Essays on creative leadership,
culture, and the human side of work.
Published weekly, with an original illustration. Two series: Becoming and Advisory Notes.
Sometimes avoidance, is key to survival. Just like home. I’d arrived. Twenty-one and a newly hired design illustrator at Boeing. Newly married and fully escaped from my adoptive family. I was now part of a group supporting management’s effort to sell Boeing’s whole Turbine Division to another company. Our little creative group — seven of…
When an unexpected blow opens up possibilities “…and I’m reducing your salary 25%.” I could see that he was extremely uncomfortable. He spoke in a voice that didn’t sound like him. It was lower in tone, almost as if his throat was restricted. I knew it was nerves. I knew things weren’t going well when…
“Now, honey, I’m sure we can find a way to reduce the rent.” It was late. Maybe around ten, my boss’s voice drifted back through the empty office. I was alone and finishing my work when I overheard his half of the conversation. All ears now thinking that it must be sex he was expecting.…
This evening a grade school classmate of mine arranged a Zoom reunion call. Thirteen of the eighty-five of us who graduated from Maple School have signed up for the call. A good turnout considering our graduation was in 1958. We’re all in our seventies, and seventeen of us are dead. My first memory of those…
This is the epic story of the birth of the brand NED, which stands for Not Entirely Dead, a brand inspired by Eason Yang’s personal cancer treatment experience. Doctors use the term NED when all symptoms of cancer are gone –– which, in their terms, means “No Evidence of Disease.” Once Eason reached that status,…
Sometimes negotiations reach an impasse. The big guns are facing you on Zoom. What now? What do you do when you realize that you’re dealing with a heavy? When smiles and a warm cup of joe isn’t going to help? When friendly banter and talk of shared goals are out of the question? Both Jessica…
Another black man dead under a white cop’s weight. Riots in the streets. Militarized police. Pandemic. 110,000 dead, and more to come. Votes not counted. The middle class shrinks. Incomes shrink. Wall Street rallies. The rich prosper. My thoughts trail off as I escape into sleep… Startled, he turns his head when I enter the…