Musings
My Watch Loves Me
I was in Grand Rapids to visit Steelcase and decided to walk to breakfast at a place called Little Bird. I had eaten there a few years ago and was excited to experience their creative breakfast menu again. In the same area, one can also find the Grand Rapids Art Museum and a store named Kilwins, where you can purchase handmade…
Read MoreWater And Trees
One of the enjoyable things I get to do as a CEO is work with a wonderful board of directors. During a recent board retreat, we had a facilitator join us to help work through some difficult decisions. This person happens to be a good friend of mine. During our day, he said something that…
Read MoreUrgent Optimism
I filled up my car with gas a couple days ago, and the total was over $100. I avoid most news outlets and completely ignore social media, but you cannot escape the stories about tragic shootings happening one after another. We are being told daily that environmental shifts are going to make much of our…
Read MoreBack Pain
I suffer from lower back pain. Thankfully it is not constant and is often tied to my controllable behaviors. The better I take care of myself, the less pain I experience. Today is one of the days where I hurt, and I have been thinking about how that affects me. While pain is necessary as…
Read MoreMemorial Days
Today is Memorial Day in the United States—a day set aside to remember those who have died in the service of our country. Originally called Decoration Day, the tradition of visiting the graves of fallen soldiers likely began before the Civil War was even over. In 1971, Congress standardized the holiday as “Memorial Day” and…
Read MoreCheck Engine Light
A friend called recently to ask me a car related question. He told me that his check engine light had been on but had recently gone off. He wanted to know if he should be worried about that. I wasn’t even sure where to begin. If you have been reading the musings, you know that…
Read MoreBorrowed Vision
Nestled into the landscape in the Sonoran Desert above Phoenix sits Taliesin West, architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s winter home and studio. Wright and his students (the Taliesin Fellowship) lived and worked there during the winters from 1937 until Wright’s death in 1959. I went to Taliesin last week to see the architecture again but also…
Read MoreI Made A Mistake
I believe it is important to be punctual and do what you say you will do. Occasionally, I am late to a meeting or event, or I don’t get something done that I promised to do. In the moment when I am confronted with the reality that I have not acted with punctuality or dependability,…
Read MoreTruth or Dare
We all hate being lied to, but we don’t always want the truth. One of my colleagues said that the other day, and it struck me that this is often a problem with leadership. Leaders ask for the truth all the time, but then we do several things that keep people from telling us. We…
Read MoreForgotten Failures
Abraham Wald was a Hungarian Jew who fought in WWII and was responsible for untold numbers of pilots and crew members coming back alive from engagements over Europe. He did all this from an office in New York City. His weapons were mathematics and statistics, and his battlefield was data used to create solutions to…
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