VWVanagan Several months ago I began to wonder if the highest potential in each of us isn’t simply to encourage the highest potential in others. That question has been a powerful force for me, bringing with it all sorts of other questions. What is it that inspires us humans to be our very best – to … Read more
Several months ago, when I was first jumping into Facebook and LinkedIn and Twitter, I shared this question on LinkedIn: “For what do you use which of these spaces?” A young man sent this response: “While I agree that a colleague can be a friend and vice-versa, I do think that it is better not … Read more
I’ve been sharing a lot about Pollyanna Principled Consulting and our Immersion Courses these days, mostly because I am as immersed in them as the students are! So I thought intead of hearing how excited I have been about these courses, I would share a note I received from one of the students in our … Read more
This week we have been immersed in another Pollyanna Principled Consulting Immersion Course with consultants from around the U.S. and Canada. As always in these groups, I learn as much as I teach. Here are just 3 things that have been reinforced for me by this terrific group this week. 1) The value of taking … Read more
“Are you comfortable?” Reno Police Officer Patrick O’Bryan uttered those words to a silent room of 100 community leaders last summer. “Because if you’re comfortable, then nothing will change. To change our community, we need to step outside our comfort zone. So are we willing to be uncomfortable?” That story came to mind often last … Read more
It is the end of Day 3 of our Pollyanna Principled Immersion Course for consultants. Our expectations have already been surpassed so many times, we are now simply reveling in what continues to evolve. The combined experience of this group of 7 practitioners easily approaches or even surpasses 100 years. They have certainly been around … Read more
Anymore I can usually tell how good a consultant is in the first few minutes of our conversation. How? By how much they listen. By how much they want to learn, no matter how much they already know. By how much they ask questions instead of talking about themselves. By how much it’s not about … Read more
This post is the 3rd & final installment in a series. To begin at Part 1 head here. The Evidence We’ve established that Problem-Solving solves neither complex organizational problems nor complex social problems. And we’ve posited that the only thing that CAN solve such problems is to look beyond the problem – beyond “zero” – … Read more
This is Part 2 of this post. If you have not read Part 1, you will find that here. Reverse Engineering the Future We DO Want There is something that DOES work to solve the large, systemic problems our organizations and our communities face today. And that is to aim our efforts out beyond “zero” … Read more
The War on Drugs. The War on Poverty. The War on Illegal Immigration. Fixing a dysfunctional board. Team-building to boost employee morale. What do all these things have in common? If you answered, “None of them have solved the problem,” you would be right. Decades of fighting drugs, poverty, illegal immigration; decades of trying to … Read more