When my children were small, we sometimes played a driving game. I would drive from our house and the kids would decide which way to go at every intersection. Turn left turn right go straight u turn… We had a lot of laughs, the kids loved being in control, and…
100. What’s Important?
In the 200,000 years since modern humans evolved, we have changed and dominated our planet. We call it Civilization. Civilization wasn’t built by individuals it was built by groups. Families, villages, organizations, nations. Groups of humans led by humans. Groups of humans created most things we have around us. The…
99. Are you pretending?
“ I trust you to do your job..” was a catchphrase in a business I was once in, intended to turn empowerment from a noun to a verb. Of course not every leader in that business trusted their own teams enough to actually empower them, but everyone in their teams…
98. How Brave are you?
“Change Management” is often described as if it’s like building a wall. One brick put neatly on top of another. “Define the problem” “Implement the solution” etc…“tick the box”. Anyone who has led real change knows it isn’t like that. Real change only looks certain in hindsight. You don’t know…
97. Do you Inspire?
Two stone masons were cutting a block of stone in a quarry. A passerby asked them what they were doing. “I’m cutting a stone” said the first mason. “I’m building a cathedral” explained the second. One saw what they had to do, the other could see the end result. One…
96. How do you view your world?
The world is a complicated place. The only way we can make sense of it is by simplifying it down. We create a worldview that’s a representation of the real world. A simplified model. And we all have a different world view… The same is true in smaller groups like…
95. Are you in an invisible prison?
Prisons are a little more complicated form of punishment than most people realize. Prisons use physical walls to separate inmates from each other and society. Prisoners are not just socially isolated, they’re separated from people they trust. Prisons are mental punishment. Keeping a person in isolation isn’t just about keeping…
94. Are you Lucky?
I worked with a group of people once who each pooled $5 every week to buy lottery tickets. They were happy talking and dreaming about what they would do if they won, but they never won the big one. They hoped they’d get lucky, but never did. It’s true that…
93. Do you get out of your box?
The problem with Data is it doesn’t play favorites. It can give you answers you don’t want to hear. That’s why autocratic governments are obsessed with gathering all the information they can get and controlling what information is shared. You don’t have to be a malicious autocrat to misuse data.…
92. Do you like Attention?
Getting attention feels good. It releases Dopamine in your brain to stimulate your “reward center”. So does completing a task, or achieving a goal. Therein lies a problem that leaders have to deal with. Another game that leaders have to play. The problem is that getting attention can be easier…