Article: One Mis-Managed Soldier
Twenty-two-year-old Pfc. Bradley Manning has spent the last several weeks behind bars in Kuwait and Virgina. If you don't know his name by now, he's the Army intelligence analyst suspected of sneaking some 90,000 secret war memos to Wikileaks (not to mention a troubling 30 minute video of a US helicopter attack). The first-of-its kind leak has generated more than a little controversy. Pundits and policy-wonks are thrilling themselves with arguments on the morality of spilling secrets and the politics of national security in the Wiki-age. Meanwhile the government alternates between tones meant to inflame the passions of patriotism or inspire dread in any who would follow Manning's alleged example. The security experts are far from quiet, too, as they...
Article: More Than Pruning
You can't keep an orchard if your only skill is pruning. If all you know is how to snip off what you don't like, you will soon have deformed and stunted trees. If you can't help but snip, you'll soon have nothing but stumps. Growing a healthy orchard takes skill and hard work. The wise person knows to nurture the whole tree: bud, leaf, and branch. And she pays special attention to nourishing the root. A tree well nourished needs little pruning. It grows full and round and produces just as much fruit as it's branches could possibly hold. Of course, I'm not really speaking of trees at all. Rather, I'm taking...
Article: Mission or Ambition?
Does your organization’s purpose light people up? In the course of a presentation recently, I examined the mission statements of several companies. The presentation itself was, generally, about doing business from a relational standpoint instead of from a transactional standpoint. More specifically, it was about “missionalizing” one’s business/organization. The idea is this: organizations that establish a high-level purpose and integrate that purpose into every aspect of operations have the opportunity to connect with people – inside and outside...
Article: I’m In
The fast lane to starting something new often feels much more like the slow lane. What would you do if you recently moved into a new area only to find, to your surprise and disappointment, no youth hockey league for your children? Here’s what you probably wouldn’t do: start a youth hockey league. Not yet anyway…doing so would be exhausting, frustrating, and expensive. Hockey – particularly ice hockey – is a sport that requires a lot of commitment, both in terms of money and time. The equipment can be expensive, and so is the ice...