I’m a stickler for good process.
If you live in Ontario Canada, or have been watching the news from elsewhere, you may be aware that this week has been a gong show on that front. We’ve been subject to chaotic leadership of the highest (lowest?) order as our province navigates COVID-19’s third wave.
In trying to make sense of it all, I find myself drawing on what I know about stakeholder engagement and collective decision making. Continue reading “Read the Room”
“I don’t like winter.”
At least that’s the story I’ve always told myself.
Last year, I escaped winter a few different times for work, and it made the long season manageable. This year, that ain’t happening. Winter 2020 has just begun where I live, and I’ve been dreading it.
But I’ve had a small breakthrough. I’ve realized that winter isn’t the problem. Winter driving is. It causes me stress. I don’t like wondering if I’m going to be able to get somewhere, or how long it will take, or if my less-experienced-driving kids will be safe in the snow. Continue reading “Winter Driving”
A ten-year study of how Italy’s 15 largest cities weathered the global financial crisis of the late 2000s found that organizations’ decision-making styles before the collapse largely matched their styles during and after the crisis. Those that did formal strategic planning continued to do so. Those that used an incremental, ad hoc planning approach did so before and after. Those whose approach was described as “inertia” before fell into that same category after.*
Plus ça change…. Continue reading “Show up how you want to end up”
In the city where I live, there have long been calls for the creation of fenced, leash-free dog areas. I’ve been involved in facilitating a few of the meetings about them — over years, not months. The community engagement that went into planning these dog parks was extensive, and support for the initiative was robust.
The first one was installed last year, with at least one more about to be constructed. And now the local Council has voted to remove the one and cancel the rest, pending further study.
Why? Because some of the neighbours who live close to the new dog park are very unhappy.
So what happened? Continue reading “How Decisions are Really Made”
I was preparing for a couple of sessions this past week, designed to share my story in a program called Thought Leaders Business School (TLBS). I was therefore thinking about why it’s worked so well for me. Continue reading “Alone Together”
