I’m in this lovely part of downtown Strasburg called La Petite, France. And Strasburg is in Alsace. And Alsace has been part of Germany and France multiple times over the past 1000 years. They speak Alsatian here, not French. They’ll be very quick to tell you that. They’re very proud of their cultural heritage....
Everyone has the ability to think – not just managers. Give your team members opportunities to contribute their ideas. I’m here on a slightly dreich night in Scotland. That means damp, by the way, and it’s a local production from a fantastic theatre company of The Wizard of Oz. Now in The Wizard of Oz, the Scarecrow...
Saying “I don’t know” is hard. It’s important for leaders to model this behavior, paving the way for others to say “I don’t know.” This creates a learning environment. It’s hard to say I don’t know. But as a leader, it’s very important to be able to model that behavior. So, it’s okay for your...
Taking risks on people helps modify their behavior to be more risk-embracing. Watch as David explains. Hey, I’m in State College, Pennsylvania. Just come down this trail off of Mt. Nittany and it lets me talk about taking risk. I hear leaders often sort of bemoan, “Oh, I wish my people were more risk-embracing and...
Fixing the environment for your team involves removing obstacles that get in the way of people being able to do their jobs. What do you see in your own environment that might be getting in the way of people being able to do their jobs? How can you fix the environment, not your people? Well,...
Onboarding is about facilitating that emotional transition from feeling like an outsider to feeling like an insider – moving from “they” to “we”. The sooner this happens the sooner the team is more effective. What can you do to help your new folks move from the feeling of “they” to “we”? Here’s an example of...
Vacations are important because it’s a time when we can recharge our batteries. But they’re also a good acid test in terms of our level of comfort with giving up control. What can you do to give up control while on your vacation? Coming up to that time of year when we take vacations. While...
Yes! But separate the the flow of “information” from the flow of “authority”. Information should flow freely, but authority follows the hierarchy. Separate these two concepts. If you do not, information flow will likely be restricted to the same channels as the flow of authority, thus creating barriers to the flow of information.
Watch David explain what intent sounds like, and what intent doesn’t sound like, on a submarine. The ultimate goal is to stop giving orders. Hey, so there’s a nice documentary by Smarter Every Day of onboard a nuclear submarine up in the Arctic. This is very recent. And it’s got a great example of how...
The tensions between efficiency and resilience are highlighted during situations like the Ever Given blocking the Suez Canal. When thinking about your company’s strategic positioning, evaluate if you’re over biased towards efficiency and if you need to buy some resilience. I love this picture of the Ever Given stuck in the Suez Canal because it...
