Hi Reader, For the past month, I’ve been telling you I was getting closer to being ready to show you what I’ve been building around here. Phew, I can finally stop being vague about it. Today is my birthday, and as a gift (to me and you) I’m sharing (mostly 😉) what I’ve been building around here. I’m calling it a birthday surprise in reverse 🎉. The backstory: My work has been quietly and organically evolving for years. I didn’t actually have any designs to sit down one day and redesign it, but...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Hi Reader, Two weeks ago I told you something around here is shifting a bit. Not one big overhaul, just a quiet bit of change in about a hundred small(many very, very tiny) decisions finally adding up to something that felt aligned. A bunch of you wrote back (thank you!), and many of you landed on the same spot: the alignment part. Specifically, where things feel in line for you, and where they really don’t. So l’m staying right there, because there’s a piece of this I didn’t say last time,...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Dear Reader, Last month, I wrote about misalignment and how it's rarely dramatic, rarely obvious. It's just that quiet, subtle friction. Teams working hard but are rowing in slightly different directions. Stated priorities that don't quite match where time and money actually go. A lot of you wrote back. And what I heard most wasn't panic, it was recognition:"That's exactly what's happening here," or "I've been sensing exactly this but couldn't name it." So now we're a month out. Q1 is nearly...
6 months ago • 3 min read
Dear Reader, As long as January is, February whips by in a blink. Sure it’s a shorter month but also, the adrenaline of January has worn off, hasn’t it? The decks are built, the goals are declared, and the meetings are back in full swing. And while there may not be dramatic dysfunction or obvious failure, February is usually when a quieter issue starts to surface: misalignment. Teams working hard, but pulling in different directions. Leaders asking for outcomes that systems can’t quite...
6 months ago • 2 min read
Dear Reader, It’s Week Three of January. And Honestly, That Feels Right. I want to name something right up front: This note didn’t go out the first week of January. Or the second. That wasn’t procrastination; it was by design. The beginning of January tends to be loud with everyone declaring resolutions & intentions, choosing words of the year (my fave), rolling out new systems, and announcing who they’re going to be this year. It can feel energizing if not a little disconnected from how...
7 months ago • 3 min read