Author: Steve
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The Dangerous Post-Mortem Question
Root Cause Analysis, After Action Review, Post Mortem … These are all excellent opportunities for reflection to help you and your team improve processes and systems. But there are two questions that can send these reflections in a dangerous direction. One is obvious, the other, not so much. The obviously dangerous question is, “Whose fault…
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Shared Dreams and Supported Dreams
One of the best investments I’ve made in my own future was to help my wife set up a professional online teaching studio in our basement. With a standing desk, camera, headset, multiple screens, studio lights, and plenty of space for props, she gets to spend several hours each day teaching reading to young students…
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Un-Fail Your New Goals
A Pew Research Study from mid-January of 2024 revealed that over 40% of respondents had already broken at least one of their New Year’s resolutions, and 13% had not kept any of them. And that was only halfway through the month of last January. Here we are at the end of January 2025, and I…
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Confidence is a result, not a prerequisite
People often come to a coaching session looking for a thinking partner to help them as they make a decision. Often, they want to come away with new insight, new ideas, new options. Other times, they’re hoping that our conversation will help them find the confidence they need to take action on a decision they…
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Signs You’re Creating a Good Culture
A few weeks ago, I went to a reunion lunch with about twenty former workplace colleagues. Some of us had been gone from the company for up to ten years or more. But we still liked each other enough that we wanted to get together again. The experience got me thinking about signs that you’re…
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Nuanced Decision Making
How many times have you had to decide whether to do something and then told yourself that you’re going to weigh the pros and cons? Maybe you get out a piece of paper and start brainstorming. Maybe you just think through them in your head, or talk about them with a friend or family member.…
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Filter toxic stress before arriving home
As my wife and I walked around the block, I noticed a message on the manhole cover of the storm sewers in the side of the road. “No dumping,” it reads. And there’s a picture of a fish. The storm sewer carries water directly to the stream, where fish and other wildlife depend on clean…
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Focus in Five Minutes
One of my clients came to a coaching session with his mind swirling from a hectic day. With so many thoughts fighting for his attention, he struggled to put together even a single complete sentence. The simple exercise I shared with him is one that you may find helpful for yourself or one of your…
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Value Your Leadership Instincts
You’re not sure why, but something just feels off. The migration plan feels risky. The code doesn’t look right. Someone’s explanation for their behavior seems … less than truthful. For much of my career, when I faced scenarios like these, I tended to be “nice.” If I wasn’t sure there was a problem, I would…
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Preservation and Ruin in the Workplace
My son and I are working together to co-author novels in the science fiction and fantasy genres. Part of my personal journey of skill development has been to spend a lot more time reading science fiction and fantasy. I noticed that one of the themes from Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn series parallels quite nicely with one…
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“No” doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea
If your business can invest $10,000 today in a venture that will earn you $20,000 in six months, should you make that investment? A senior leader where I worked once asked that question. Many people voted “Yes!” But the correct answer is … there’s not enough information to know. What are the consequences of losing…
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Entitlement vs. Agency
In the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, young Charlie Buckets hopes for a rare golden ticket as he opens his chocolate bar. He says, “I’ve got the same chance as anybody else, haven’t I?” Grandpa Joe responds with something that irks me. He says, “You’ve got more, Charlie, because you want it…