On Setting Intentions: An Alternative to New Year’s Resolutions
When I was growing up in Japan, where many of its most significant celebrations occur around the end of the year and the start of the new year, we had … Continue reading
On Games: Uncovered Introductions
We get asked to introduce ourselves all the time. We tend to fall into the standard of: Name Title Association (company, school, organization) and if you are out of town, … Continue reading
On Anti-goals (or non-goals)
We are obsessed with goals. Whether it’s identifying your personal True North or setting a corporate big hairy audacious goal, there are books written about it. There are techniques to … Continue reading
On Minimum Viable Instructions
Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is a popular concept in lean startup methodologies where one creates a mockup of the full finished product one envisions with the minimum viable features for … Continue reading
On Links for Startups & Entrepreneurs
With the advent of the Internet, it is no longer the case that we are missing out on information. We now have the opposite problem of having massive amounts of … Continue reading
On Personality Tests & Assessments
One of the challenges a new leader finds going into an organization is that s/he has to assess the new environment quickly. Some leaders have an intuitive sense for other … Continue reading
On Common Problems in a Discipline, a Chekhov’s Gun, and “The Two Things”
I remember being so impressed when a conductor friend of mine (the musical, not the vehicular variety) could tell which parts of a concert I had issues with when he … Continue reading
On Innovation and Being Innovative: Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2016 Silicon Valley
When I moved to Silicon Valley, I attended many meetups and networking events for entrepreneurs. The experience quickly shattered the ideological impression I had of Silicon Valley. It came as … Continue reading
On Hiring: Reference Checks
Reference checks can be insightful when making a hiring decision but this step is sometimes overlooked. Here are my notes for when I trained first time managers on hiring. To … Continue reading
On Quick Performance Notes
Confrontation is hard. All too often, managers don’t take the time to provide quick feedback because of it. It may be easier to batch them up for an annual performance review, … Continue reading
