What are some intense situations you’ve faced over the last year? How have you handled them? Were these situations that you’d been prepared for? Were you trained for them in some way? As part of my repertoire of facilitation and coaching, I often lead groups at an outdoor challenge course, offering team building experiences andContinue reading “Rely on Your Training and Articulate Your Next Steps”
Category Archives: Learning to learn
What is Triple Loop Learning?
Image source: Alex Atkinson Recently, my high school junior son co-founded a robotics team at school. After months of budgeting, securing sponsorship, building, and late-night coding (my son’s specialty), the team took part in their first regional competition. What they demonstrated was a perfect example of kaizen. Their early matches went well for a rookieContinue reading “What is Triple Loop Learning?”
Are You a “Furniture Maker,” or Simply a “Maker?”
Last month I was fortunate enough to spend some time behind-the-scenes in a well-known Boston-area robotics company. This is a workplace that requires a signed NDA before entry, but one thing I can talk about that came up during the conversations about their engineers is relevant to workplaces the world over – the idea thatContinue reading “Are You a “Furniture Maker,” or Simply a “Maker?””
Trevor Noah on Text, Voice, and Recalibrating Tone
Have you ever received a message from someone at work and interpreted the tone as angry, terse, or upset, leaving you stewing for days over what you did that caused that response, or how your reputation or relationships might be damaged as a result? On the flip side, have you ever sent a quick textContinue reading “Trevor Noah on Text, Voice, and Recalibrating Tone”
Build “Breathing Breaks” Into Your Day
In many of Building Bridges Leadership’s programs we look at a number of reasons we all make biased decisions. One major factor that’s true for us all is that our brains take in around 11 millions bits of information per second – a number that has increased dramatically over the last 30 years with theContinue reading “Build “Breathing Breaks” Into Your Day”
How to Make Your Bed at Work
You’ve probably heard axioms along the lines of “success starts with making your bed.” You may have even seen the popular 2014 University of Texas at Austin Commencement address by Naval Admiral William H. McRaven, which has inspired thousands of people to make their beds each morning when they first wake up. But whether or not youContinue reading “How to Make Your Bed at Work”
People Aren’t Debatable
Have you ever felt judged by others (at work or elsewhere) because of beliefs you hold, or actions you choose to take, or because of an aspect of your identity? Have you ever heard yourself be lumped in with a group that’s being discussed, without anyone else in the conversation knowing you’re part of thatContinue reading “People Aren’t Debatable”
Talk to the Duck
When you’re facing a problem that you think you should be able to solve, but you can’t see what you’re missing… what do you do? For many of us, frustration just builds and builds – and, while you may not need scientific studies to back up what might seem obvious, “frustration is often negatively associatedContinue reading “Talk to the Duck”
Avoiding Selective Moral Outrage
I showed up to register for my first set of classes at Harvard Graduate School of Education on the morning of September 11, 2001. The World Trade Center attacks played over and over on the small TV screens in Gutman Library with large crowds gathered around, but we all registered for classes without acknowledging whatContinue reading “Avoiding Selective Moral Outrage”
What Are the 5S Pillars?
A recent Building Bridges Leadership article on the concept of Kaizen touched on the five phases of 5S methodology, a system to reduce waste and optimize productivity through maintaining an orderly workplace. Implementation of this method “cleans up” and organizes the workplace basically in its existing configuration, and uses visual cues to achieve more consistentContinue reading “What Are the 5S Pillars?”
Building Bridges Leadership 