It’s been awhile! And here’s a piece I wrote recently for A Human Workplace, a good group of folks doing some wonderful work in the world. I propose that love and fear are parts of a reinforcing feedback loop. Depending on what we choose as leaders in our workplace, the loop can be virtuous or […]
The Conversation is the Relationship
Virtual Conversations
Thursday, May 14th, 2020There is a lot of virtual training/coaching/learning being offered these days, on LinkedIn and elsewhere. I’m in one or more virtual conversations every day, including as a host at A Human Workplace. I’ve resisted trying to adapt what I love to do to the virtual environment because I think I rely on the interaction with […]
A Human Workplace
Thursday, April 23rd, 2020I am now part of a team of hosts convening virtual conversations about what it means to work alone together in our current situation. A Human Workplace virtual gatherings are the current manifestation of previously in-person A Human Workplace conversations in Olympia and elsewhere. I participated in these gatherings regularly for more than a year. […]
Delight in Complexity
Monday, March 30th, 2020We have stayed home since the Governor told us to do so, except for excursions to fetch food or to walk or bike for exercise. We have been connecting with the grandchildren in one family via Zoom, trying in small ways to help our son get through the days with twin four-year-olds and their two-year-old […]
Delight in Complexity
Tuesday, March 24th, 2020Inspired by Ross Gay’s “The Book of Delights,” this is another essay about finding delight in complexity. Earlier today I was in the garden between downpours, intending to review the work my wife and I had done over the weekend and decide what needed attention next. We are both working from home these days and […]
The Improvement Guide
Friday, March 20th, 2020One of my favorite books is “The Improvement Guide,” by five authors who were all closely connected to and influenced by W. Edwards Deming back in the day. I notice that a new edition also has an additional author. I have a first edition published in 1996 that I purchased in 2000. (Sometimes I will […]
Delight in Complexity
Thursday, March 19th, 2020Today’s delight came early, before dawn. I was about to settle on to my meditation cushion in the living room. I have my cushion situated so that my view, while meditating, is through a large window looking out to the front garden. The view is generally eastward, with generous access to the southern sky. I […]
Unintended Consequences
Wednesday, March 18th, 2020There was a story today on NPR about how the practice of “social distancing” was adversely affecting the nation’s blood supply. One might not go to a mobile donation site or even a blood donation center if one was practicing social distancing and knew from experience that beds were possibly closer than six feet to […]
Delight in Complex Systems
Wednesday, March 18th, 2020I recently read “The Book of Delights” by Ross Gay. His aspiration was to write a daily essay about something delightful. He made some rules for his practice. Write a delight every day for a year. Begin and end on his birthday. Draft them quickly and write by hand. Later he added another rule, which […]
Leverage for Systems Change from Eduardo Galeano
Thursday, August 15th, 2019If you’re not acquainted with the Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano, I highly recommend his brilliant books about Latin America and also soccer. I recently finished reading his latest (and I think last) translated book, “Hunter of Stories,” published in English in 2017. A week ago I had the book with me while teaching a professional […]