Mutual commitment trumps accountability. These days, we hear a lot about the need for accountability. What we don’t hear as much about is what lies at the foundation of accountability: mutually-defined commitments. Years ago, as an onsite OD consultant, I supported the head of an R&D division who often complained about how difficult it was […]
Dana
Inter-dependability turns inter-dependence into synergy
About 20 years ago, I noticed that I couldn’t find an English term to describe what we gain as we learn to cultivate our inter-dependence for mutual benefit, so I made one up: “inter-dependability.” I was working with a few collaborators for a Tokyo client on a set of initiatives that leveraged individual agency in […]
Are you trying to become Japanese?
“I occasionally appear on TV debate shows, but the role I am asked to play is always “foreigner.” It is unavoidable because it is a fact from the point of view of my nationality, but for myself, I feel bewildered because I am aware that I am a member who is responsible for the future […]
Proactive Management of Holistic Well-being x Unlimited Drive = Sustainable Peak Performance
Well-being has become a buzzword recently, following wellness, resilience, employee engagement, employee satisfaction, participative management, employee motivation and other attempts to encapsulate a magic formula that enables employees to feel like people (ends unto themselves) WHILE they are used as performance/production inputs (means to an end). While I’m skeptical of the utility of looking to […]
How might A.I. enable us to develop “inter-dependable” relationships with each other and A.I. itself?
“It does seem to me that the story, not only of humanity, but of all of nature, of all of life, is one of mutual care and mutual interdependence to a far greater degree than we appreciate…” – Blaise Agüera y Arcas, fellow at Google Research He expands on this philosophy as follows: “And what […]
Correlation does not equal causation, but it may be enough to justify giving something a try.
Sometimes there is enough evidence THAT something is true that you may not need to wait for researchers to figure out WHY it is true. Your body can often tell you if it is true for you, so it may make more sense to just try it out for yourself while simultaneously managing risks. The […]
RACI and delegation are both means to an end, not ends unto themselves
According to Raphael Moutard, ”With Impact delegation, you define a threshold. Under this threshold, you delegate entirely the decision and every step of it.” Moutard suggests that we use impact delegation as an alternative to RACI, and explains what can go wrong when you use RACI incorrectly: “If you need to build a RACI with […]
You are a network within a network of networks (early draft)
We are accustomed to thinking of ourselves as one thing – a person, an entity with a unique identity. Because we have a persistent experience of continuous consciousness, which is by nature subjective, we also tend to think of ourselves as in some sense separate from the rest of the world. When we step back […]
A “feedback conversation” is just one way to make someone aware of what “feedback loops” are telling them about the impact(s) of their actions
Framing feedback as part of a reflection process in which you give conscious attention to “feedback loops” (like an engineer) rather than as a performance process in which you exchange “feedback messages” (like a manager or colleague) can profoundly change the way you think and talk about performance. We need to collect feedback to help […]
Manifesting real results in the real world requires more than just telling yourself you deserve whatever it is you currently want
“I am well. I am opulent. I have everything. I do right. I know.” – Charles Benjamin Newcomb, author of 1897 book “All’s Right With the World” as quoted by Dr. Tara Isabella Burton in NYT editorial From Burton: ‘While the idea of manifesting may seem modern, the instinct to conflate spiritual forces, political and […]