Winning Segments…

“We view the game as a series of 3 to 4 minute segments,”  said Kevin Eastman, assistant coach of the Boston Celtics.  “We want our guys to win every 3 to 4 minute segment.”  It was Sunday afternoon, a pre– season open practice for the Boston Celtics at the TD Garden.  The coaching staff doesn’t look at a 48 minute game nor does it look at 4 12 minute quarters.   Segments.  Each one stands alone.    Win or lose.  It got me thinking about transition.  Could transition benefit from this lens?  Take it one segment at a time.  Reach?  Experiment?  Win each one? Continue reading…

The self we project….

‘Nice. Happy. Fun.’  So read my picture’s caption on my 3rd grader’s All About Me poster.  She is VIP in her class this week.  Amidst the photo cut outs of birthday parties, funny antics and family vacations there were silhouettes of each member of our family.  The words caught my eye as glue sticks and scrap paper swirled across the kitchen table Sunday evening in a mad dash for Monday readiness.  The words made me pause. Continue reading…

Advice: When to embrace vs. ignore?

Last week a dynamic entrepreneur presented her pitch deck to me and a few other advisors.  Her company is a new online service that is sure to up-end a staid fragmented industry.  All through the conversation I hung on the edge of my seat waiting to catch pieces of her original concept.  With virtually no money the company had acquired a few customers (hooray!) and talked with many prospects.    But based on a small sample size of feedback she morphed her plan,  radically.  Finally I asked, “why have you stepped away from your original concept?” Continue reading…

Career and Life Blockers…

Ever heard of blockers?   I picked up on the phrase during my tenure as head of HR and Administration at a large S&P 500 corporation.  A blocker in that context was a person who stood in the way of another’s progression.   For those outside the corporate world this may seem odd so here’s the scoop.   Every year the CEO, the head of HR (yours truly), and all business unit presidents would discuss the ‘talent’ (read: employees) who held the title director or higher.  In our world that numbered more than 400 people. Continue reading…

Transition Interrupted….

“Take out your application and reread it,” urged an endearing professor to our section of first year students at the Harvard Business School.   We were less than a month into a two-year residence there.   To a one we were humbled by the scope and pace required of us.  At that moment we stood bleary-eyed and dejected.  Her recommendation was intended to rekindle some sense of personal self-worth amidst a sea of upheaval.  Did it work?  Not sure any of us headed for our file cabinets but the sentiment was an elixir in its own right. Continue reading…

Transition Requirements: Deftness Inside and Out

Do you remember Lawrence Summers’ gaffe regarding women and the sciences?  He referenced a “different availability of aptitude,” in 2005 while addressing an audience as president of Harvard University.  It cost him his job.   Would it surprise you that he might have unknowingly referred to a pervasive cultural bias that most likely affects women in every field, not just the sciences?  Why stop at the fields…this bias is likely present in every transition over the arc of our lives. Continue reading…

Failure to Act?

I don’t know if anyone caught the news last week.  On September 11 a textile factory fire in Karachi, Pakistan killed 289 workers.  The factory made jeans destined for Europe.  In reading about this tragedy and why it happened I was reminded of a quote in an investigative report on Apple and its Asian manufacturer Foxconn in the New York Times in January 2012.    The series focused on the too-often fatal working conditions for employees who polished aluminum iPad cases.  The quote by MIT professor, Nicholas Ashford, was, “If it were terribly difficult to deal with aluminum dust, I would understand. But do you know how easy dust is to control? It’s called ventilation. We solved this problem over a century ago.”   Jeans?  iPads?  A profoundly sad common denominator…these tragedies were avoidable. Continue reading…

Does transition ever end?

I remember hopping into taxi cabs terrified that my broken portuguese wouldn’t suffice in communicating my desired location.  After a few lengthy and circuitous rides around Sao Paulo, Brazil I reverted to taking the local bus.  Much to the horror of my work colleagues I might add.   These taxi escapades introduced me to the colorful ribbons that dangled from the rear view mirrors of almost every cab in the city.   On each read the phrase, BonFim, and it’s originator the Church of Nosso Senhor do Bonfim.  Bonfim simply translated means, good end.    If ever there was a wish for transition…. Continue reading…

2012 Summer Book Review Finale: What if?

“I never want to go back to the law,” shared a friend who is a law school graduate and a very accomplished public defender.  Our conversation was interrupted by a swirl of kids ages 2 through 8.   Mid-sentence we conducted an emergency rescue from a climbing structure that resembled a gangly over-sized found-art project.  Public defense?  Idealistic me was instantly mesmerized by the work and its likely impact.  Never? Continue reading…