The first thing to look at when evaluating an organization or a team is their values. Values determine outcomes, and the extent to which you embody your values has a significant impact. Teams that have clear values, and abide by them, achieve worthwhile results. Teams that do not embody their values—not only do they fail,…

The mind is a fickle thing. Left unexamined, it becomes your jailer. Or just as often it is the source of problems as it is of solutions. But properly understood and harnessed, the mind is immensely powerful. We can call hyperactivity of the mind, in whatever form, “overthinking.” Maybe it is the compulsion for more.…

I often hear people use the word strategy when they seem to mean something else. This post will explain strategy, operations, and tactics. It will explain how they relate to each other, and it will explain the two most common problems I see with this topic when it comes to planning and execution. A strategy…

I have spent most of my life playing other people’s games. 33 was the year I decided to question it. The business game. The war game. The school game. Looking back, I can see the same pattern over and over. They all had their stated purpose, and yet each one was actually about something entirely…

There are two ways to solve a problem: Everything else is an implementation detail. Changing the context means to move up, down, or adjacent. For example, if you can’t find a job in one city, you might move to another. This is an adjacent change of context. Or if you can’t build a house, you…

Conflict arises when there is a problem. A problem is a conflict between at least two ideas: the idea of how something should be, and the idea of how something is. In other words, all problems depend on a misconception. Problems are also dependent on context. By choosing your context, you choose your problems. You…