Essays on creative leadership,
culture, and the human side of work.
Published weekly, with an original illustration. Two series: Becoming and Advisory Notes.
A free Overture Creative Cooperative Zoom workshop Join us Tuesday April 7th 10-11:30 AM Pacific for help with… 1 What to do to get new work 2 How to hang on to existing work and 3 How to build relationships virtually The workshop includes: -A presentation on the survival questions above -A Q&A session that…
Brie’s dreams all played to her fears. Only partially awake, Brie could feel the fear. Taste it, actually. That metallic taste. “I’m doing the right thing.” And again: “I’m doing… I mean, we’re doing the right thing.” Brie facing it now. Knowing the fear. Thinking through the risk. “We’re living in a time where we…
The life as advertised. Happy shoppers surrounded by abundance. Abundance for the affluent few. “Remember magazines?” This from Tommy. They were in GM’s Detroit planning bunker, waiting for the AI engineering report on Project Bella. They knew it was going to be a long wait. “They were wonderful,” he said reverently. “I helped create a…
“Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore…” –Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz” A damp, wet drizzle shrouded the view in the low light. Steam seemed to drift up from the trees. Old man MacNelly had the car running and was wiping the fog off the windshield as the boy climbed up…
You ain’t got no money, you just ain’t no good Hit the road, Jack, and don’t you come back No more –Ray Charles Morning coffee at Overture was usually a warm time of catching up, reconnecting. This morning was different. They’d all spent the night reconsidering yesterday’s events. A sleepless night for some, a restless…
It was an acoustic guitar Drinking Black Russians in a room full of cigarette smoke. I must have been 23 or 24. A small dark room. The stage was only one step up from the floor. The room so small I could smell the performer’s sweat. The only light was a couple spots on him…
Everybody knows that the dice are loaded Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed Everybody knows the war is over Everybody knows the good guys lost Everybody knows the fight was fixed The poor stay poor, the rich get rich That’s how it goes Everybody knows –Leonard Cohen Three women, with packs on their backs, were…