The Making InstinctAI
Whether AI can make well is testable. Whether it will is a values question.
Writing
Building From Scratch
Ideas and exploration on organization and leadership
Word PlayTalent managementOrg design
Ancient vibes, talent, technology, and company names
We Are All Becoming AgentsOrg design
Flat organizations need people who behave with agency. Individual change precedes organizational change.
Ferrari Road TripOrg design
Is your team ready, willing, and able? Choose the right vehicle for the trip.
AI Is OxygenAI
Companies that win with AI will be the ones that redesign their organization instead of optimizing it.
When A Ding Is The ThingLeadership
Two carpenters named Bill, a walnut floor, and the harsh sounds of demolition
Leave It All on the MountainLeadership
Three back-to-back mountain hikes, nearly 80 miles, and an event built on helping each other rather than beating each other.
Making the Complex SimpleLeadership
What a family jigsaw puzzle taught me about sorting and testing complex problems.
The Power TrapOrg design
Why organizations don't act on what they know, the root is deeper than you think.
Introducing Performance DialogueHR Re-engineering
Kill the performance review, keep the conversation: two dialogues, four questions, and why pay is a separate talk.
Determining Impact in HRHR Re-engineering
How do you know if what you're doing is working? The nuances of measurement, assessment, and evaluation in HR.
The Homework ApocalypseAI
AI may finally break the habit of studying for the grade instead of learning. It starts with parents.
Most Companies Are Not Human-CenteredOrg design
HR as the maintenance department for human machines, and the three things people need to be at their best.
Leadership Is ParadoxicalLeadership
Courage and creativity, audacity and humility: a Monday musing on the contradictions leaders hold.
Squeaky PansLeadership
Excellence is a tiny rebellion against adversity.
Long Time GoneLeadership
For David Crosby, a maker who would not give in to fear.
The Medium Is the MessageOrg design
Marshall McLuhan's line applies to organizations: everyday experience speaks louder than stated values.
Is Your Organization Designed for Mental Health?Leadership
We can't outperform our biology. Six small things to design into the workday.
What's in Your Process?Org design
Processes are like wallets: small spaces that should hold only what you need. Most talent processes are stuffed with old assumptions.
Paternalism Is GlutenOrg design
Most people are fine with it, but under certain conditions it inflames the whole organization.
Is Work Fun?Leadership
Fun is one ingredient, not the key. Play is more about attitude than perks.
Culture Is a CraftOrg design
A science-fair project, boats, recipes, and a hand-towel dispenser
Everyday PresenceLeadership
Reflection builds insight, imagination stretches growth, but presence is what connects you to the moment.
Cut It Down to HereLeadership
The most useful piece of advice I ever got was about the length of a hockey stick. It's all about position.
Talent Is WaterTalent managementOrg design
Dead fish, precious metals make stable measures, and a scientific equation
What (Really) Motivates People: ReciprocityLeadership
The heroic leader is a twentieth-century image. Reciprocity, built on trust, is the next generation leadership model.
Managing People for GrowthLeadership
Make the time, match your method to the person, compassion and high expectations are not mutually exclusive.
Leaders Are Made, Not BornLeadership
The 1% challenge for investors: put your money where your mouth is
Customer Centered LeadershipLeadership
Drucker said the purpose of business is to create a customer.
Culture Is a CapabilityOrg design
A culture is not a values statement or a manifesto. It has to be defined in response to a business problem, then built and managed to spec.
Love Is a Two-Way StreetOrg design
Love is built on respect, trust, and reciprocity, not trickery, annoyance, or contracts.
Grow or DieLeadership
The irrefutable lesson of open systems.
How to Avoid the Busy TrapLeadership
Busy is not progress. A playful heart keeps you going through the routine.
Get Messy with Your CustomersOrg design
Customers are not transactions to optimize. They are people with a problem to solve or a desire to fulfill.
Working HumanOrg design
Let's move on from the machine words: horsepower, engines, weakest links.
Free Advice for GMOrg design
Written as GM went through bankruptcy in 2009: the enemy of a sustainable organization is homogeneity, and GM was its poster child.
Adaptive OrganizationsOrg design
What if big organizations worked like ecosystems, with different species of organization inside them, each adapted to its own conditions?
Addicted to CuriosityLeadership
Feedback is a machine word. Successful people do something more human.
Podcasts and press
The Human ElementVideo
Barb Biden · A conversation about the human side of work and organizations.
We're Not RecordingPodcast
Melanie Naranjo · Ethena · From carpentry to HR, change management, and Future Shock: why people are still people in the age of AI.
Changemakers Summit 2023Video
Diversio · Discussing the impact of AI, inclusion, and change leadership.
ForbesArticle
Cara Brennan Allamano · With Parneet Pal and Cara Brennan Allamano: are humans part of nature, or caretakers of it?
The Future of HRPodcast
JP Elliott · Bringing human-centered design to HR and talent.
Modern People LeaderPodcast
Daniel Huerta · Why human-centered organizations are more creative.
HR LeadersVideo
Chris Rainey · Five essential ingredients of a human-centered organization, Scratch OD, Winning Organization.
Profile MagazineArticle
Keith Loria · John Foster is TrueCar's people person: moving a strong culture to a distributed workforce with compassion, clear messaging, and practical support.
AllowedPodcast
Caneel Joyce · Leaders are made, not born: empowerment and constraints.
Best-Self ManagementPodcast
Shane Metcalf · 15Five · In which I wrongly predict it will take another five years for distributed work to go mainstream.
Selling MagazineArticle
John Anderson · Cover story: taking on the Monster, the Wall, and the Zip at Pecos River Learning Center