Yesterday, in a post about culture on an Air Force Facebook group, I watched a black Airman share that he struggled to feel comfortable around certain white leaders, that he felt more comfortable around black leaders, and that this obviously had negative implications for unit cohesion. He shared that these feelings were grounded in past … Continue reading Miles to Go Before We Sleep
Leadership in Complexity – Conversation, Values, Democracy, Slippery Slopes, and Genuine Evil
https://youtu.be/4S0K7MAT_KA Text: I posted something in an Air Force Facebook group the other day that went something like this: I think more of our mid-tier leaders -- officers and NCOs -- need to be enabled, educated, and empowered to engage in the difficult task of rooting out, tamping down, and expelling extremist, sectarian ideologies among … Continue reading Leadership in Complexity – Conversation, Values, Democracy, Slippery Slopes, and Genuine Evil
The TIM^n Framework (video + script)
https://youtu.be/btSxtF5nwio Transcript:In the book Design Unbound by Ann Pendleton Jullian and John Seely Brown I was recently introduced to the idea of society existing and evolving on multiple levels of organization, and David Ronfeldt’s TIMn framework. TIMn stands for Tribes, Institutions, Markets, and Networks. In early history, society only existed at the tribal level. Tribes … Continue reading The TIM^n Framework (video + script)
2020-A Shared Illusion
I’ve been spending a bit of time on what I intended to be a retrospective post about the year 2020... but struggling. Perhaps that is appropriate, as 2020 was characterized by nothing if not struggle. Perhaps I should consider this piece on different types of alignment to be my official retrospective post, which explores some … Continue reading 2020-A Shared Illusion
The Door
In the dimness of the moonlight, we can’t see far. We walk along a stretch of gray sand in near silence. The wind clicks, whispers, and mumbles conspiratorially. To the right, approximately parallel to our path, the dark body of water laps, repeatedly, lapping, with no discernible rhythm, at the shore. My attention is scattered. … Continue reading The Door
Alignment: Artifacts and Rituals
Allow me to be transparent in a way that might make all of us uncomfortable. Over the course of the year that I worked at my last unit, I felt quite unaligned to their strategy and culture. I struggled to pin down who, what, and why we were, consistently coming up short. I was (very generously) handed a job that … Continue reading Alignment: Artifacts and Rituals
On Reflecting and Being Reflected, Musically
I saw a post this morning on LinkedIn which I found really intriguing. It proposed a type of icebreaker for facilitated workshops in which every participant shares a personal "Song of the Day" with the group. My initial response was positive. What a wonderful way to visibly, audibly, emotionally demonstrate the diversity in the room … Continue reading On Reflecting and Being Reflected, Musically
My White Privilege
When I was a kid, we used to go out after curfew and run from the local cops as a fun game. We would dodge their spotlights and run through private property to stay out of sight. Not for a second did we fear for our lives. If we got caught drinking or one of … Continue reading My White Privilege
Grief at Four Months
Our 14-year old daughter Rebecca died four months ago, on May 6th, 2020. Her death was a slow trauma- the gradual unwrapping of a horrible gift we were forced to accept shortly after her birth, that we were left no choice but to keep revealing. Her death was a violence in slow-motion, carried out over … Continue reading Grief at Four Months
CMSgt Larson
This is an adaptation of some words I gave at the retirement ceremony of one of my favorite leaders, Chief Master Sergeant Jen Larson. I met Chief Larson at a pretty difficult point in my career. I was fighting an Air Force assignment so I could stay with my family for the end of my … Continue reading CMSgt Larson
