Joseph Heller wrote in his novel, Good as Gold, “The most advanced and penultimate stage of civilization is attained when chaos masquerades as order.” I’m pretty sure we’ve already arrived. I recently worked inside a major corporation for the ten thousandth time as visitor, consultant, friend, confidant and teacher. This always starts well and I usually...

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Last night, my family saw the 1994 movie “Don Juan DeMarco” on Netflix with Johnny Depp and Marlon Brando. It was funny, heartwarming, sensual, intelligent and very well acted. We were transported from our everyday world of people struggling with their desire to get more out of life and work to a place where life...

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The history of fuel economy standards in the US automobile industry is an excellent example of typical resistance to Breakthrough. It portrays how yesterday’s environmental obstruction is today’s common sense. (Excerpt from FAST COMPANY magazine, December 2011) A History of Breakthroughs in the face of Resistance: “In January, the European Union’s emissions trading system, the largest...

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What Performance, Relationship, Innovation and Values have in common is that each is an arena for enhancing, focusing, or suppressing peoples’ energy. It follows that the projects with the most available energy are far more likely to succeed.  Good ideas and the force of will are not enough. Consider the following examples. TOO MUCH ATTENTION TO...

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I know a successful global corporation where the Employee Engagement scores consistently range between 20 to 30 percent, and sometimes reach 40.  Whatever new training or policies they institute, Engagement stays stuck.  However, one division has Engagement scores in the 90s.  No one elsewhere understands, even when it is explained to them.  What’s present in the one division that’s...

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Six Sigma and other significant development projects too often do not fulfill their promise. In business, the public sector, academic and military sectors, failure and missed expectations plague innovation projects, technology implementations and other programs.  In a recent Innovation Conference in Shanghai, a global corporate executive discussed broadly-based research which showed that 90 percent of companies did...

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The Canadian Division of a global food manufacturer saved 28 million dollars in eight months, and saved several plants from closing, despite their high cost of production in an underutilized manufacturing system. It all began when the senior management stopped resisting what the workforce had to say. They returned to zero and started to listen....

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“Coachability” is the willingness to be coached, to listen, to respect instruction and act on it.  Coaching (another set of eyes) lets you see what’s missing which, if you act on it, could make a big difference. These days, many people know that coaching is a good idea.  They listen to it politely but never...

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John Lennon said, “Life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans.” I’ve spent a good part of my life making lists, setting goals, making plans and calling people up. Mostly, it’s been a waste of time.  Some years ago, I sold my company and in leaving, went through years of records, lists, plans, goals and...

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Possibility Deficit Disorder (PDD) is the pervasive and persistent experience of ‘no possibility’ now, and no attractive prospects in the future.  PDD is widespread in modern times.  At a national level, it is evidenced in the lack of ambitious ventures in technology development, industrial policy, educating necessary resources, infrastructure planning, national security, and transportation.  PDD can be observed...

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The world is littered with examples where once promising opportunities became a source of ongoing disappointment and loss.  Key projects, partnerships, mergers, new technology and programs – we launch these things with fanfare and an enthusiastic press release, only to suffer as a helpless spectator as conflict erupts, innovation fizzles and profits disappear. What once seemed...

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