I have been called “the king of metaphor!” So very often when giving instruction and direction I add a suitable metaphor which helps to demonstrate my point and keeps people thinking about the outcomes we are pursuing.  Metaphors are second nature to me and I use them with the precision of a brush and oils […]

Anyone who knows me, know that I love ducks. I like to feed them, watch them, imitate them and I collect art from a couple of artists who use a duck as their primary subject.  When I was in college, my friends and I would go to the park in the middle of the night […]

Doug Hall has written a great book about living systems, The Cat and the Toaster, which are basically the groups in which we find ourselves participating. They can be our work groups, full organizations, churches, or families.  In all cases, there is a difference between how a living system functions and how a mechanism functions.  Both […]

A classmate of mine recently made mention of something that I find fascinating. She referred to how Hindu scriptures take a holistic view of the human experience, which can also be found in many other of the world’s religions, particularly in eastern religions and some non-theism religions of the new-age.  A common theme is that […]

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?  This age-old question has implications for systems thinking, but there are important differences between the answers as one looks to find the best route through challenging circumstances.  Understanding both perspectives can make a huge difference in the ultimate solutions to perplexing and wicked problems.  An associate of […]