Permission

I’m not much of a glass-breaker, usually.  My natural tendency is to build consensus, get buy-in.  And I’ve kind of had it with this approach.
I’m not planning to throw the baby out with the bathwater, but I’m realizing that sometimes I need to get the heck out of my own way.
Before you say to someone, [...]

The power of belief

The other day, while I watched my kids frolic in the sprinklers in a recently-revived Central Park playground in New York City, I couldn’t help but wonder where belief comes in when we think about measuring social outcomes.
My son, who wouldn’t change into his bathing suit (“it’s too cold to play in the sprinklers”), was [...]

Be a Sawgot (SWGTD)

Are you a “sawgot,” Someone Who Gets Things Done?
If you’re not now, what would it take?
With an ever-shifting economy, and all of the challenges in the job market, I can think of few skills more universal than being a sawgot.  Because when it’s crunch time and something absolutely needs to happen, the people in charge [...]

First to 100

I’ve been trying to teach my 5 ½ year old son to play tennis.  Our typical session has been short – usually less than 10 minutes – so progress has come in fits and starts.  Last week, I could tell he was starting to lose interest in our standard drill: me standing 5 feet away [...]

The answer-outcome paradox

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the gap between finding the right answers and getting to the right outcomes.
A few years ago, a close friend of mine was working for a think tank that was hired to consult for the Ministry of Education of a small country.  The team, which was made up mostly [...]

“We need your help” (caveat emptor)

It’s so flattering to be called in to save the day.  This happened to me once – being hired to “take a team to a new level.” (not my words, the words of the person I went to work for).  I wish I’d asked a lot more times, “Why are things not yet at that [...]

The finish line mirage

A friend shared Paul Hawken’s moving, challenging commencement address and it got me thinking: we are constantly confusing starting lines with finish lines.
Getting married is a starting line, not a finish line.
Landing your dream job?  Starting line.
Getting VC funding? Starting line.
Graduating college?  Easy. Starting line.  (It’s even called “commencement.”)
Having a child?  Definitely a starting line.
Promotion? [...]

What’s in it for me?

There are a lot of ‘what’s in it for me’ strategies out there, and they are usually run by ‘what’s in it for me’ people.  Right now AIG feels a lot like this, as do seven- and eight-figure bonuses at firms that received government bailout money.
Unfortunately, ‘what’s in it for me’ strategies do work to [...]

How busy should you be (the 125% rule)?

Whatever amount of time you set aside for work, you don’t want to be 100% busy.  You don’t want just enough work so you can get it done in the time you’ve set aside.  You want more.
How much more?  Lately I think the right amount is around 125% – that is, having 25% more work [...]

Buddy, can you spare a Banker?

A friend in finance pointed out to me today that there are probably “more than 100,000″ newly-unemployed bankers (including investment banks, hedge funds, private equity) in New York City right now, trying to figure out what comes next.
This is bad news for NY-based nonprofits, who are feeling the double-whammy of Wall St. donations drying up [...]