Monday Morning Mojo

Transformational rituals are sometimes referred to as time outside time. By this we mean that we have set aside a day or so for non-ordinary events to take place. Examples include weddings, communions, bar mitzvahs, funerals, birthdays, and anniversaries.  Put simply it is a time when all normal activities are purposefully suspended so that people […]

Every December this is what I do: I review my personal calendar. Because I keep every appointment electronically, it’s as simple as opening up my laptop. I take an hour and I scan every month, and make notes in my journal about what went really well what I loved the most what I would like

I am in San Francisco attending the American Geophysical Union’s annual meeting of over 20,000, a meeting of amazing breadth and depth.  It is my pleasure to serve on the Board of Directors. We are taking a hard look at innovating membership, affiliation, and publications to maintain AGU’s position as the preeminent union of earth

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