Category Archives: Uncategorized

Are Your Values Scalable?

Recently a friend working in a rapidly-growing Twin Cities based company lamented how much had changed in his organization the last few years: “It just isn’t the same place. . . People don’t feel as loyal or energized. . . … Continue reading

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How About A “Selfie?”

So, “Selfie” is Oxford Dictionaries’ “word of the year!” “Selfies,” of course, are those snapshots that we see practically everyone taking of themselves with smart phones and posting on social media. Oxford explains how “selfie” earned its distinction because of … Continue reading

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Persistence – Is It Always Good?

I’ve been thinking about persistence a lot lately. It started in the middle of gathering firewood in the BWCA, sawing a downed log that was a tad large for my folding saw. I kept at it, and was eventually rewarded … Continue reading

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Labor Day Reflections

What does Labor Day mean to you? For many, it is mainly marks the end of summer vacations, an extra long weekend, time for family cook-outs, great sales and the start of football season. I propose that this Labor Day … Continue reading

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Clear the Deck!

In older days, “Clear the deck!” was a common command to prepare for doing battle at sea. The command focused attention, cleared visibility to gain a better perspective on the action, eliminated distractions and quickly channeled resources where they were … Continue reading

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Leading Change With Integrity

Most of you have witnessed (and perhaps been victims of) disappointing or even disastrous organizational change efforts. A 2010 IBM comprehensive global study of organizational change initiatives revealed that 60% of them fail; JCP (the retailer formerly known as J.C. … Continue reading

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Does Your Organization Need A “Root Canal?”

Early on the second day of a client engagement, I found myself at the dentist’s. The nagging tooth ache that we thought a filling fixed had gotten worse; I needed to be “on” in a couple hours, and was leaving … Continue reading

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Design Integrity

“Design is inevitable. The alternative to good design is bad design, not no design at all.” (Douglas Martin) I recently had the opportunity to participate in an excellent webinar about “Service Design” by John Wooden and J Hruby of Fredrickson … Continue reading

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Out With The Old, In With The New

A new year lends itself naturally to reflection and planning, leading for some to make resolutions. My reflections and resolutions revolved mainly around what to let go of and what to make room for – what’s “out” and what’s “in.”  … Continue reading

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Compounded Errors

Once again this season, our sloop LOON is serving up life and leadership lessons, and in unexpected ways.  The first this year began when a charterer reported a small fresh water leak at the base of LOON’s toilet – by … Continue reading

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