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 […]

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 […]

“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 […]

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 […]

“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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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. There is no question that we need […]

“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 […]

“New research published in the Industrial Relations Journal found no evidence that individual-level mental wellbeing interventions like mindfulness, resilience and stress management, relaxation classes, and wellbeing apps benefit employees.” — Some frame well-being as an individual challenge in which we liberate ourselves from the limitations and burdens others place on us. Another line of thinking places responsibility […]