Last week I met with the founder of a young startup to go over the financial model for their company. As we started digging into the finer points of his spreadsheet, I stopped and said, “This is all great, but how are you imparting the vision to your group? Does everyone know their role? Do they understand the vision, its importance to the world and that it will not come to pass without them?” We quickly ditched the spreadsheet and went to the whiteboard.
Read MoreThe power inside every single human being never ceases to amaze me. And despite a world that appears increasingly divided and argumentative, every Monday night my hope that people lean towards good and not evil is strengthened.
Read MoreWhen I was in junior high one of my teachers taught me to ‘never say what you don’t want to do’, because subconsciously you can not deal with that. Apparently it will plant a seed in your head leading you to do exactly what you didn’t want to do. In Dutch (and I don’t know if it translates well into English) we use the metaphor of ‘pink elephants’ to illustrate this. When you say to someone: don’t think of a pink elephant, a pink elephant will immediately jump into your mind.
Read MoreDuring my first proper summer internship, working in Washington DC, some colleagues and I got into a friendly argument over lunch about whether pinball was a game of skill.
To resolve this heated debate, we agreed that the “ayes” would have it if and only if we could prove, by the end of the working day, that there was such a thing as pinball competitions or tournaments.
Read MoreAs I peruse the nonfiction bestseller wall at the bookstore in the airport, these are the titles that jump out at me. They probably say great things. The titles make me want to pick the books up. They even make me feel a little special. My chest puffs out a bit. “That’s right, I am a badass, different and completely special. Thank you for noticing.” I think to myself. (My wife says you can learn a lot about me from that last sentence!)
Read MoreMy family immigrated to the U.S. when I was 11 so I learned both Chinese and English through grade school education. Throughout the years, I found Chinese to be helpful in giving me a different way to think when when pondering... Here is one account...
Read MoreAbout 22 months ago, I started playing with a “formula” to organize “making lasting change”.
One day I asked our brand new Fellow Amanda:
“What conditions are required to make lasting change?” and she set off for eight weeks thinking and writing and having fun with the topic.
Read MoreIt was a bit of a rough holiday season for my family. The day after Christmas we had to say goodbye to our beloved Golden Doodle Daisy. I’ll say this: cancer sucks. But, as she did for her 12 years on this earth, Daisy made things as easy for us as she possibly could. It was as beautiful, and immensely sorrowful as anything we’ve ever been through. Because of their unrelenting and unconditional love, there’s a saying that has been around for some time that says “we don’t deserve dogs”. I don’t know if we deserved Daisy or not. But I do know we are infinitely better humans because of her.
Read MoreI’ve been home for three weeks on winter break from the University of Florida. It’s been a bit chillier than I expected. Brutally cold actually. Yet even though the skin on my face now feels like sandpaper and my chapped lips hurt and the top of my hands are cracking, even bleeding, I love going to Rockwood every chance I get. Rockwood is a state park near my house. The forty-minute loop I walk with my dog Sam is revitalizing.
Read MoreI have this thought that sometimes when conflicts arise between two adults a wall goes up between the two people. Each may feel inclined to defend and protect themselves and soon enough the other person feels like an enemy.
Read MoreIt’s so tempting to strive for that empty To Do list, to dream of those moments when you’ll have only a few items left on the list and then tick them off.
But those moments only come if you’ve got a certain kind of To Do list, one with concrete, discrete, easily quantifiable and achievable tasks, all of which you’re sure you will start and finish.
Read MoreThere’s a mesa behind our house where I go to run, think, recharge and listen. Recently, I looked down at my watch to find my pace a full minute faster than usual. “Wow, I’m getting so much faster and I don’t even feel like I’m trying that hard!” I thought.
Read MoreA few weeks ago, I accidentally left my iPhone in an Uber on a trip to Philadelphia. After frantically calling it a number of times, the kindhearted driver eventually picked up and offered to ship it back to New York. Once I had the assurance that I wouldn’t scrap together money for a new one, I settled into a new rhythm of daily life. Those few days without my phone, I felt more clear-headed, creative, and self-assured than normal.
Read More“Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.”
-Bryan Stevenson, Founder of Equal Justice Initiative
Two years ago, after attending a talk by Bryan Stevenson, the Founder of Equal Justice Initiative,
(EJI), I raised my hand to become a penpal to one of their clients, a prisoner who had been tried and incarcerated as a youth.
Read MoreLast week my best friend at college, Maureen, gave me a call and said with spontaneity in her voice, “What’s up? Wanna go to Micanopy and visit some antique shops?” Hmm… There were a lot of things on my to do list. I’ve been to Micanopy many times before because I’ve interned in that small town. And, well… I really don’t like antique shops very much.
Read MoreI think I am finding that hearing “no” provides me an incredible moment to advance relationships.
This is a story with a happy ending…
I remember vividly in May of 2010 getting off the interstate on to a back road just about 20 minutes away from the tiny mountain oasis of Sundance, Utah where we were just about to host our second annual gathering of 30 dear friends to be offline for three days to work on our craft as investors.
I LOVE Sundance.
Read More“Did you check your eggs?”
Confession. There’s a part of me, buried way down deep, that sort of lives for this question. I usually keep my mouth shut. But then comes the admonishment . . .
Read MoreWhy Are You Cutting Stones?
I find myself sitting here thinking about Brinton and, as he laid out in his recent post, that room listening to a CEO “lay out his 100 year plan”, and how that naturally led him to a "set of guiding values wrapped up in the preservative of culture.”
Read MoreWe’re sometimes confounded by the big changes we want to make.
We get a glimpse of the person we hope to become, or a new behavior we hope to engage in, and nearly immediately find ourselves frustrated that we’ve not suddenly mastered that new set of actions. This isn’t how we change.
Read MoreThe time and space that my coach Jullien Gordon creates for me each week is such that most anything can happen.
And a couple weeks ago we explored Green Eggs and Ham the Dr. Suess classic ;) I wonder if Jullien years ago would have imagined a career built around such discussions.
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