Leadership, teamwork, democratic workplace
A week ago, a friend invited my wife and me to a Czech pub, Sveiks, Švejk! Ads proclaim the restaurant is inspired by the ‘Good Soldier Šveik’, the not so “simple”, good-humored, hero of the epic novel, The Adventures Of Švejk. That restaurant inspired me to revisit and then revise extensively my 2015 blog…
Three times now I’ve seen the Oscar and Golden Globe winning film, the enigmatic Flow/Straume. The last was an exceptional event with a full symphonic orchestra! Caption: At the Riga Arena, May 23, 2026, the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra performed the film’s score, composed and conducted by Rihards Zaļupe. Since I’m always on the lookout…
“A stupid question deserves no answer”, that’s the surprising. ill-tempered rejection I got from a staff member. She was a “top hand,” as they say out in cowboy land. She not only did her job but inspired colleagues. And, besides being a doer, she was a thinker., so her response was doubly disappointing. The question…
I’ve learned much about myself through experiential education (EE) or adventure learning. Most of my EE take aways are personal and relevant less to a group than to my own ways of leading. Highly personal learning is often the case with team building events. Some people get little more out of it than another gripe…
At my advanced age, Shakespeare would have me a “Lean and Slippered Pantaloon”, his stage 6 of 7. Stage 6 is better than the final one: “Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.” But, I digress. A week ago, my wife and I hosted a small “development” gathering of alums living in Oregon, 3000…
Speaking of cliches, one was on prominent display during the frenzied ending of the USAs college basketball season, namely, stepping up. That overused term applies just as well to the workplace. Stepping up alludes to the notion that if a team or organization is not having a successful year, then they just need to “step…
An A.D.T. (American District Telegraph) Kid carrying a Death Message marked “Rush” stopped in front of a Show Window containing a Picture of James J. Jeffries (a champion boxer) and began to weep bitterly. A kind-hearted Suburbanite happened to be passing along on his Way to the 5:42 Train. He was carrying a Dog Collar,…
The Members of a Legislature, being told that they were the meanest thieves in the world, resolved to commit suicide. So they bought shrouds, and laying them in a convenient place prepared to cut their throats. While they were grinding their razors some Tramps passing that way stole the shrouds. “Let us live, my friends,”…
I have written about a number of literary cliches which I’ve come across in my reading of murder mysteries from the golden age of detective fiction, the 1920s and 1930s. There was the ever nimble fat man, and the sinister “deal table”. Also, I have alluded to the “elephant in the room” cliché/trope. Today…
Teamwork rituals from the basketball team to the work team which are discussed below: Sportsmanship, win or lose. Free throws/penalty shots. Subbing out. Circling up. Helping hands, Communication-Talking and Information hoarding. I understand there are readers whose least favorite class was PE (gym) and who cringe at any linking of sports to the workplace. Bear…