NOTE: As I write this on a July weekend in Portland OR… here’s today’s headline in the New York Times: “Pacific Northwest Faces Critical Fire Risk as Wildfires Burn”. About 1.7 million people are under fire danger warnings on Sunday as a heat wave continues to bake the region and several large blazes burn in Oregon. Continue reading
Any time we take the initiative to create sustainability, we are intervening in a system. Systems are messy and resist being changed. Think capitalism (aka greed), or our weather (e.g., Climate Change), or local government (government of any size), or my daily routine (how dare you mess with that). What hubris, thinking that we as individuals can change these systems! Continue reading
All stories are emotional. Won’t you agree? The very reason people respond to them is that it “touches the heart” so to speak or “strikes a chord”. To me, this is the most basic reason why using stories remains a powerful tool when we teach, train, or mentor. In fact, these are the critical keys to why stories work. Continue reading
Of all the forms of human intellect that one might expect artificial intelligence to emulate, few people would likely place creativity at the top of their list. Creativity is wonderfully mysterious – and frustratingly fleeting. It defines us as human beings – and seemingly defies the cold logic that lies behind the silicon curtain of machines. Continue reading
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Digital transformation—often informally referred to as Industry 4.0 —. . . is and will continue to redefine the standards of competitiveness, performance, and, further, the minimal ability [of U.S. manufacturers] to participate in the market,” said Phil Centonze, managing partner, POS-IMPACT LLC (formerly director of performance assessment at FloridaMakes, the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) business management consulting center that serves organizations in the state of Florida). Continue reading