To-Do Lists or To-Know Lists

With gratitude to my friend and colleague Deborah Grayson Riegel for the above quote arriving in my feed on a Monday morning…

We can easily confuse knowing something for doing it.

Exercise. Meditation. Letting go of unnecessary tasks. Staying connected with people important to us. Being kind to ourselves. Pivoting…

The list is familiar. But we’re at the point in the pandemic where it likely incites some eye rolling, right? (Oh yes…eye yoga…add that to the list). As a colleague said to me recently, “I know all the things. They aren’t helping.” Continue reading “To-Do Lists or To-Know Lists”

Ask and Tell

The first time I sat on a Board of Directors, it didn’t go particularly well. In hindsight, I think it’s because I took too long to contribute. I took on the role of the quiet newbie for the first year of my term, which only left me two years to make whatever impact I could. That impact was minimal for several other reasons, one of which was not having a team around me that was interested in leveraging the contributions I could offer. They communicated quite clearly that they were fine without me. Continue reading “Ask and Tell”

The Spaces in Between

Once you see something, you can’t unsee it.

I remember feeling that way after taking a beginner art class several years ago. The instructor encouraged us to look not at details, but at patches of dark and light in a landscape. That perspective was new to me, and it highlighted the spaces between things in new ways. I can’t not bring it to my awareness anymore. Continue reading “The Spaces in Between”

I Hate Group Work

The irony is not lost on me that I help people collaborate for a living, as I was always that student that disliked group work. Now, I’ve raised four people who are like me in that way. Sigh. Still today, I often work alone.

Dig a little deeper though, and it’s not surprising that I would devote considerable attention to helping groups create the conditions for successful group work. I want fewer people to have to endure group assignments that they could do faster and better themselves. Continue reading “I Hate Group Work”

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