Our brains were built to follow patterns. Then somewhere along the way we convinced ourselves we're running on free will and conscious control. Most of the time we're not. We're following the groove. This is worth sitting with if you're a leader trying to change your...
Foundations Most of the suffering in our lives — personal and professional — traces back to one thing. Not bad luck. Not the wrong partner, the wrong product, the wrong market. It traces back to a lack of effort or resources spent building the foundations before we...
The Four Levels Every Project Sponsor Is Actually Responsible For Most sponsors think the job is to approve the business case, then watch the RAG status until go-live. That's Level 1. It's also the smallest part of the job. I've sat on both sides of enough ERP...
M = f(t). Meaning Is a Function of Time. I wrote that down before I wrote anything else, because it's the whole argument in four characters. Meaning is not fixed. It moves with time. And most of the conflict I see leaders carry — with their staff, their kids, their...
Comparison is the fool's tool. And most of us are fools. Not occasionally. Not on our worst days. As a default setting. The mind reaches for comparison the way a hand reaches for a railing — automatically, without being asked to. Here is the first thing worth...
You're Building Well-Trained Robots. You Meant to Build a Team. Most executives think they're developing their people. What they're actually doing, in a lot of cases, is training them. There's a difference, and it's the difference between character and tactics....
The Problem With Solving Problems Out of Order Most meetings meant to solve a problem never actually work on the problem. They work on the sequence — badly. Someone asks why the project is behind. Before anyone answers, someone else asks who's responsible....
Every Role on Your Project Has a Different Definition of Success. That's Not a Problem — Until Nobody Knows It. When a technology program stalls — when timelines stretch, when the steering committee starts hearing contradictory updates, when the sponsor starts losing...