe later? Or, are you sometimes like me, where I don’t notice until too late? When we notice a change too late, we let problems fester. We missed that first change and now we have a bigger problem. Those big problems
How Early Can You Notice That First Change? Read More »
Every so often, I enter into a situation where I’m unsure of myself. I encountered this just last week. The organizers and panelists on a large Zoom call had created working agreements. We spoke according to those agreements. And we knew that a couple of people were going to join late, an hour into the two-hour
How Can You Be Even More True to Yourself? Read More »
You made a decision yesterday, last week, even a month ago, and you’re happy about it. Now, you uncover more data. That data threatens your decision. What should you do? Stick with the original decision? Change that decision? Can you even rethink that decision? Sometimes, we use the sunk cost fallacy to stick with old
When Can You Rethink A Decision? Read More »
I’ve noticed this pattern in the news. A murder/fire/something bad happens in a normally quiet neighborhood. The news people interview the neighbors, and each one of them says, “This isn’t who we are. This doesn’t happen here.” Except, it did. We literally just saw that occurrence on the news. I see this pattern all the
When Do We Say, “We Need to Change Who We Are”? Read More »
I’m distracted. Are you? I sit down to write and my mind says, “Squirrel!” I start developing a workshop and my mind says, “Shiny object over there!” Normally, I sit down, work, and finish one thing. I then cross that thing off my todo list. Not this past week. How about you? I’ve tried these
What’s Distracting You? Read More »
When Do You Choose to Rebel or Comply? Since I live in the US, I’ve been thinking a lot about the state of our society and when we choose to continue the status quo or change. Some societal problems, such as the Black Lives Matter movement, have prompted many people to rebel against the status
When Do You Choose to Rebel or Comply? Read More »
As I write this, the US is in the midst of the race for the 2020 election. Yes, we call it the time leading up to the election a race. Interesting choice of words, isn’t it? Here’s what surprises me. Each of the major parties (and their candidates) sees and explains recent history differently. I
Does Your Truth Depend on Meaning? Read More »
Here, in the US, we’re trying to open schools at all levels, play professional sports, and open as much of the economy as possible. We want it all. Now. And, we’re having problems. Some elementary, middle-grade, and high schools have closed because they have too many virus cases. Several universities only opened for a week
What Principles Do You Use for Value Decisions? Read More »
I listened to Marcus Blankenship’s podcast Finding Career Opportunities Through Experimentation with Josh Doody. During the podcast, Marcus said something like this (I’m paraphrasing): “I wonder which was the problem: the decision or the outcome?” I thought that was a wonderful frame for how we might think about decisions. I don’t always differentiate between the
What’s the Problem: the Decision or the Outcome? Read More »