Recently, we did some exciting work with James and Athena Pond, whose Transitions Global has done amazing work around the world helping teen victims of sex trafficking rebuild their lives. In light of the seriousness of their mission, the following warm-up exercise that we used might seem silly or trivial, but we found it to be as effective with this group as with others whose day-to-day work has very different stakes.

We wanted a simple but impactful experience that would quickly and stickily underscore obstacles to passing along a message consistently, even a simple one. Our choice: a game of “Physical Telephone,” where, instead of players transmitting a spoken message down a line of people, players are charged with passing along a set of gestures. [Read more →]

People always ask us for more examples of ways to show – vs. tell – the value of their idea or proposal. Of course they do! Because it’s much stickier and interesting if we ourselves “show” – vs. tell about – these. Here’s one that Alan Scott and his smart team at national consultancy Green Building Services came up with during a recent workshop. The team was working on a presentation about adopting green strategies for a large audience of school principals, administrators and School Board members.
[Read more →]

“Your attention is your most precious asset.”
~ Leo Babauta

Welcome to my blog. It was a long and strange road to get here because, truth be told, I’m a Luddite at heart. More accurately, I’m a neo-luddite: not anti-technology, but determined to use it consciously, with discernment, to make life easier, better, and more fun versus more complex and full of distractions.

What we see at On Your Feet, the creative business consultancy of which I am a part, is that our clients do better work when they are present, focused, and listening – giving their full, delicious attention to what matters most and not simply juggling more stuff, faster.

This is certainly true of my own life.

I’m curious about how social media intersects with and can potentially complement this basic, guiding principle. So this blog is a personal experiment, woven into the rhythm of my work life and my personal life, to create something that might actually help reduce the swirl instead of adding to it. For you, and for me.

I welcome your comments about how it’s going!