Complexity • 9 min read Gen. Stan McChrystal: The Leader as Gardener How do you view your role of leader or manager? Is it as a chess master or a gardener? The…
Leadership • 3 min read James MacGregor Burns on Self-Actualization, Self-Esteem and Effective Leadership Can you teach leadership? What is the link between self-esteem, or the lack thereof, and effective leadership? What about Maslow&…
Careers • 7 min read EQ vs IQ: Misled and Oversold on Emotional Intelligence How important is emotional intelligence to your career and where does EQ stand relative to IQ? Overestimating the importance of…
Leadership • 6 min read Creative Leaders vs Controlling Leaders In his classic The Adult Learner, Malcolm Knowles makes the distinction between creative leaders and controlling ones. By understanding teams…
Human OS • 5 min read The Dark Side of Active Listening We're constantly told to be better communicators. As part of this push, courses and programs tell us to…
Frameworks/Mental Models • 4 min read Singular Big Bet vs Multiple Small Bets-Two Contrasting Approaches to Strategy In their book, Business Experimentation, Rob James and Jules Goddard highlight two approaches to strategy that are diametrically opposite to…
Organizations • 5 min read John Doerr on OKR Hygiene A successful [OKR] system needs only to answer two questions: 1. Where do I want to go? (The answer provides…
Leadership • 4 min read Barbara Kellerman on the Blindspots of Leadership Courses and Programs The leadership industry and its proponents (including yours truly) can almost come across as religious fanatics and preachers spreading the…
Leadership • 15 min read The Case for Naive Leaders over Clever, Sophisticated Ones Being naive has a default negative connotation —ignorant, uninformed, incredulous, or even incompetent. One class of people who exclusively avoid…
Knowledge Work • 9 min read Peter Drucker’s Memo to Elon Musk on Managing Knowledge Work The ongoing turbulence at Twitter under the mercurial and coercive leadership of Elon Musk is perhaps one of the biggest…
Human OS • 5 min read Donald Schon on The Paradox of Real Learning Often in leadership coaching, clients are asked to "try on" a new behavior just as they would try…
Frameworks/Mental Models • 4 min read Strategy as Tetris rather than Chess Is chess a good analogy to describe decision making and strategy in organizations? For most folks, probably not. Less in…