Monday morning restraint

Sunday night, the thought was fully formed. Monday morning, my thumb hovered over send. It felt urgent. Mostly, it felt heavy, and I wanted it off my chest. That’s my timing. Not theirs. The idea will keep. Will their attention, if I spend it today?...

Pom-poms in Taipei

Six months ago, the answer would have been no. Not a considered no. An emphatic one, delivered with a look that suggested I’d lost my mind. The question? Whether she could lead forty-something classmates, all senior professionals, through a full cheerleading routine....

Easier to double down

After every bad decision, a moment matters more than the decision itself. It’s quiet. It usually arrives as a number on a report, or a look across the table from someone who saw it coming. And in that moment, we get a choice: read the evidence, or defend...

The part we skip

Every month, the same scene plays out. A team works late reconciling accounts, building the variance report, formatting the charts. It arrives polished and accurate. And it ends exactly where it should begin. Where is the “what does this mean?” Where is...

Draw them the picture

There’s a sign at almost every public swimming pool. No running. No diving. No glass. No horseplay. Read it closely, and something becomes obvious. Not one word about how to swim. That sign amuses me more than it should, because I see versions of it in nearly...