Since my post, “The smallest effective difference,” I’ve meant to list habits and practices I do to reduce my unnecessary effects on things. I plan to add to the list over time as I think of new ones since I feel like I act on the philosophy all the time and it seems short. If you have similar habits and practices, please let me know. The point of them is[…] Keep reading →

[I wrote a new introduction to my SIDCHA series. I’m happy enough with it to share it as a regular post.] Most people seem to want improve themselves, personally or professionally. Reading, watching, and listening to people tell you how you can develop yourself professionally or personally doesn’t change anything beyond give you a bit of information. People don’t succeed because they have more information. They succeed because they act.[…] Keep reading →

A few years ago some TV producers almost picked me to be on their reality show. In the process they asked me what music I wanted them to play to represent me when I walked on camera. I came up with the songs below. With all I write about creating emotions, how have I not written about music, one of the greatest ways to create emotion? I guess because I[…] Keep reading →

Imagine rock climbing a vertical cliff. You don’t want to get hurt so you use a rope to catch you if you fall. You regularly loop the rope through something attached to the face. I think they call it anchoring, so I’ll call it anchoring too. How you anchor affects how you climb. If you just anchored yourself, your rope would effectively be attached right there, so if you let[…] Keep reading →

People often ask me about resolving conflicts and how to handle them as a leader. This clip shows Eisenhower, played by Tom Selleck, handling a conflict two days before D-Day. It’s dramatized, but not so much that we can’t learn from it. Context Eisenhower and his team have been planning the Normandy invasion for months. They want to launch in the next couple days, but two major unknowns split to[…] Keep reading →

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about a group I’m in with a leadership vacuum, “How to handle leadership issues when you don’t have authority.” Several people in that group wrote with appreciation for the message in that post. None wrote to say they had problems with it, though the person with authority did push back slightly. Then after an anonymous comment from an attendee of one of my seminars[…] Keep reading →

I compiled most of my posts on cold showers into a series so you can easily read them at once. Click here to read it. If you think they’re crazy, try them. At least start by reading the series. I couldn’t imagine them being helpful before trying them, but I think they’re incredible now.

I threw away some medals from some marathons I ran a few years ago during a stint of simplifying my life and getting rid of stuff. As far as I know, you can’t get replacements. When getting rid of them I thought, “The joy and value of a marathon is in the running, the training, and the experience. A medal is just to show off to other people. I didn’t[…] Keep reading →

Kids often say things more clearly than adults. Actually, I think I should credit the insight below as much to inquiry-driven project-based learning as to the innocence of youth. Context: When I visited Science Leadership Academy last winter, a student led a tour of the school. A question came up about school uniforms, which the school didn’t have. During the discussion on the topic, someone asked if any problems ever[…] Keep reading →