Organization Development

Years ago, an executive who thought he was about to lose his job asked me what to do. We talked about it on a walk across a corporate campus rather than in a conference room, and I've been thinking about why that mattered. This piece is about the conversations that happen after the meeting ends, when someone lingers and says, "Do you have a minute?" We spend a great deal of effort making meetings better. Maybe the meeting was never the problem.

A dream about getting lost in a familiar city becomes a reflection on leadership, direction, and the difference between losing knowledge and temporarily losing access to it. The article explores how clarity can come from unexpected people and reminds us that losing our bearings does not mean we have lost our destination.

Capable leaders and sound strategy don't guarantee reliable results. Decisions get reopened after they're made, and authority quietly shifts to whoever argues the loudest in the room. A few people absorb the difference, rescuing work that a broken system was never built to hold. This piece looks at why execution breaks down even when the leadership in the room is genuinely strong, and what it takes to build a structure that holds regardless of who's in it.