9/11, 8 years and 1 week later

Loose talk can cost lives.

Last week, at the end of a long day, I wrote about my experiences in lower Manhattan on September 11, 2001. Writing it was a surreal experience for me, no real goal in mind, it just started coming out me and onto the screen. I didn’t edit it. I didn’t polish it up. I did try and add something prolific at the end, some commentary that would show how profound the feelings I was expressing were.

And though what I wrote was true, I really don’t think September 11th is about me. That’s one of the reasons why I have a hard time thinking about and talking about it. Sure, I feared for my life that day in a way I never had before and never have since, but for me, one of the hard things about September 11th is how I feel distanced from it.

Part of it, I think, is self-preservation, my inner-psyche is...

Do you have enemies?

You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life. –Winston Churchill

In an article in The New York Times Magazine from August, 2007 William Safire discusses how title “Strategist” is replacing “Adviser”  in American politics and the nuance behind the shift. What says it reveals a desire to differentiate oneself from the overused “campaign manager” and “political adviser” and while implying high status within the ranks of a staff.

I personally have been frustrated by how most business labels which describe my profession, skill set, or the value I offer are either so commonly used that they’ve become sterile and weak or carry some negative connotation (think: consultant). I have often struggled with how to succinctly and accurately describe myself (while trying...

Don’t Bonk.

In 1999, energy bar producer PowerBar ran an advertising campaign with the tagline “DON’T BONK.” To “bonk” is to experience a sudden loss of energy or exhaustion, brought on by failure to eat and drink enough, during a race. The ads featured athletes (runners, bikers, etc.) who would come close to winning a race only to have victory suddenly (and humorously) snatched from them because they lacked the energy to push all the way through. The claim was that a PowerBar would provide the needed substance to help you push through to the end, allowing you to claim victory.

I’ve been thinking a lot about this in the context of strategy, well honestly I’ve been thinking about it in the context of a lot of things: life, relationships, entrepreneurship, parenting, ministry… because DON’T BONK is great advice for anyone who...

Motivations for BAM as a strategy (part 3)

Organization consideration of Business as Mission as a strategy is typically in response to three (3) drivers:

In Part 1 of this series I discussed the first driver, identifying key trends facing missions organizations. In Part 2 I discussed how organizational challenges makes BAM an attractive solution for missions organizations. Finally, in this post I will identify some of the perceived benefits of Business as Mission and discuss some misconceptions that are common among missions organizations. ...