Monday Morning Mojo

I first met the CEO of Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind, Tony Cancelosi, in the summer of 2009. I was looking for a leader of a nonprofit who was applying private sector business smarts to steer his organization to business success. Tony recruited me to his Advisory Board shortly after. Then I began doing pro […]

It’s not always wise to stay the course. Sometimes the best thing to do is let go of what you planned and go with a better alternative. Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans. – John Lennon

This week I have an audio message for you. Let me know what you think! When you do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world. – George Washington Carver

All of us know people that are making the world a better place. Don’t take them for granted. Reach out and show them how important they are to you. Lend them your love and resources. Lift them up. Be their follower. I recently re-watched Derek Sivers’ 3 minute TED talk about how to start a

A good friend of mine told me how he was working with a team sitting in a conference room and they got stuck. They weren’t making any progress. So, my friend suggested they have a walking meeting – i.e., they get up out of their chairs and walk around the city as a group while

A social learning system is any group of people who learn together. It could be a family, a group of people on a subway train that gets trapped in an underground tunnel, a class cohort, or a work team. These groups have 4 dynamics that I think are pretty cool: 1. Peer-to-peer learning is just

There are two kinds of ritual. There are rituals of stability (e.g., saying hello, eating together, kissing or shaking hands when we greet) and there are rituals of transformation (e.g., theatrical events, weddings, bar mitzvahs, initiations, vision quests). Rituals of stability reinforce our relationships.  Rituals of transformation change them. Anytime you meet to create the

Half-baked ideas often contain a beautiful kernel, an essence that can be cultivated and nurtured until it matures into a powerful contribution. Yes, it’s often the case that people share thoughts that are not a good match for the task at hand, not yet fully baked. It’s the way we humans interact.  Next time someone

Last Tuesday I went to the most extraordinary concert. The opening act, the Guru Ganesha Band, captured my fancy more than the main event. Guru Ganesha is a 60+ year old Sikh who leads a band that plays music to celebrate spirituality. Before the evening was over the guru in his white shirt, white pants,

My good friend, Gary LaBranche, told me last week that innovation is about courage and vulnerability. Over dinner he shared his point of view that new ventures require boldness in the face of uncertain success. They necessarily leave you open, susceptible. Gary is on to something big. A life worth living, one that you can