A popular Marine motto is “improvise, adapt, overcome.” In work and life, people are often good at the first two and less so on the last. They contort and adapt to the situations at hand instead of taking on issues head on. People will talk themselves into a job that [...]
Tis the season for fitness resolutions. Many people are hitting the gym to get more fit in the new year. While fitness goals can vary widely, many will say they want to get stronger and have more muscle. But even the people that are very consistent in getting to the [...]
Amazing but true: Small thinking can emerge (like relentless weeds in a garden), even when the subject is as big as innovation. And when leaders think small, they cannot expect big results. Based on my observations of leaders (spanning a variety of industries), leaders can fall into the trap of [...]
Key players matter. The Golden State Warriors are obviously struggling without their injured star, Stephen Curry. GE (once one of the bluest of the blue chip stocks) has lost nearly half a trillion in market value under less-than-stellar leadership post-Jack Welch. The best talent will often have an out-sized impact [...]
Roger Bannister (who passed away a couple years back) was the first recorded human to run a mile in less than four minutes. The thinking of the time was that the human body might just be incapable of the feat. The prior record of 4:01.4 had stood for nine years. [...]
In a recorded interview, a prominent artist* of the Southwest US discussed his process and the concept of his works being “completed, but not finished.” In his mind, if he worked at it too much and attempted to make a painting or sculpture perfect, he was in fact degrading the [...]
I am as interested in who people are being as in what they are doing. You should too. The reason is because behind every laudable action is a laudable character trait. When great traits are exercised, great things happen. The act of helping out a new person on a team may come from [...]
The Crossfit Championships are unique in that competitors have no clue as to what exercise challenges will be coming next. The activity, repetition ranges, weights, and duration are all secret until the last minute of competition. Some competitors are happy when they get an event that fits their wheelhouse. By [...]
I often talk about performance as that sweet spot between the upper control limit of vision (can’t see it, can’t do it) and the lower control limit of skills/behaviors (under pressure, one does not rise to the occasion one sinks to their level of training). Between those two limits is a person’s predictable level [...]
Think you are surrounded by opportunity? You are. Think you are surrounded by static, lasting opportunity? You aren’t. Many leaders are in environments rich with targets of opportunity, but you would never know it from their actions. They fritter and fumble away opportunity. Why is that? Here are some reasons [...]