Category Archives: Observations on Transition

Conversations: A critical transition tool

Posted on February 2, 2012 | 3 comments

I was reading the New Yorker this week and was struck by an article by Jonah Lehrer called, Groupthink: the brainstorming myth (The New Yorker, January 30, 2012 pg 22+).   The article was interesting in that it completely upended the notion of brainstorming as a productive tool for creative problem solving.   Brainstorming?  My kids, 1st and 2nd graders, even know the approach.  Continue reading →

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Little known transition attributes: courage & silence

Posted on January 26, 2012 | 3 comments

“I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on,” said Steve Jobs in his much-quoted commencement address to Stanford University in June 2005.   He was speaking about dropping out of college and then hanging around campus to explore courses that appeared interesting to him but Continue reading →

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Trials, experiments and transition

Posted on January 19, 2012 | 4 comments

This week a conversation from almost a decade ago popped into my mind.  In it I was speaking with a brainy friend of mine who was a coder at Microsoft.  He and I were talking about how small teams of coders were independent but highly linked.  For example, one team might be given the challenge to build the “slide show” function for Powerpoint; another might be given the “inserting pictures” function.  Each group would work on their own piece.  Every night they would run a routine to integrate all of the code written that day by the various teams.   Sound groundbreaking?

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A 2012 Challenge: Innovation

Posted on January 5, 2012 | Leave a comment

“Workers are dropping out of the labor force in droves and they are mostly women,” boasted a front page New York Times headline just before New Year’s.  “They are not dropping out forever; instead, these young women seem to be postponing their working lives to get more education.”  What can I say?  It caught my eye during a rare moment of peace over the holiday vacation. Continue reading →

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Leading with gratitude….

Posted on December 22, 2011 | 7 comments

“I lead with gratitude,” said Roland “Boot” Boutwell, an effervescent spirit who last Monday evening led a thought-provoking program on the Winter Solstice for The Friends of the Fells.   The group is a not-for-profit association that supports a 2,500 acre nature reserve that was established in 1894 about 8 miles north of Boston.   I’d venture to call him a naturalist.  Although I’d really be selling him short with such a description. Continue reading →

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Is there a choice you need to make?

Posted on December 15, 2011 | 1 comment

“Make the right choices now.  Don’t choose out of negativity,” said Marion Jones, former five-time Olympic medalist and the morning’s keynote speaker at the Massachusetts Conference for Women on December 8, 2011. Continue reading →

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Risk & Transition

Posted on December 1, 2011 | 1 comment

Transition has changed my relationship with risk.   I understand it now  at a whole new level.  The only parallel I can liken it to is my understanding of men now that I’ve parented a son.   An entirely new level of comprehension… Continue reading →

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Her Place at the Table and Thanksgiving Treats

Posted on November 17, 2011 | 2 comments

I’ve had Deborah Kolb on the brain since last spring.  I registered to attend a day long event last June that she was hosting at Simmons College.  It fell during one of the those  weeks when I got three days notice for an end-of-year event from my children’s school.  It still amazes me that such short notice exists.  The summary is that I missed the Kolb event… and missed her book on my summer book tour.  Not sure I can cite the school alone for being disorganized!

Kolb is a noted lecturer and educator on the topic of negotiating – particularly women & negotiation.   This week – I jumped on a pre-Thanksgiving TABLE twist and finally read her 2004 missive,  “Her Place at the Table.”  Continue reading →

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Guilt & tractors

Posted on November 10, 2011 | 2 comments

“He’s on the lamb?” said my army-veteran cousin – half laughing, half shocked – after I shared a surprising tale about a distant cousin.    We were having dinner earlier this week at a quaint eatery in the North End of Boston.  My cousin’s sister was in town for a conference.  The law enforcement reference was in response to a story I told about our parents’ cousin who had relocated to Australia in his early twenties.  Everyone at the table had heard countless reverential stories about “David,” who would by now be in his early eighties.   David had a wonderful joie de vivre. Continue reading →

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Transition Triumphs?

Posted on November 3, 2011 | Leave a comment

“I’ve been reading your blog and thinking ‘ugh’ all this transition stuff,” said Victoria Taylor, CEO and founder of Victoria Gourmet, lamenting that transition would be ahead of her again sometime.  Victoria’s remarks made me wonder, ‘Can we ever triumph over transition?’ Continue reading →

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