We all have our tried and true, especially when we’re stressed. There’s a tendency to fall back on what we know has worked in the past. It’s not unlike cooking. When I’m busy or rushed, it’s the tried and true recipes I fall back on.

Yet, if we want to go in a different direction, relying on our old recipes is the equivalent of only paddling on one side of the canoe. Not only will we have difficulty getting to a new place, it sometimes results in us travelling in circles.

Not sure exactly why but I recently signed up for a podcasting course.  Although I’ve previously taken a one day workshop and had the basics, I’ve never actually but them into play. This time I’m hoping it sticks.

So far, I’ve been pleasantly surprised because the course has been interesting, engaging, and ultimately, quite promising. In large part it’s because the course has been broken down into simple bite-sized assignments.  The first assignment was to give our podcast a name, the second list to 10 people we would interview, the third was… More Posted on 09-25-22

Why Jobs Make Me Twitchy

I don’t want a job.

Don’t get me wrong, I love to work. It could be my strong Ukrainian work ethic or it might just be that I am somewhat defined by my work and want to make a difference. Regardless, I work hard and put in far more hours than most people would consider typical or healthy.

Despite all that, I’ve recently concluded I’m going to have to stick to being self-employed because I’m not especially attracted to most of the jobs I’m seeing. Of course, it is tempting to think about a consistent… More Posted on 09-13-22

A Paucity of Curiosity?

This week I had a wonderful connection with a colleague who is doing amazing work focused on equipping organizations to thrive and fully realize their social purpose.  In the course of a conversation that bounced effortlessly from topic to topic, she suggested one of our greatest challenges today was ‘a paucity of curiosity’ and a ‘reluctance to tackle new learning’.

It was an elegant and insightful way of presenting a critical issue. It was also rather disconcerting because curiosity and creativity are what we need more of if we are to tackle… More Posted on 09-09-22

What the Heck Do I know About Prison Reform?

I spent an exciting hour on a zoom call this week with a network of eclectic and extraordinarily wise individuals from diverse professions and countries around the world.

The dynamic presenter shared a concept that is gaining traction. While ultimately her vision is to develop strategies for regenerating society and broken systems, her idea is to begin with an innovative pilot that will focus instead on reforming a prison or correctional institution - ideal because prisons are typically a self-contained community entity where applying a holistic, systems, or community perspective is more feasible.  More Posted on 09-02-22