Shhhh! The Quiet Surprises of Silence

“Patricia” is a brilliant colleague who will NOT stop talking. Do you know someone like this? A group of us drove with Patricia for 3 hours to an educational event, and she proceeded to carry on her 1-way “conversation” for the entire drive. I kept wondering how she was able to continue this stream of […]

“Yes-And” Gets Your Team Innovating!

See if this sounds familiar You are managing a working team in the now ubiquitous hybrid scenario. Your group has been tasked with generating some new ideas for the next phase of an ongoing project.  While the person you report to is expecting “great ideas”, you can see some roadblocks. Among them: Time: Can the […]

12 Rituals to Elevate Your Virtual Meeting

Are we sick and tired of Zoom yet?  I sure don’t want to be because it’s here to stay and we’re all finding out how much time we save by not having to commute. Plus, many experts tell us that much of our educational and business systems are going to make heavier use of this […]

Your Workplace “Weather Report”

I first notice the contrast in light – dark blue mountains in the background as the storm clouds grumble away – slapped into retreat by strong western sunlight.  And the lake is a blue expanse mirroring the mountains.  The foreground is bathed in the textured gold of a dry autumn meadow.  It’s the contrasts that […]

Improv in the Workplace…..NOT what you think!

What are your associations with the word Improvisation? Who’s Line is it Anyway?  The Groundlings?  Those Improv Everywhere videos on YouTube? Whatever the word brings to mind, it probably involves entertainment right?  It’s fun to watch people up there leaping into space with no net!  My connection with improvisation is a bit different – I’m […]

Your #1 Weapon Against Blind Stupidity…..

Curiosity is the opposite of fear. You hear that Love is the opposite – well ok, but in actual experience, love is too big a stretch. All kinds of people can claim they “love” the disabled or Muslims or old hippies, but in that context, the L word is almost meaningless. Genuine curiosity on the […]

5 Ways to Snag that Slippery Innovative Solution

Let’s say you have a sticky wicket problem – you’ve tried everything you can think of and those wickets are still sticky. You and your team have been wracking your brains trying to fix the wickets and at this point, you might be tempted to either hand it off to someone else….preferably someone who OWES […]