Thoughts on people, teams, organizations, communities, effectiveness and success
It’s not exactly Pink Turns Blue‘s version, but the hammer has came down these last fews month; will things ever be exactly the same?
Consider the following
There are many reasons to love this time of year.
Day (actually daylight) will start to get longer, spring and warmth is not too far around the corner, and it’s also the time of year when the annual churn in US college and professional football teams happens with uncanny predictability.
For those of us who work in “regular” business, the football sports world offers a great analogue for things like leadership, assessment, and succession.… Read the rest
The San Francisco 49ers fired their head coach Mike Singletary yesterday.
I don’t know Singletary, but have followed his career since 1985 when I lived in Chicago for five years (comprising what I refer to as the longest decade of my life) and he played for the Chicago Bears.
Singletary was an undersized, underpowered linebacker who played with lots of smarts and heart, and it’s no coincidence that the Bears won a Super Bowl and were highly competitive with him on board.… Read the rest
In the old days – circa 1980 or so – companies depended on managing their operations by policies and procedures. Senior managers would issue an updated process and procedure, and people would follow the new marching orders. It seemed to work well – except when times changed and it didn’t.
Swiss banking giant UBS (Union Bank of Switzerland), in a back-to-the future-moment, has just issued an extensive set of dress guidelines for its client-facing employees (“wear flesh colored underwear“) that makes it feel like the 1980’s all over. … Read the rest
Wendy Mogel, author of New York Times bestseller The Blessing of a Skinned Knee: Using Jewish Teachings to Raise Self-Reliant Children was in the City this week. I caught her presentation at the Hamlin School along with a bevy of parents from various independent schools.
Mogel has great on-stage presence and funny charm, fitting for someone whose father published the National Lampoon.… Read the rest
One of my college nicknames – a byproduct of a seemingly ceaseless quest for everyday relevance as a kid at the SAE fraternity house at Willamette University – was “Right On Smitty.”
While the nickname was usually meant with mixed affection, the striving to be relevant was a constant. I was keen that the things we did in the frat house made sense for us.… Read the rest