On Death, Celebration, and Seriousness

The first time I questioned my decision to join the Air Force was in basic training, but it wasn't while being smoked by some screamy, sadistic TI (Training Instructor), who were mostly cartoonish, amusing, and annoying. It was when they sat us down to watch a hype video of bombs being dropped and detonating on … Continue reading On Death, Celebration, and Seriousness →

A Few Steps Further

I was pleased to hear from my friend Austin that he felt inspired (or perhaps compelled is the right word) by a story I told recently, “Miles to Go Before We Sleep”, to write on the subject of diversity and inclusion in the Air Force and defense innovation community. His piece, “Path Before I Rest”, … Continue reading A Few Steps Further →

The Path Before I Rest

I hope you will take the time to read and heed some of the insights shared by my friend Austin in this piece, which he shared with me as a response to a story I wrote about a white senior leader using his platform to silence the voice and experience of a Black Airman.Austin and I … Continue reading The Path Before I Rest →

Miles to Go Before We Sleep

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 →

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) →

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 →

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 →

The Art of Wandering Downhill

Imagine you’ve ventured deep into a mountainous landscape. Picture that in every direction are miles and miles of hills and mountains, varying in elevation from tiny hillocks to majestic alps... Now imagine that your goal is to find the highest peak possible... but visibility is extremely poor. It’s so foggy, you can’t see what’s beyond … Continue reading The Art of Wandering Downhill →

How to Know if it is Raining

A little over a year ago, we were on another of our family adventures, having taken the long route to Germany, with stops along the way at Liberty Science center in New Jersey, Hever Castle in Kent, England, the Colosseum in Rome, a series of tunnels 40 meters under Naples, Italy, a few flights, a … Continue reading How to Know if it is Raining →

It’s Personal

In 2007, I was attending the Defense Language Institute’s Mandarin Chinese Basic Course. I was several months in and had a 3.8 GPA, second only in my class to my friend and fellow Airman James Fisher. I won’t say my academic success was because I tried harder than my classmates. I absolutely didn’t. I just … Continue reading It’s Personal →