Article Archive

  • Navigate Competing Priorities Through “Even Over” Statements

    Multiple priorities are a necessity in today’s complex organizations. Coupled objectives keep a system in balance. If the only goal is getting a product to market quickly, for example, you might sacrifice quality or employee…

  • Reinventing Work Step 2: Challenge The Old And Imagine The New

    We’ve always been reinventing work.  In the 1990s, I was in technology sales for GE based in Dallas, Texas. Back in the time of Dilbertian cubicles, a typical workday looked like this: To learn about a prospective customer,…

  • Reimagining Work: Step 1

    With fall school schedules uncertain and people working from home for longer than we imagined, it’s clear that the temporary fix of transferring in-person office habits to a virtual environment isn't going to work long-term.…

  • Shifting Beliefs About Working From Home

    The pandemic is changing long-held beliefs about work, and specifically beliefs about working from home. In an informal survey of knowledge workers conducted in early May, we found that 42% of respondents had shifted their…

  • Meeting Data Is Culture Data

    Meetings are a microcosm of your organization. They are where culture gets shaped, true values are revealed, and belonging cues are sent and received. If you espouse a culture of innovation, but shut down contrarian ideas…

  • Mental Models And Metaphors:

    How To Stay On The Same Page When You’re Not In The Same Place

    In a physical work environment, ambient information helps us stay oriented. For example: a colleague’s expression as she leaves a conference room signals she’s overloaded despite cheerfully accepting another assignment a…

  • Two Ways The Pandemic Has Made Us Better Leaders

    Across the globe, business leaders are beginning to consider what a “return” to the office means. While we all crave a return to normalcy, the workplace will never be the same. Leaders are being called upon to carefully navigate…

  • What The World Needs Now Is Connection

    For some, one of the most challenging aspects of this suspended animation we are in is wondering how long this confinement might last. Is this the new normal? We keep shaking and shaking the Magic 8 ball to get the answer…

  • Working from home: How big of a shift is it?

    Your ability to navigate the level of havoc wreaked by the sudden shift to everyone working remotely is heavily dependent on the experience and skill you had before the onset of social distancing. For workers who were already…

  • Collaboration In The Time Of Coronavirus

    As the coronavirus spreads, companies must make proactive decisions that help them protect individual employee health, keep critical work on track, and prepare for the potential for planned business disruption. Many are revisiting…