[Note: I originally wrote this post for one person in August 2021. I’ve been asked so often lately about publishing that I’m making it public today with some updates.] I’ve been asked by several people to give book writing tips. As I thought about that request, I realized that I don’t have the right generalized […]
How April Writes a Book Read More »
These days crowds gather near ocean shores to watch Space X launch rockets. On January 17, 1955, the crowds were on the banks of the Thames River in Connecticut watching Commander Eugene P. Wilkinson and the crew of USS Nautilus (SSN 571) depart for her first test voyage, powered by a technology unknown less than
Celebrating USS Nautilus (SSN 571) and 70 years of competitive advantage Read More »
Welcome to the new Engine-for-Change. After almost 12 years, it seemed time for an upgrade. This site started in December 2009 with a simple post “Welcome to Engine for Change.” I said: Welcome to Engine-For-Change.com, my new weblog and site for all things related to helping you drive the personal, community or workplace change you
Relaunch of Engine-for-Change Read More »
In a Harvard Business Review blog post, Jon Katzenbach and Zia Khan introduce us to the concept of a fast zebra: someone who, “can quickly absorb information, adapt to new challenges, and get people aligned in the right direction… They are the people who can skirt around or blast through the kind of gridlock found
Fast Zebras Drive Change Read More »
Mother Teresa told a story of a man in Melbourne she visited who had been, it seemed, forgotten by the world and himself. She asked to clean his room for him because she saw it was in a terrible state. He reluctantly agreed. When she cleaned she found an old, beautiful, unlit lamp covered in
Let Your Little Light Shine Read More »
As the 50th anniversary of the moon landing nears, my thoughts have been drifting past the moon, to Mars. In 1962, when President Kennedy challenged the United States to go to the moon he said, We choose to go to the Moon! We choose to go to the Moon…We choose to go to the Moon in
Take Your Shot at Mars Read More »
Best-in-class sounds like a position to aspire to. It isn’t. To more accurately describe best-in-class, we could call it either forever-chasing-the-leaders or struggling-to-do-the-same-thing-the-other-laggards-are-struggling-to-do. When you’re the one defining best-in-class, then you’ll have competitive advantage. There’s no competitive advantage in copying. Take a lesson from the leaders: if you want to be the best, be yourself. Let the
There’s No Competitive Advantage in Copying Read More »
Conventionally powered change runs on the force of driving people. It takes years, has a high failure rate (sources vary in the actual %, but individual experience can attest that it fails more often than we’d like) and leaves you depleted of funds, morale, and good will. Unconventional change runs
Change: What makes it run? What keeps it running? Read More »
Middle Managers. That’s the most often given answer to the question, “Who most resists change in your organization?” It would be easy to go along with the crowd and turn middle managers into the villains of our change story, but something doesn’t seem right. It seems too easy to scapegoat them, individually and collectively. Instead,
Middle Managers: Life in the Diamond Zone Read More »
Responsibility is a unique concept… You may share it with others, but your portion is not diminished. You may delegate it, but it is still with you… If responsibility is rightfully yours, no evasion, or ignorance or passing the blame can shift the burden to someone else. Unless you can point your finger at the
