I meet a number of people who have great ideas. And, in order to “push” the ideas through the organization, they tell me that the ends justify the means. I don’t buy that. That’s not congruent behavior. These people are thinking about themselves. They’re thinking about the context. However, the way they treat the other
What Does Integrity Mean to You? Read More »
In my work, I meet people who think their problems are totally unique. Their issue, their product, their managers—their context is unique. They are correct. While each of us is unique, we have many common challenges. We can learn from others. We might be able to apply something to our situation. I see this a
When Are You the “Only” One? Read More »
I had a difficult time seeing a site on my iPad. I grumbled about it to Mark. I said, “They must have changed the font.” He replied, “Is your screen dirty?” I took his advice and cleaned both my glasses and my iPad. It was better, but I still had trouble seeing the site. They
What’s the Solvable Problem? Read More »
There’s a lot in my life I can control. I can control what I eat, and often when I eat it. I can control when I go to bed at night, even if I can’t control my occasional insomnia. I can control what I choose to do with my time: which projects to start and
How Much or Little Can You Control? Read More »
Several of my clients have told me they want to help people be happy. They measure—well, they attempt to—each individual’s happiness. I have not found measuring happiness all that helpful. For me, happiness is an outcome, a result, of satisfaction. Satisfaction with my choices, satisfaction in finishing, satisfaction with my results. I wonder about happiness
Is Happiness Your Goal? Read More »
Many people use the terms adaptable and resilience interchangeably. However, they mean different things and we live and use them differently. When we are adaptable, we see that reality has changed. We don’t deny that reality. Because we admit that we have a new reality, we can find new approaches to manage our responses to
What’s the Difference Between Resilience and Adaptability? Read More »
Everyone has a relationship with money. We need money to buy things, such as food, clothing, and shelter. We want enough money so we can be happy. And, our relationships with money often dictate the decisions we make. In my recent question, When Do You Choose Yourself? I wrote about some of the decisions we
How Do You Feel About Money? Read More »
Universities choose high school seniors in a crazy game of selection. Publishers choose a select few books to publish. I’m shepherding chosen experience reports for the big agile conference in the summer where a program team chose a limited number of reports. Instead of “being chosen,” why not choose ourselves? Last week, I spoke with
When Do You Choose Yourself? Read More »
Rob Gronkowski of the New England Patriots retired this week. He’s 29 years old. He chose this time to transition to something new. Some transitions are easy for me. I only had one time where I stayed at a job too long. I bought the health insurance for our family, so I stayed for the
When Is It Time to Transition? Read More »
We have problems in our lives. Sometimes, we can fix those problems. Sometimes, we cope with those problems. Sometimes, we manage those problems. And, some problems might appear to have no solution—now or ever. We need to reframe these problems so we can determine how to proceed. Some problems are easy to fix when we
When Do You Need to Reframe the Problem? Read More »