Author Archive

A Field Guide for Responsible Failure

“Fail fast, fail often” is a dangerous half-truth.

Failing fast hurts when you keep stepping in the same trap.

Failing isn’t smart when you don’t learn.

Responsible failure produces insight.

Negligent failure repeats mistakes and blames circumstances.

This post is a Field Guide to Responsible Failure.

Wisdom from the Barnyard

Dairy cows provide two products, milk and manure. Both nurture growth.

I was nose blind to the aroma of cow manure growing up on the farm. Now it stinks.

The stuff that stinks makes things grow.

Here is some wisdom from the barnyard.

Powerful ways seasoned leaders grow.

Talk Builds the Future

The future isn’t waiting—it’s under construction now. Words are hammers. Habits are nails.

The world you live in today was built—in part—by the way you talked yesterday.

If tomorrow feels dark, how will you talk to remodel it?

Reclaim Your Team’s Energy

Meetings make work harder—they drain energy.

We can’t expect high performance from people shackled with fatigue.

Our minds are distracted. Our bodies are tense. Our agenda is crammed.

Choose energy before agenda.

Here’s how to reclaim energy in 2-minutes.

Confronting the Confidence Trap

Indecision parks the bus. Confidences hits the gas. Closed minds ignore the cliff.

The Day I Gave My Wife Instruction

Yesterday my wife said, “You drive weird.” In a professorial tone, I told her, “That’s judging, not observing.” She got instruction she didn’t ask for.

She was laughing too loud to hear me.

Grasping the relationship between Feedback-Correction-Instruction-Coaching-Mentoring