Organizations

Why should organizations care about learning? Because, the level of performance and improvement needed in today's ever-changing environment requires learning... lots of learning.

Organizations with the best chance to succeed and thrive in today’s business climate are learning organizations. Continue reading »

Sometime in the 1500s, an English poet named Robert Herrick used the phrase “no pain, no gain” in his writings. He was conveying the idea that if you don’t work really hard at something, you won’t benefit from it. A good, noble phrase from a well-respected poet of his day.

But does it still apply today? Continue reading »

We tend to think of our brain as our individual biological organ. We say things like: “I have to make up my own mind.” “That’s my own opinion.” “That’s how I think.” But I was reminded last week that social neuroscience teaches us that the human brain is a social organ, intimately connected to other brains. Continue reading »

What does the word "control" mean to you? How does it makes you feel? For some it elicits feelings of responsibility, security, safety. For others it means power over others, micro-management to insure results, the last word. Some remember experiences with controlling parents or teachers they rebelled against. Others remember the insecurity they felt when their parents did not have any control.

For me, it brings mixed feelings. . . Continue reading »

If you walk through the halls of an elementary school or frequent a playground you hear lot’s of giggles and laughter. But when I walk the maze of cubicles at an organization or along the hallways of a business office, I rarely hear those same sounds.

Majestic, big, small, tall, dead, huge, new, old, very old, and everything in between. Trees are the tallest free-standing organisms in the world. Trees live longer and become more massive than any other living thing on earth.

On my recent vacation I spent time in Yosemite. While my husband bravely undertook a 6 mi. trail to see one of the three groves that include Sequoias, I stayed sitting under the trees. Observing, absorbing, smelling, feeling, reflecting. . . . What follows is my reflections on leadership lessons from nature. Continue reading »