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Looks great except change everything
Explicit and direct communication not only alleviates potential frustration and misunderstanding, but it also saves organizations massive amounts of time. The problem is, we’re too busy empowering each other. We’re too focused on tap dancing around the issues to spare people’s feelings. It reminds me of a review from an employee who was working at a healthcare organization. Her advice to management was as follows. Stop with the meetings. All you…
Okay, this is a new medium, what can we do with it?
Mcluhan famously wrote that a medium is any extension of man that amplifies his senses and faculties to determine what he is. Meaning, the medium is more than merely the instrument by which something is conveyed. The medium is that which gives expression to our sense of life and allows us to achieve and objective definition of our cherished values. Sound grandiose and pretentious? It is. That’s the whole point. Because…
Boldly casting off what limitations were placed upon you
All of us get proven wrong about our own limitations. But only some of us notice and name those moments. And only some of us use those moments to fuel ourselves to the next level. As the writer’s writer likes to say, claim the force of our own power. During my stint at a global tech startup, several projects came across my desk that took me lightyears beyond a limited view…
It’s just another finger wagging in their face
Addiction recovery programs have a public relations tradition that’s based on attraction, rather than promotion. Members become walking, living, and breathing examples of what flourishing recovery looks like. And they simply make information available where individuals who are seeking it have possible access to it. But there are no promises of results. Only stories of how the program has improved someone’s life. This is the cornerstone on which the great edifice…
He frightened me because he was so free
When you know exactly who you are, that can be a trigger for people. Especially those who are confused about who they are. Those who have failed to reach a cruising altitude for their identity. The moment they see you actualizing your creative potential and executing on your insides, the resentment starts to flow. You frighten them because you are so free. And no matter what you try to contribute to…
Learn not to make a fetish of your rare moments
Chambers, a minister who served in the first world war, wrote the most popular daily devotional of modern spirituality. Compiling a series of short sermons for students and soldiers, his book has stood the test of time for nearly a hundred years. As an author, all of my own daily devotional books have, in some way, been informed by his book. One theme that recurs in multiple entries is that of discipline….
There is no hurry, there are no tests
Everyone is in a hurry to get somewhere important at all times. We all rush around the world like windup toys, and it’s not working. Without deliberation and a sense of real purpose, our rushing leads to unnecessary anxiety, hasty decision making and poorly thought out strategies. Meanwhile, when we constantly pursue things with such breathless haste, we miss out on the experience. We zip right past all the…
I missed the part where that was my problem
Izzard is by far the most successful transgender comedian in the world. In the past twenty years, he has built an amazing fan base that transcends age, gender, and race. And the best part is, he proudly identifies as either a straight transvestite, a male lesbian, or a complete boy plus a half girl. Not surprisingly, there are certain sections of our society that find his appearance and behavior…
Forced to unearth a deeper level of meaning
Nature, the essay that pioneered the transcendentalist movement two centuries ago, concluded with a beautiful passage about independence and the making of meaning. Build, therefore, your own world. As fast as you conform your life to the pure idea in your mind, that will unfold its great proportions. A correspondent revolution in things will attend the influx of the spirit. An eloquent reminder that meaning is always in front…
There’s no upside to not opening
Closing ourselves to everything that we don’t like, can’t explain or can’t predict and control, it doesn’t serve us. It only blocks us off from avenues and relationships that might be a source of healing and growth. My favorite horror novelist once wrote that life is mysterious, strange, and full of wonders, and that only a fool withdraws from it willingly and lets it pass him by. Perhaps that is the…
