Tag: Leadership

Mapping Organizational Ecosystems: Predetermined vs Relational Roles

This is an excerpt from an essay I'm working on to describe developing perspectives and practices for mapping an organizational ecosystem. I recently ran a workshop with Agitare, the Defense Entrepreneurs Forum, and the Federal Innovation Network to explore how we view, create, and use maps of our massive, interconnected community, and how co-created and inter-subjective approaches … Continue reading Mapping Organizational Ecosystems: Predetermined vs Relational Roles →

Expertise as Limiting; Uncertainty as Enabling

There's a common manifestation of "The Expert" in every field--one who has allowed the weight of their accumulated knowledge and experience to drag them down into an unfortunate state of certainty. The Expert has gained so much confidence in their field and craft that they see themselves as qualified, empowered, and even obligated to make … Continue reading Expertise as Limiting; Uncertainty as Enabling →

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 →

Why the Old Paradigms Don’t Work & Introduction to Cynefin (Video + Script)

https://youtu.be/ACkoVBnwaaw Script: For the next 20 minutes, I want to introduce you to a little bit of theory, and it might come across as somewhat abstract, maybe extremely abstract, but I have found some of these concepts extremely useful in understanding why the old paradigms and our default problem solving and sense-making methods often don't … Continue reading Why the Old Paradigms Don’t Work & Introduction to Cynefin (Video + Script) →

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) →

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 →