Flat-pack truth

The box promises a bookshelf for forty dollars. That’s the appeal. Cheap, flat, and yours to build. Then you open the bag of screws and unfold one sheet of diagrams. No words. Just arrows and stick figures assembling something that looks nothing like your...

Proven elsewhere, but not proven here

The company needed a new head of product. So they promoted their best salesperson. He’d hit every number for six years. He understood the customer. He knew how to win. None of that is product management. This happens constantly, in sports and in business....

The doubt never leaves

We tell ourselves that success quiets the doubt. It doesn’t. We meet leaders who are, by any measure, excelling. Vibrant. Successful. Respected. And they still carry the same unanswered questions everyone else does. Am I actually good at this? Does anyone see...

The roster trap

We keep making the same mistake, season after season. We assume that if we collect enough talent, the wins will follow. We sign the best free agent, hire the sharpest résumé, recruit the highest scorer, and wait for the scoreboard to catch up with the roster. It...

We only change after breaking

We like to believe change comes from insight. A great idea, a strategic offsite, a moment of clarity. Mostly, it comes from breakdown. James Bond’s trainer says the muscle has to fail before it grows. Push past comfort, and the body rebuilds itself stronger....