The cost of role fog

I was sitting with a leadership team recently, post-mortem on a project that had missed its deadline. Smart people. Good intentions. Real effort. But as we unpacked it, the same pattern emerged that I see more often than I care to admit. No one had agreed on who was...

The comfortable illusion of knowing

I’ve watched it happen more times than I can count. An individual reads a book. A good one. Finds the insight that unlocks something. And then stops there. There’s a seductive feeling that comes with the click of understanding. It feels like an arrival. It...

The map you keep ignoring

Every leader has guiding principles. Most just can’t name them. That is the problem. Warren Buffett built Berkshire Hathaway on a single unwavering principle: invest in businesses with durable competitive advantages, then do nothing. Not clever tactics. Not...

The weight of more

The gym down the street just added a hydromassage chair. And a smoothie bar. And something called a “recovery zone” with infrared saunas. I watched them install it all through the window while walking past outside. They are trying to solve a problem that...

Choose your hard

Hard choices exist for a reason. They’re not simple. But inevitably, the hard decisions matter most. Choose your hard. Make the tough decisions now or risk the perils of the decision not made. We all do it. Forsake exercise to lounge about. Watch another show...