When the guru told you to do something, no matter what you thought about it, you did it, because that command was "sacred." Arguing with the guru, it was said, was a fool's response, like kicking gold. Because she was believed to be so evolved, no one dared challenge her authority. And she often expressed anger if they did. This caused many of her followers to cower in her presence.
AI was everywhere, but I wasn't focused on product launches. I was looking at how companies think about data itself: how it's shared, governed and ultimately turned into decisions. And across conversations with executives and sessions on security and compliance, a pattern emerged: the technical limitations that once justified locking data down have largely been solved. What remains difficult is human. Alignment, trust and confidence inside organizations are now the true barriers.
After more than two decades as a psychosexual therapist, I have learned to listen carefully for what people are not saying. When vulnerability is close to the surface, uncertainty shows up quickly. Am I doing this right? Do I belong here? What am I allowed to ask for, and what will it cost me if I do? At its core, psychosexual therapy is not really about sex.
A team finishes a client pitch, and the room stays tense while the outcome is still unclear. A manager places a small coin on the table, and eyes shift toward it at once. The weight feels deliberate, and the message lands without a long speech or awkward applause. Many firms rely on email praise that vanishes under new messages before the week is even over. A physical token stays visible on desks, shelves, and lanyards during packed schedules and shifting priorities.
Let's stop pretending. Your Daily Scrum is a status report. Your Sprint Planning confirms decisions that a circle of people made last week without you. Your Retrospective surfaces the same three issues it surfaced six months ago, and nothing has changed. Your Sprint Review is a demo followed by polite applause, before everyone happily leaves to do something meaningful. You know this. Everyone knows this. And yet tomorrow morning, you'll do it all again.
My daughter, Ivy, recently joined a swim club. As a former competitive swimmer, it's been a delight to witness. Every time I take her to practice, I feel a wave of nostalgia that reminds me of all the many years I spent in the pool and all the many teammates I collected along the way. It excites me to think that she, too, will have her own experiences and life lessons, just as swimming taught me.
MIAMI GARDENS - I hope Dolphins owner Stephen Ross asked new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan one question during his interview: "What did you think of this franchise's 2023 season?" Sullivan, whose hiring isn't yet official, needs to have said, "It was a huge disappointment, and a borderline failure." If Ross heard anything else he should have kicked Sullivan out of his office and informed him that such a participation-trophy mentality isn't welcome to the new-era Miami Dolphins.
Culture eats strategy for breakfast. We've all heard this misattributed Peter Drucker quote and instinctively understand the disproportionate influence culture can have on an organization's business. However, if you asked five people to define organizational culture, you'd likely get 55 different answers. Chief among them would be something along the lines of "organizational culture is how we do things around here," the behaviors and norms that make up how a company engages in the collective production of work.
Torpenhow Hill, a place in England, is famously a quadruple tautology: "Tor," "pen," and "how," all mean "hill" in different languages, so "Torpenhow Hill" essentially translates to "Hill-hill-hill Hill." Each new group of settlers felt compelled to rename the place in their own tongue, and each of them drew inspiration from it looking like a hump. Cultures that passed through the region added their own word for "hill": tor from Old English, pen from the Celtic, how from Norse, and finally hill from modern English.
The Atlantic is dedicated to bringing clarity and original thinking to the most important issues of our time. We aim to help our readers better understand the world and its possibilities as they navigate the complexities of daily life. Our mission and values guide our culture and the work that we do across the organization. The Atlantic seeks in its ranks a spirit of generosity-a natural disposition in each colleague toward service and selfless conduct.
Employee engagement principles are recognized as one of the most potent factors influencing everyone's performance in the workplace. When employees feel appreciated, engaged, and connected, they contribute more than just their skills. They also bring enthusiasm, creativity, and dedication to support the organization's sustained growth. Building a successful workplace means creating a culture where employees feel committed to the organization's goals. In this article, we'll examine seven key employee engagement principles that can revolutionize your company by motivating your team.
Currently there are 12 people from the Rowing Ireland high performance team seeking help from a clinical psychologist; three of them are working with a psychiatrist and are on medication to improve their condition. Not many athletes are brave enough to speak up as everyone is afraid for their seats. How many more mental illnesses do we need in the high performance system for someone to look at this programme properly?
Not long ago, I was talking to an old friend and China analyst about the need for Intelligence Community (IC) analysts to spend significantly more time looking at themselves and their own agencies, processes, procedures, habits, biases, etc.-in other words, to be more introspective. I thought this an uncontroversial assertion as it has beenwell established in management literature that healthy organizations have robust introspective proclivities.
Fulfillment isn't about chasing happiness, which is a fleeting feeling. What is fulfillment? Fulfillment means having a deep sense of inner peace, alignment and a groundedness from doing what you intend to do in life. Fulfillment comes from feeling a sense of purpose and acting in alignment with your own personal values. People who are truly fulfilled do experience the full range of human emotions and experiences, including sadness and setbacks.
Insincerity is the mother of deceit. Whenever we say something we don't mean, we tell a lie. It may be a small misrepresentation, but it's still a lie as we are being dishonest to hide what we truly think and feel. Repeated insincerity breaks down trust, communication, and understanding. So why do organizations, often without even knowing it, encourage insincerity in their employees? The answer lies a little with social media and a lot in narcissism.
Culture change is a big topic-and a big consulting business. When I Googled "culture change consulting business," three of top five (non-sponsored) responses were Bain, BCG, and McKinsey (in that order). Because changing culture is a prominent issue for executives-and often a very frustrating one-I decided to tackle it in this Playing to Win/Practitioner Insights (PTW/PI) called Culture Change Strategy: Three Rules for Making Change Happen. And as always, you can find all the previous PTW/PI here.
According to a recent study conducted by the global consulting firm, EY, 97% of respondents reported that it is important for companies to act with integrity. Many companies tout integrity as a core principle of their organizations in an attempt to reassure customers, employees, and the wider public that their organization "plays by the rules." By some estimates, integrity is ranked as one of the most cited corporate core values, with over 80% of companies listing integrity as a core value.
Meet the budget-friendly promotion: more work, same pay. It's a common phenomenon for many workers. One day you're updating spreadsheets and shadowing meetings. Next, you're suddenly scheduling boardroom calls and taking on a team of your own. The responsibility piles on, but your paycheck still looks grim when it comes to splurging on the weekends. That's a "quiet promotion." And as more economic concerns drive smaller compensation budgets-silent workload changes are becoming more common.
Incivility dominates too many aspects of American life, but one place still stands out as a training ground for respectful discourse: the workplace. According to a recent survey conducted by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, 46% of Americans say they've learned civility skills at work, more than any other place. These skills include the ability to disagree productively and respectfully, consider opposing viewpoints, listen without interrupting and collaborate toward shared goals despite personal differences.
