Essays on creative leadership,
culture, and the human side of work.
Published weekly, with an original illustration. Two series: Becoming and Advisory Notes.
When we overpromise and underdeliver, it costs us big time. “I’m so sorry, but we need another week.” “But you promised! I have ta present tomorrow!” “I know, I know, but things changed, and we need…” *** When you make a promise and don’t deliver your client feels betrayed. They can be thrown into a…
Hubris ruins negotiations. Unrestrained pride can cost you friends, employees, clients, deals and even your life. Yep, hubris is dangerous and life-threatening. And, like the common cold, we can all catch it. Yes, I’m intimately familiar with hubris. Here’s how it rolls out for me. First, I find myself striving to achieve something; then I…
I’m in the process of writing a memoir. This piece is from that effort. I’m posting it now because the Burnley School building has been torn down in the last few days. It was interview day. The street was wet with light rain. Gray sky. I’d stopped at the light just across from the school.…
We feel before we know. The car bounced a little when I hit the post. “Shit.” A quick glance and it looked like no one was around to notice. It was mid-morning, so the underground garage was full of cars but empty of people. I’d backed right into a concrete support. I didn’t want to,…
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…
“If I fuck this up, my family will hate me forever,” was the thought. And with it the project stopped cold. “Ted, we’re terrified that this whole assignment is going to blow up in our face!” This from the owner of a London package design firm. (I’ve changed details in the story to protect those…
A client shared this with me (details changed to protect my client’s privacy). I was struck by the raw emotion of the experience. A Google Doc holds my future. The email said, “A self-introduction will be required.” When I read stuff like this, I automatically go into ‘run for the hills’ mode. I know how…