Let’s talk about Shu Ha Ri. For any unfamiliar, it’s a term borrowed from martial arts, and it’s meant to describe the stages of learning to achieve mastery. First, we must learn and apply the rules without deviation (Shu). As we progress, we break the rules or perhaps innovate on the rules to improve ourselves […]
No Rules Agility: How to Operate in the Ri Read More »
A few weeks ago, I wrote about how the Marine Corps decentralizes decision making via the Rule of Three. I talked a lot about how information moves down the chain of command to those in the trenches, and a few readers reminded me that I glossed over the flow of information from the trenches to
General Mattis on the Flow of Information Read More »
I have a confession to make … I’m forgetful. Incredibly forgetful, in fact, and it’s a real problem for me. Still, the people I work with are astounded that nothing ever falls between the cracks. It’s my task list that’s doing the heavy lifting though, and I’m almost religious about it. My whole day is
How To Fix Your Broken Task List Read More »
Let me tell you a secret about a simple mechanism that the U.S. Marine Corps employs to decentralize decision making. The brilliance of it is in its simplicity, and I do believe it’s mostly a secret. Only once in all my years have I run across anyone who has described what I’m about to describe
How the Marine Corps Decentralizes Decision Making Read More »
Frequent readers of my blog know that I’m a U.S. Marine Corps veteran. My ten years as a Marine were some of the most formative years of my life, and every today I still rely on what the Corps taught me about a bias toward progress. Marines aren’t known for their nuance, but we know
A Marine’s Guide to Getting S*** Done Read More »
I was catching up with Chris Murman* and out of nowhere he said something that’s stuck with me. He said this more kindly than I’m summing up here, but this is what I took away: Change fatigue with Scrum is what someone says when they don’t want to do something. It caught me off guard,
Change Fatigue Versus Choice Fatigue Read More »
I’m a career, life, and executive coach, and I was recently laid off. It was a shock to say the least, but it wasn’t near as soul crushing as I would have expected. Let me tell you how I’ve decided to approach my circumstance. Maybe there’s something here that’ll help you too. Before we start
Being Laid Off, Bruised Egos, and How To Recover Read More »
When I first meet with clients, we talk about the difference between mentoring and coaching. These two spaces share a lot in common so they’re easily conflated, and I’ve shared previously my pithy way of approaching the topic: Mentors answer questions. Coaches question answers. Even after we had talked it through, clients would struggle. I
The Four Levels of Coaching Read More »
I almost didn’t publish this post since it felt derivative. People much smarter than I have covered this topic in greater depth and elegance than I ever could. Lyssa Adkins comes to mind. Nonetheless, I think André Gide sums up why we’re here: Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But since
Are Agile Coaches Actually Coaching? Read More »
Transactional leadership makes me cringe. Transactional leaders focus on title and hierarchy. They search for and crave prestige and authority. It all feels so political, and it’s a real problem for me. You manage things. You lead people. Grace Hopper Maybe it’s quotes like this that began my rub. Or maybe it’s my preference for
Why Transactional Leadership Sucks Read More »
