I recently gave a tour of FrogSong, my cohousing community, to a group of local university students. During my talk I shared this story about the power of consensus decision-making. Even though this event happened fifteen years ago, I still choke up in the telling. Quick background: Consensus, as we practice it, draws heavily on […]
During one of my weekend runs, I passed under a bridge where a homeless man was sleeping. I’d been out for an hour or so, and the tea I’d drunk earlier was calling for an exit. As I scouted for a suitable location, it occurred to me that I had a few things in common […]
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The beginning of a new year is a traditional time for self-reflection, often resulting in a list of habits to initiate, change, or break. Many of them revolve around health behaviors: stop smoking; eat more salad and less junk food; workout every day. Seth Godin’s blog post Angry Is a Habit suggests that our emotional […]
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At a recent meeting, I was reminded how hard it can be to separate the quality of an idea or the validity of a fact from the popularity or authority of the person expressing it. Have you ever suggested something at work and been pooh-poohed, only to have someone ELSE suggest the same damn thing…and […]
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How you phrase the question influences the answer(s) you receive. We all know this intuitively. Our senses go on alert when we hear that question that seems to contain within it a judgement about what the right answer might be. Then there are the poll-takers, with questions and multiple choice answers that point to a […]
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How Not to Say the Wrong Thing by Susan Silk and Barry Goldman is easily the most brilliant thing I’ve read all year. I will summarize it briefly but you owe it to yourself to go read the whole thing. Basically, when someone is in a sucky situation – their dog died, they have cancer, […]
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I spent all day Saturday doing landscaping work with my cohousing neighbors. I actually don’t like gardening all that much. I have very little experience or knowledge, having lived all my adult life in trailers, apartments, and condos. But the foliage was threatening to take over and so the troops were assembled and armed with […]
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In a previous post, I shared a list of Twenty Declarations – things I absolutely know to be true. I’ve added to them over time: 21. Ain’t no way out but through! 22. Don’t pre-plan your bummers. 23. You can’t think outside the box if you don’t know what box you’re in. 24. Creating and […]
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Meetings and presentations are a necessary part of doing business; too often they are dry, boring, unfocused, or simply unproductive. Gain a strategic edge by sharing your vision and creatively engaging your audience using visual facilitation tools. Why rely on words and text for so much of our group work and communication when 75 percent […]
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