I turned the key in the ignition. The dashboard read: CHECK TIRE PRESSURE I walked around the car. My last stop was the front right side.There was a huge rupture in the tire. It couldn’t be any flatter. I called my local chapter of the AAA. A repair truck showed up within 30 minutes, and … Read more
The Thursday before Halloween, an unusual October storm hit our town in Western Massachusetts. We got about 3 inches of snow. When a storm like this comes through, it’s pretty clear that Mother Nature has a reason that snow generally comes after the leaves fall off of the trees. The weight of the snow bends, … Read more
The strangest thing happened to me last week. I was at BDL, also known as Bradley International Airport, just north of Hartford CT. BDL is my home airport, and I’ve flown in and out of it hundreds of times. On the way to my departing gate, as is sometimes the case, I had to use the … Read more
It was supposed to go like any other conference call.I dialed in to meet with Meg, Pam, Roger, and Shari – four executives from a biotech organization. On the back end of a merger, the company had brought me in to help the two legacy marketing departments collaborate more effectively. Our phone meeting was a … Read more
Um, hold on a second, just let me close the door to my office. The conversation was about to get a bit more interesting.I was on the phone with the Jan, the head of Human Resources of a privately held consumer products company. The company had notched 102 straight years of profit- until this last year. … Read more
Last Wednesday was a sunny, crisp, beautiful Fall New England morning. That’s when it all went terribly wrong.It was already 8:10 am, and I was hurrying to get Miranda, my nine-year old daughter to school on time.Her school’s about a mile from home, and thus far this school year, we’ve been riding our bicycles to … Read more
Morons should kill themselves.When you read that, what’s your reaction? What do you think? How do you feel? What judgments do you make? That first sentence was tweeted, as was this one: Cyclist almost killed my dog this morning. He fell off and yelled at me. I hope he broke his f—ing arm. But wait, there’s … Read more
On Monday night, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will have their first presidential debate. It’s expected to be the most watched debate in U.S. history.For those of us in organizational leadership roles, the debate (no matter what your political leanings) offer an opportunity to observe and talk shop about how people view potential leaders. A … Read more
Innovation: Creating value by doing something better by doing it a new or different way. That “something better” could be many things: A new product A refined process An improved way to collaborate Innovation doesn’t have to mean a radical change -incremental tweaks are innovative, too. Given this broad definition of innovation, everyone can be innovative. … Read more
There’s an archetype that’s been around for a long time in business: the Great Man. It’s based on the belief that an extraordinary individual can save the day. It’s personified by the work of the actor John Wayne: the hero rides into town, and makes everything okay. The End. Fade to black. Roll the credits. … Read more
