Your Thoughts?

It’s energizing to find, after a long week of mindlessness, a friend interested in having a rigorous conversation about an important topic.  I am always grateful for those little intellectual shots in the arm that a great friend with a good idea can provide.  They (both the ideas and the friends) are small, bright sparks […]

A team where everyone wants to be there is so much more powerful than one where even one of the members has to be there. Find a way to field a team entirely of volunteers and you’ll have a nearly unstoppable force. Simplest way to field that team: Ask people if they’d like to join.

When you are implementing something new, chances are good that you’ll get into a conversation about what to call things. Should we use the new word that we’ve found (e.g., kata or buffer or mental model)? Or, should we use a word that we already know? If you use a word you already know, then

Back in December 2010, I titled a post How to Not Abuse Your First Responders.  In it I rant about leaders who call, “Fire!” or “The sky is falling!” then have no idea what to do with all the loyal first responders that rush forward eager to put out the fire or prop up the

We may be of advanced ages (some more advanced than others), but we don’t know everything. So, why not embrace our continuing ignorance and go exploring for new ideas? Kids (until we condition them to pretend they know it all) are curious.  They willingly (even joyfully) go exploring new environments for new experiences full of

What are you willfully blind to in your organization? Can you afford to stay that way?

The last line of the Declaration of Independence reads, And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.” People who change the world do more than click “like” on Facebook. People who are

Happy Fourth of July my friends! As we ready for Fourth of July celebrations, let me leave you with a thought to ponder. On July 4th, especially in the patriotic and explosion-happy Bremerton, Washington, we love the fizzling fuse of a firework because it promises a rocket launch and triumph blast and boom. Contrast that

If we changed the ways we talk about learning, would people would try to learn more? Too often I hear people say, “What training should we give them?” or “What learning should we provide them?” Why aren’t we saying, “We’re going to do X in our organization.  I learned about how to do X at….and

Coming soon to an inbox near you: The Engine For Change Newsletter. With the impending death of Google Reader and the harsh reality that my friends who still don’t know about RSS will likely never know about RSS, I’m going old school and creating a mailing list and building a newsletter. It may be weekly,