Not long ago I was in a room filled with people who work a lot with personality preference data, as well as our own TMS work preference data.  I happened to overhear a snippet of a conversation between two people that seemed to be trying to figure out a problem someone had and that they were working with.  It went … Read More

The dominant approach in the West for gaining higher levels of self knowledge is all about digging inside ourselves until we find something of value (either diamonds or detritus) and then reflecting on our find to better understand ourselves.  What we do with that understanding hopefully improves us.  This archeological exercise is pretty much the only way we can imagine … Read More

In our last e-newsletter we looked at the above phrase through the lens of two types of causality, formative and rational.  We often try very hard to manage our organizations assuming it operates by formative causality when in fact it often operates by rational causality and thus, sh_ _ happens.  In this e-newsletter we take a look at another type … Read More

The first two words above have entered into popular language, especially organizational language within the past generation or so to describe that wide range of unpleasant and unplanned occurrences that we would just rather not have happen to us.  This graphic verbal pairing also legitimizes the very unpredictable nature of much of our experience. This pairing also encourages us to … Read More

The landscapes of war and the fields of sport are breeding grounds for great leaders. Ask people who they would identify as great leaders and their list will be very well represented by those that fired their leadership sword in the heat of battle, real or play. They are real leaders and they also represent some of the most problematic aspects of … Read More

Ok let’s be honest.  We’ve all had (or have) co-workers that we don’t like.  They walk toward us and we look for the nearest office to hide in.  They open their mouth in meetings and we disagree with everything they say even though we’re not even listening.  Their clothes are ugly, they tell boring jokes and we get sick every … Read More