Beware the Universal
November 17, 2023
Beware the Universal I have long found wisdom in the uses of a small scale. It has been decades since I read FritzBSchumaker’s book Small
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The Truth and Nothing but the Truth
September 27, 2023
The Truth and Nothing but the Truth I get self-righteous when it comes to honesty. But do I always tell the truth? Clearly not. I
She Made It Crooked
September 7, 2023
Hal’s Blog- Each year, Pam and I host a few artists in our Adirondack home who gather to paint for a
weekend near Old Forge, NY. This year we had Jean with us, a budding artist whose job was
making teeth. For years she fashioned crowns, bridges and other replacements.
Could have would have should have
August 9, 2023
Hal’s blog- Words are distinct, even when they are presumed to go together.
In a new INC newsletter, Jeff Hagen flags words that prompt increased achievement in people and organizations. One of them is “could.” He notes that the word we often use is “should,” which tends to make choice binary. Should we do this or that…
The Power of Formats
July 19, 2023
Hal’s Blog- We like to think that people create solutions and fresh paths to reach them. In organizations, who among us is not firmly convinced we are open to new ideas? Yet look at our expressions: stay within your lane, color within the lines, follow the instructions. My favorite: tell me what to do and I will do it.
Thinking like a scientist
July 6, 2023
Hal’s Blog- Our CEO of Results1st was ecstatic. She had just heard from a scientist how helpful our approach had been to her. Jasmin Graham is CEO of MISS—Minorities in Shark Sciences.
Don’t Feed the Zombies
May 10, 2023
Hal’s Blog- This heading sits on top of an article by Kevin Starr in the March 28 issue of Stanford Social Innovation Review. Kevin leads the Mulago Foundation, and he is singing our Results1st song. I have worked with about 100 foundations—as large as the Gates Foundation and as small as $10 million in assets. My core theme is fundamental: shift from funding programs to investing in results. The first is the business of distributing money. The second is the business of securing the highest human gain for the dollars available. Zombies gets to that bedrock in a hurry.
Optimism, kindness, knowledge and homogenous
March 23, 2023
Hal’s Blog- I just read The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak. It is a fable in which a fig tree does most of the talking. Four passages in this intriguing book each reflects a new way to think about one of the words in the title. Each takes on new possibilities for me. See what you think.
Trust and change…and how to arrange your bookshelf
March 8, 2023
Hal’s Blog- Don’t bother to put the two parts of the title together. All they have in common is being the subject of passages I read last week that left me unsettled.
The first is from a program report and came in a highlighted box: Change happens at the speed of trust. Trust takes time and discourse to achieve. Meanwhile, don’t push for improvements. I like reversing this logic: Trust happens at the speed of change. I like trust in motion more than in discourse. I see trust more readily in behavior than in voiced sentiments.
The Legacy of Black Pioneers
February 1, 2023
Hal’s Blog- I saw a great exhibit on this subject at the James Museum of Western and Wildlife Art in St. Petersburg Florida recently. It told through contemporary quilts the stories of Black individuals and families who went west. I first learned that while these stories are seldom told they are plentiful. About 25% of cowboys, for example, were Black.
ATTENTION!
January 18, 2023
Hal”s Blog- In an achievement framework, we speak of defining results and designing programs to achieve them. In these times, it is just as hard, however, to stick to results as to anything else.
Gloria Mark points out the challenge in her new book Attention Span: A groundbreaking Way to Restore Balance, Happiness, and Productivity. She has found that people spend an average of 47 seconds on any screen. We are nomadic while sitting still.
The Journey and the Adventure
January 4, 2023
Hal’s Blog- We often speak of life as a journey. “My” journey and “your” journey are far more common than “our” journey.
