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Complete Fearlessness Is a Recipe for Ruin
Yesterday I wrote that cynicism is not wisdom. It is often fear wearing the mask of intelligence. Today, I’d like to explore the opposite extreme. Complete fearlessness. We often celebrate fearless leaders, fearless entrepreneurs, and fearless decision-makers. Yet complete fearlessness is not a virtue. In business, it can be be a recipe for ruin. Fear…
better decisions, business leadership, business strategy, courage, courage vs fear, critical thinking, entrepreneurship, fear, fearlessness, Leadership & Practice, leadership development, leadership mindset, organizational learning, resilience, risk management, Strategic Alignment Journal, Strategic thinking -
Cynicism is Cowardice
At Media InSite’s 15th anniversary celebration and conference – From Insight to Impact, Managing Director Allison Demas reflected on her decision to start the company by wondering whether it had been “stupid or smart.” I don’t think it was either. I think it was courageous. It’s easy to laugh at people who try. It is…
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The Leaders We Have Vs. Leaders We Need
One of the defining strategic challenges of this decade is the widening gap between the leaders we have and the leaders we need. This is not simply a leadership shortage. It is a leadership mismatch. Organizations continue to promote people into roles that were designed for yesterday’s problems while expecting them to solve tomorrow’s. The…
adaptive leadership, business strategy, change management, continuous learning, executive leadership, future of leadership, future of work, Leadership & Practice, leadership design, leadership development, leadership mindset, organizational culture, organizational development, Strategic Alignment Journal, strategic leadership, systems thinking -
How the Best Football Teams Answer The One Question Every Business Must Answer™
Every four years, the world watches football’s greatest coaches make decisions that appear almost instinctive. Should they play with three at the back or four? Should they press high or defend deep? Should they attack through the middle or exploit the wings? Should they rely on experience or give youth an opportunity? To the casual…
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Is Your Business Problem Congenital or Congestive?
Medicine makes an important distinction between congenital and congestive heart failure. A congenital condition is structural. The defect exists from the beginning. The heart may continue to function, but it was never designed optimally in the first place. Congestive heart failure is different. The heart’s structure may have been adequate, but over time it becomes…
⚙️ Sensemaking in organizations, Leadership & Practice, Strategic Sensemaking, Systems, Structure & Relevancebusiness architecture, business diagnosis, business leadership, business strategy, business transformation, change management, continuous improvement, Decision-Making, entrepreneurship, kaizen, Leadership & Practice, leadership development, leadership insights, operational excellence, organizational health, root cause analysis, Strategic thinking -
Negative Thinking Vs. Complete Thinking
A supplier misses a delivery. A key employee resigns. A client rejects your proposal. A marketing campaign underperforms. None of those situations automatically become business problems. More often than not, the real problem is the way we think about them. To paraphrase Seneca… many of the things we call “problems” are actually collisions between reality…
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Easy Is a Narcotic That Weakens Your Choices into Bondage
On the promotion page for his new book, Choose Hard, Live Easy – The Art of War for Decision, Making MJ DeMarco makes this bold statement: Easy is a narcotic that weakens your choices into bondage. It seduces you into a life of debt, depression and disease while promising comfort. But there is a way…
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Beware of Inertia
Have you ever walked into a room looking for something and forgotten why you entered? For a moment, you stand there trying to reconstruct your original purpose. You moved and are now standing in the room yet somewhere along the way, you forgot your reason for being there in the first place. Organizations can experience…
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Agreement Does Not Guarantee Alignment
Agreement and alignment are often used interchangeably, but they describe very different conditions. Agreement is relatively simple. It occurs when people arrive at a common position or decision. A proposal is accepted. A contract is signed. A partnership is formed. A strategy is approved. Agreement answers the question: Do we support this? Alignment is something…
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Mastery Does Not Exempt Us from Scrutiny
I came across a term I’ve never heard of before, while watching a medical drama: proctoring. In medicine, proctoring occurs when an experienced physician is observed and evaluated by a peer to verify that they can safely perform a procedure. What surprised me was who it applies to. These are not medical students. They are…
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