[Happy Birthday Dr. King] The Pace of Change – San Francisco

Tomorrow is the annual celebration of the Martin Luther King’s birthday, and as I sit here with my 7 year-old son, I wonder what Dr. King would make of aspects of our world today some 40+  years after his death.

Some parts of the world would like strikingly familiar. As chronicled in a trip to south Texas this past year – The Pace of Change: Uvalde, Texas 1953 – some parts of the nation look socially  as they must have not only 40 years ago, but 60 or 70 years ago.Read the rest

[Dept. of Bad Advice] How You Can Interview Well. . .

. . . and Disregard Dan and Chip Heath’s How-to-Interview Recommendations


I think Made to Stick by Dan and Chip Heath is a really good book. Most of the Heath brother’s content is great, both in their book, as well as in their monthly column for Fast Company. But even Babe Ruth stuck out, and their interviewing advice in Fast Company  – Hold the Interview: Why it may be wiser to hire people without meeting them – is a real stinker.Read the rest

[Building Great Companies] 5 Talent / Location Factors Founders Should Consider

There are a lot of ways to build a company – some by  accident, some products of history, and some by poorly conceived thinking (see Charlotte, North Carolina – who would think Charlotte would become a world banking headquarters?). An obvious goal is to base your business where it’s got good access to customers, talent, transportation or perhaps capital: do none well and you suck up time in travel, recruiting, and moving people that could be otherwise spent toward serving customers and making great products.Read the rest

Can You Trust the Recruiter?

The voice at the other end of the voicemail sounded sincere and the message they left earlier about the possible job sounds great. But is too good to be true just that: too good to be true?

And can you trust the recruiter who left the message?

The short answer is “maybe”. And here’s more.

I spend my work life coaching people and teams to up their performance game, and one of ways to enhance performance is to improve the ability anticipate what’s coming down the pike.Read the rest