Posted in change

She calls it "Kanter's Law": "Everything looks like a failure in the middle."  In a Harvard Business Review article in 2009  Rosabeth Moss Kanter wrote that "Everyone loves inspiring beginnings and happy endings; it is just the middles that involve hard work." It's an interesting thought and the principle does seem to apply to most changes or new approaches we take, whether in our business or our personal lives. The initial decisions and commitm...

"We are what we repeatedly do," said Aristotle. "Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit." In the past two newsletters I've highlighted the issues of strengths and confidence. Each of these has been a significant theme in workshops and coaching this year. Another significant theme has been the power of habit - for both good and bad. Let's focus on the good in the spirit of both building on strengths and building and sustaining confidence as we pursue "ex...

Autumn leaves, bin chickens and perspective ... In Canberra recently, I took a walk outside to enjoy the crisp, clear autumn air, breathing in the change of season, and admiring the early falling leaves of autumn. They're not as common a sight where I live (and certainly not this early in the year) so I took some photos: leaves on the trees, leaves on the lawn, leaves on the path. I was fascinated by the leaves. And then I noticed one of the hotel staff sweeping the leaves off the...

Around this time of year I often ask people I'm coaching to think about their "hits, misses, and wishes". It's a simple way of taking a snapshot of the year and framing some celebration, learning and planning in the transition to a new year. So ... What have been your "hits" this year? The things that have gone well, that have been successful, that you would mark down as achievements? What are you proud of? How have you improved? This morning I recei...

Identifying, pursuing and enabling positive change presents a critical challenge for both individuals and organisations. On the one hand, we know that change, improvement and adaptation are critical. The world around us isn't standing still waiting for us to be comfortable with change. Stagnation and sameness breed irrelevance and decline. On the other hand, change and imagination invoke risk and the potential for another sort of failure. On the one hand, we are innately creative a...