Publications

It's hard enough to get a 20 mule team harnessed and pulling together down a familiar trail, but when the trail is new or, worse, there is no trail at all things can go south quickly.  And if we're dealing not with harnessed mules but with sentient, self-regarding human beings the team can even more quickly dissolve into conflict and costly chaos, thus the classic shout, “every man for himself!” (pardon the  archaic gender).  Since conflict and discord are facts of life it's to … [Read more...] about Certainly Uncertain

There is much truth in the adage, “we stand on the shoulders of giants” depending, of course, on which giants we choose to stand.  Consider one little-known giant, the late Colonel John Richard Boyd, United States Air Force.  He lived but an eye blink in history from 1927 to 1997, a mere drop in the ocean of time.  Apart from his tombstone in Arlington National Cemetery, an obscure training hall on an Air Force base in Nevada, and a small, silent display at the Marine Corps … [Read more...] about David and the Leviathan

It seems like every other day a new, “hot” book is published regarding leadership and organizational theory. I confess that I just can't keep up. In an effort to separate the wheat from the chaff I often research the authors rather than grab the latest and greatest from the best-seller-with-a-bullet headlines. One of the authors with whom I don't always agree but, nevertheless, respect for his scholarly and well researched work is Jeffrey Pfeffer, author of over a dozen books which are … [Read more...] about Truth and Consequences

Let's have some fun and play a quick word association game. For this to work well you must be candid about what thoughts and feelings come bubbling up when you first read the word. Ready? Here's the word - “OBEDIENCE”. (Pet owners are exempt since we already know where your thoughts go!) So, what came up for you? I'll be first to admit my first response to the word “obedience” is usually a jolt to my independent, freedom-loving sense of self will. I typically look at it with a jaundiced … [Read more...] about My Way Or The Higher Way

A quick internet search of the phrase “team building training programs” instantly yields an astonishing maze of over twenty million results.  And the spectrum runs from six figure celebrity presentations to one word bumper stickers.  For the young readers bumper stickers were the memes of a vanishing era, simple phrases or single words stuck on a shiny metal thing at the front and back of automobiles and were themselves predated by a series of catchy “Burma Shave” signs strung along … [Read more...] about Buyer Be Aware

To build a business, function as a leader, work on a winning team, or in any way interact with others toward mutual success requires that we undertake one of the most arduous and uncomfortable tasks known to mankind: a constant evaluation of our personal perspective or the way we “see the world”.  History is rife with counsel regarding self-examination and awareness.  Lamentations records, “Let us examine and probe our ways”. 1st Corinthians states, “But a man must examine himself.” … [Read more...] about Mirror, Mirror