Rice University Football Stadium, September 12, 1962 - President John F. Kennedy put the United States and the rest of the world on notice. The US was going to put a man on the moon and bring him home safely by the end of the decade. He went on to say why he had committed [...]
Evolutionary biologist Leigh van Valen (1973), used the Red Queen as a metaphor for his evolutionary principle that regardless of how well a species adapts to its current environment, it must keep evolving to keep up with its competitors and enemies who are also evolving. Van Valen’s inspiration for the metaphor came from Lewis Carroll's [...]
This Is Your Life was an American reality documentary series broadcast on NBC radio, and then television, from 1948 to 1961. In the program, the host would surprise guests and then take them through a retrospective of their lives in front of an audience, including appearances by colleagues, friends, and family. The show had its [...]
Dr. Louis Binstock once said, “Too often the shortcut, the line of least resistance, is responsible for evanescent and unsatisfactory success.” Allow me to translate: “A shortcut is the longest distance between two points.” We're all guilty of taking shortcuts now and again, whether it’s not signaling to change lanes or using a chair instead [...]
It’s February! The new year is up and running, so we had better be, as well! After listening to more than a few executives during 2015 and the beginning of this year, I’m convinced that one of the major challenges for 2016 – and beyond – will continue to be how executives deal with volatility, uncertainty, complexity, [...]
"Leadership involves leading." I read that somewhere and it's true enough, but leadership also involves implementing change. Sometimes (often?) change has a way of generating resistance in people. The best way to avoid resistance to change is to stop it before it starts. Really. You may not be able to eliminate all resistance, but what if [...]
"When one thing, the right thing, is set in motion, it can topple many things." It’s a simple concept: focus on what matters most in your personal and work life, because extraordinary results are directly determined by how narrow you can make your focus. Fact: A single domino is capable of knocking down a domino 50% [...]
At a basic level strategy answers two questions: where will we play and how will we win? Should everyone in our business know those answers? If they don’t, how can we expect them to know how to choose between two good things when the decision arises? To discern which is best? Choosing between a good [...]
Every generation seems to feel that it has the most complex and challenging of times. They’re no more or less right than we are. We observe, and believe, that our connected and digital world moves and changes at internet speed, is more transparent and secretive (at the same time), and is increasingly complex and more [...]
V.U.C.A. world or not, we still have to make a difference. We still have to contribute. We still have to deliver value. And that means taking action and getting results. Yet, action unfolds and results often come about in stages. Clarity is often lacking, especially to the degree that allows us comfort and confidence. V.U.C.A. [...]
