I don’t claim to be a superhero, fighting injustice wherever I see it. In fact, most often I’m too slow to react. And then I’m filled with regret for what I might have done, had I only had the wherewithal to step right in and fix things. However, I care deeply about systems, fairness and invitation. By ‘invitation’ I mean, inviting new people into teams, tribes, groups and helping them…
Team Building Goals
“I don’t know where I’m going, I’m not sure how to get there, but I know I want to be there.” Not exactly a model for a strategic plan, but a good summary of a creative life plan. When I teach about creative process and provide tools to help people become more creative I do stress that being in the process and not being goal oriented is important. This is…
Why I’m Up at Five AM
Julie got up first, it was about 4:30 am but I was already awake. My last words to her at 10:30 pm Friday night were, “I’m so glad tomorrow’s Saturday, I can sleep in.” – hah. At 5:00 am my mind was racing, which led me here to my wordpress blog. It’s fast becoming a friend, and hopefully your friend too. Shhh…don’t tell too many people but technically I’m middle…
Internet Cookies, Real Cookies and Marketing
Okay, I’m obsessive, I admit it. When that obsession is trained on making your company’s team building activity an amazing experience, that’s a good thing. But when I’m in my office working on strategic planning for my own business, I tend to get bogged down in the details. Even though I know this about myself I can’t help it. I spent the first part of today researching SEO options, reading…
Create A Culture of Listening
As part of my continuing series of DIY team building ideas, here’s something you can do yourself. Try it at your next meeting.
Building Team Trust
The optimal push-pull of trust and limits is an age old challenge and an important subject for leaders to understand and utilize wisely.
Celebrate Team Success
Re-frame your employees or co-workers in the new-kid-on-the-block frame and see how much the energy level of your team goes up.
Engagement Catalyst
The contemporary workforce demands engagement in ways that require more than just financial compensation. Being part of a team, sharing a sense of purpose, belonging, and shared mission are vital to promoting positive corporate culture and engagement. Employees want to co-create their shared vision of what they do. Believe it or not, I didn’t just make that up. We often hear from business owners who worry about their team lacking…
Every Day Team Building
I’m resistant to change and I don’t like to be told what to do. I don’t think I’m unusual in this way. And so when my wife, Julie, told me I “needed” to move my clothes from bins in our bedroom to a dresser in another room, I resisted and quietly did nothing! About a week later, as I was complaining about not being able to reach my clothes without…
Counter Intuitive Creativity
I almost always find myself in a creative mood when I fly. As much as I travel, there’s still something counter-intuitive to me about being suspended in the air 30,000 feet in a metal machine that weighs tons. This sense of vulnerability brought on by doing something counter-intuitive makes me a little emotional and my emotions are the fuel for my creative thoughts and actions. Knowing that I’m going to…
Objective Creativity
The experience set up a perfect debrief opportunity. We talked about how it feels to be vested in an idea, and how we have to struggle to overcome inertia to change. But we were also able to share the remarkable satisfaction that comes from overcoming that inertia, and remaining objective while being creative.