#34 – The Next Smallest Thing

At the conclusion of a speech last October, on my way out of the conference hall, the organizer of the  event said that he would be more than happy to provide a written reference for me to include on my web site. This week, I finally followed up with him and asked if the offer

#11 – There is no “There”

This is #11 in the series, “50 Ideas Worth Fighting For” There is no “there.” There is only next. In the domain of human development and learning, arrival is a myth. Awareness and action are the currency of the realm. It’s a currency that cannot buy completion or entitlement to a finish line. It can

#10 – “Development” is a Verb

This is #10 in the series, “50 Ideas Worth Fighting For.” Development is an action. Like any effective action it requires insight and planning (reflection) to precede it but, at its core, development is about forward movement and progress. This is not to convey an image of “leaps and bounds” but of an active progression

Ordinary Time

I’ve always found these late January days to be tough on my energy and motivation. The holidays are a faint echo and the exuberance of the new year has given way to the disjointedness of human plans put in motion amidst a natural world that paces itself to a slower, hidden metronome. I feel myself

A Verb, Not a Noun

You are a verb, not a noun. A noun is static. Person. Tree. Music. Change. A verb is in motion. A person learns, a tree extends, the music swells, the change inspires. You are in motion, a litany of becoming. Because you are a verb, not a noun. {HT to Marlene Laping}

What Leadership Looks Like

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” – Teddy Roosevelt    

People of Reflection and Action

“The concept of praxis . . . refers to our participation in the shaping of the world in which we live. It is based upon the idea that we are meant to make a difference. We are called to be contributors, people of reflection and action. . . . This is our common human task.”

Go Do It

This week I have written about industriousness, initiative, reinvention and responsibility. I have written about the way that human beings come alive when they feel free to take meaningful, appropriate, even obvious actions in support of necessary change. In reflection I understand that these various expressions are all shoots of the same vine; each an attempt

Even the Smallest Act

Lose this day loitering –’twill be the same story To-morrow–and the next more dilatory; Each indecision brings its own delays, And days are lost lamenting o’er lost days. Are you in earnest? Seize this very minute– Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Only engage, and then the mind grows heated– Begin it, and

Leap and a Net Will Appear

If you feel “ready,” you’ve waited too long. That’s my takeaway from volume one of Shelby Foote’s three-part narrative of the Civil War. It’s oversimplified, to be sure, but the biggest difference I can see between the Union forces in Virginia, commanded by McClellan, Halleck, Pope et al, and the Confederate forces under Lee in