Dora’s Big Adventure
I have this theory that communities provide three fundamental things that human beings seek: Comfort, Joy, and Empowerment. 1. Comfort. It's that feeling of being with like-minded people, kindred spirits, people who "get me." I know that I belong. When...
Growing Pains
Conversation at the breakfast table between myself and my 13-year old son: "Is that a scratch on your nose? What's that red stuff?" "Acne." I'm trying hard not to look surprised. This is my youngest child, with the first sign...
Remind Me When I Get To Maui
A relatively new reader to this blog emailed about finding the archive of older posts on this blog, from three years ago: "I was fascinated by the posts because the "voice" of those posts is very different from the "voice"...
Social Entrepreneurship
In doing some research for an event I'm facilitating in Traverse City this week on social entrepreneurship, I came across two articles on the topic: The Meaning of Social Entrepreneurship by J. Gregory Dees, a faculty member of the Center...
The Infinite Game and Stepping Back in the Fire
My friend, Kenny Moore, has a wonderful post about playing a different game in business, the Infinite Game. He helps me remember that including others expands the game and that the question should be, "How can I use the talents...
Joy is…..
. ...finding a Starbuck's at the baggage claim area of a major airport, knowing that I had a three-hour drive in front of me. ....seeing the face of a friend who had fallen in love again, after unexpectedly becoming a...
Case Study: From Dictatorship to Democracy
The Wall Street Journal recently profiled Gene Sharp, founder of the Albert Einstein Institute and a pioneer in researching non-violent resistance principles, based on successful uprisings to dictatorships throughout history. His wisdom is simple: Any dictatorship will eventually collapse if...
Three Types of Boundary Crossers
When I think back on the kinds of boundary crossers that I've run into, they seem to fall into three camps: Individuals who have had a successful career in one area and a passionate hobby in another world (e.g., software...