A culture that allows everyone, no matter their position, to stop the assembly line, both figuratively and literally, maximizes the creative engagement of people who want to help. In other words, we m...
Real
While the allure of safety and predictability is strong, achieving true balance means engaging in activities whose outcomes and payoffs are not yet apparent. The
When you instantly resort to secrecy, you are telling people they can’t be trusted.
What made Notes Day work? To me, it boils down to three factors. First, there was a clear and focused goal. This wasn’t a free-for-all but a wide-ranging discussion (organized around topics suggested...
We realized that our purpose was not merely to build a studio that made hit films but to foster a creative culture that would continually ask questions.
We are meaning-making creatures
Unlike some theoretical ideas, Occam’s Razor accords easily with human nature. In general, we seek what we think are simple explanations for events in our lives because we believe the simpler somethin...
Uncertainty and change are life's constraints. And that's the fun part.
Trusting others doesn’t mean that they won’t make mistakes. It means that if they do (or if you do), you trust they will act to help solve it. Fear can be created quickly; trust can’t. Leaders must de...
To ensure quality, I believed, any person on any team needed to be able to identify a problem and, in effect, pull the cord to stop the line. To create a culture in which this was possible, you needed...
This principle eludes most people, but it is critical: You are not your idea, and if you identify too closely with your ideas, you will take offense when they are challenged.
The roller coaster came to a stop and a good friend got off, but what a ride we'd taken together. It had been one hell of a trip.
The phenomenon I’m describing, rooted so firmly in that primal human drive for self-preservation, probably doesn’t sound surprising: We all know that people bring their best selves to interactions wit...
Some people make the mistake of thinking that they are being mindful because they are focusing diligently on problems. But if they are doing so while subconsciously bound up with their worries and exp...
People join us with a set of expectations about what they think is important. They want to please, impress, and show their worth. They really don’t want to embarrass themselves by showing incomplete w...
Las reglas tal vez simplifiquen la vida a los ejecutivos, pero pueden ser degradantes para el 95 por ciento de los empleados que cumplen con su deber. No cree reglas para controlar al 5 por ciento res...
Keep on going, even when things look bleak.
Instead, he favors being decisive, then forgiving yourself if your initial decision proves misguided.
In a fear-based, failure-averse culture, people will consciously or unconsciously avoid risk. They will seek instead to repeat something safe that’s been good enough in the past. Their work will be de...