FieldNotes
Our daily Field Notes email is just the kind of jumpstart you need. A fast read. Maybe less than a minute. Because sometimes it just takes one insight to change the trajectory of the day.
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The Paradox of Creativity and Constraint
The Paradox of Creativity and Constraint
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The Vocabulary of Justifying Hurtful Comments
The vocabulary of justifying hurtful comments is easy to spot because everyone uses them on occasion. Phrases that precede this bad behavior are commonplace: “This situation demands I say this.” “I have no choice but to state what we are all thinking.” “I’m following your lead here.” “We are all under a lot of stress…
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The Myth of Eliminating Hierarchies
Those with more status and power keep their colleagues moving in the same direction with more highly coordinated action. Research on social species, from ants to horses, proves that hierarchies are essential for groups to operate effectively. So, the next time some brainchild suggests the organization should move to a totally flat structure, recommend they…
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Great Organizations Promote Valued Behaviors, Not General Values
Many organizations craft value statements to guide the enterprise that are too broad to act on. The ambiguity of a general value statement fails to influence behavior in the way that leaders intend it to. Values like Respect, Teamwork, Integrity, Client Focus, Sustainability, Excellence, and the like sound uplifting, but they are difficult to act on. Despite
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Leaders Appreciate the Difference Between a Mistake and Mediocrity
When someone makes a mistake, they unintentionally engage in an action or judgment that proves to be wrong or misguided. Such errors can occur from a lack of skill or knowledge, an oversight, a false belief, or clumsiness, among other reasons. No one makes a mistake on purpose. Mediocrity, on the other hand, is a
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Focusing Forward
Driving a vehicle at speed between narrow barriers can be unnerving. Unless the driver keeps their eyes focused forward, they are likely to brush or crash against the very obstacles they are trying to avoid. Driving an automobile safely means allowing our hands and steering to follow our eyes, focused exclusively on where we want
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Clarify Your Strategy by Considering an Acquisition
The best organizations of all sizes have their eyes on potential acquisitions, even when an acquisition seems unlikely or unfamiliar, given the enterprise’s history. That’s because they know that understanding why an acquisition would make sense actually clarifies their existing strategy. More specifically, thinking through what strategic reason most justifies why the organization should consider…
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Nothing About Candidness Requires Disrespectful or Inflammatory Language
The truth is that a team member cannot become too candid when the group is wrestling with a critical decision or issue. But they can become too intense in the way they express that candidness. The truth between candid minds can only do harm when lines of respect are crossed. Being candid doesn’t demand anything…
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A More Creative Way of Taking Meeting Notes
A common practice at some of the most creative workplaces, like Disney, 3M, and Apple, is to take meeting notes categorically to learn more actively. In creative workplaces, people often take notes laterally across a page as opposed to the traditional vertical method of documenting points down the page. Instead of taking notes in a…
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Crafting a Team Charter to Working Through the ‘Storming’ Phase
Psychologist Bruce Tuckman first documented the stages of group development in 1965. He confirmed that teams go through five stages of development: forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. During the Storming stage, team members settle in, get more comfortable with each other, and become more candid in their discussions. Disagreements over decisions and differing viewpoints…