ODILE⁺

Stories bridge theory and practice, inspiring people to learn, grow, and take charge of their futures Our podcast series is born from the idea that facts, no matter how convincing, do not help change our performance. We live in a post-truth age where meaningful narratives are king. Stories shape reality. Our experience is defined by disruption and impermanence, operating at the speed of light. We are being drowned in a tsunami of change. The emotional climate at all levels is one of fear, and at times, sheer desperation. Quite frankly, with geopolitics knocking on your door, it is a wonder that people still step out and continue to live their lives. Our faith in institutions is at an all-time low, and our trust in leadership teams and managers is equally at rock bottom. Gallup’s research on people — especially engagement — has constantly shown this to be true, and that this is a worldwide issue. Organizational distrust is hierarchically distributed: the lower you go, the greater the distrust, and it has been found that people would move jobs in a blink of an eye if the opportunity appeared. People actually hate their managers, viscerally. Given that Leadership and Management training a…

Embracing discomfort in the learning process You know what no one tells you? That when you start something new, it’s going to hurt. What is? Well, it will feel like everything. Why? Because you will be deskilled, like a fish out of water, like your comfort zone took a holiday and didn’t return from vacation. Learning hurts. People complain, cry, moan, and do everything to dodge the bullet. You’re kidding, right? Nope. They do. What’s more, when they are faced with group learning situations, they will gang up and attack the trainer or coach, or whoever is in charge. When they get it wrong, which they inevitably do because they are learning, they will hoist the blame on someone else. For damn sure, it won’t be them. They will say stuff like, “you didn’t tell us what to do”… the cry of the ages. As a coach, you have to help your people understand the meta process of learning. Why? Because they can relate the feelings of being lost, upset, irritated, even angry, to the situation they are in; they can understand that it is a matter of moving from being an unconscious incompetent to a conscious competent; and while many people may be familiar with these four stages of learning…

Fundamental shifts in personal development, teamwork, and leadership Failure. That’s what happens to businesses and organizations when they fail to evolve, no matter what vertical they sit in. Seems common sense. So why do people acknowledge it and then seem stuck. Like they know the rules of the game have changed. But are unable to turn the switch off and on again. No, don’t worry, I am not going to use the frog in boiling water metaphor; instead I will discuss the fact that your ability to change direction is based on your training; how you think, talk and act comes from how your habits have been formatted to deal with the context, culturally, socially, and individually. I won’t beat around the bush: Legacy training and education systems do not prepare you to work in teams, develop leadership skills, and solve problems, at scale. In the face of the mind-blowing headwinds we are experiencing from scientific, technical, digital, and social, disruptions, staying still is not an option, but looking at how leaders and organizations are adapting to these threats, you would think it was business as usual. Command and control hierarchies are inappropriate s…

Revealing the Truth About Teamwork Bursting the bubble. Sorry? Putting people to the test as to whether they can walk the talk. OK, I think I get where you’re going… What I mean is that, in general, people overestimate their skill sets, and in particular, their soft skills, their capacity to solve problems, communicate, collaborate, take risks and execute iterative plans. In truth, most senior executives have climbed the ladder without having any of these power skills tested, or even measured. It is the sport of thing that is paid lip service in executive training courses and the like; a sort of business person’s technique to improve their bedside manner… you know, when doctors have to be provided feedback on how to treat patients as human beings and not objects. Lo and behold, they have even discovered that if Doctors improve their bedside manner, patients recover quicker and treatments seem more effective (look it up!). Anyway, that’s by-the-by; maybe the idea is that if business leaders raised the scale of how they treat their people, then productivity and sales would grow? Because, as BrewDog discovered not too long ago, dropping salaries below the living wag…

A tale of resilience and adaptability in the face of frequent rejections and challenges Continue reading on ODILE⁺ » ———

Integrating shared purpose and meaning Training and mental awareness are the two wings of high performance. However, this is a confusing pairing for a lot of people. Really? Somehow, there is an impression in corporate training departments that training should not stretch or cause any discomfort to trainees, that somehow, just being there and absorbing the information or knowledge is enough to move the dial forward. While I could be accused of oversimplifying the case, I am sure of this description of business training, which appears as a non-value add: the general business sees training as a rear echelon function that has no direct bearing or real influence on the business results and success of the endeavor. This means that, in corporations, the mental set is that education programs have no benefit in the long run. Every so often, we have seen trainees balk at the idea that corporate training means that they actually have to work. Many people treat training days as an extended holiday where they can zone out and switch off on company time, like a paid vacation. Let’s look at training in sports: if you want to advance in martial arts, archery, tennis, an…

How self-awareness can help navigate and overcome interpersonal struggles Unraveling conflict is so hard. Business partners, colleagues, and friends; people will not like you, actually, they will try to do you harm. One moment, all is good, positive and looking good, and then, in a flash, all changes. Just like a carpet has been pulled from beneath your feet, what was no longer is. It can happen for no logical cause, well… none that you can locate. The phrase “sh*t happens” comes to mind. The impact of these changes can be profound and negative, it requires real mental homework to deal with situations like these. Dealing with people who are under the influence of a negative mindset can be dangerous, and this will happen in your professional and personal lives. Period. There’s no escaping from it, I am afraid. First, it is very important to understand that when dealing with people who carry dislike or even hatred for you, YOU are not the problem; there is no logic behind these feelings. Please, please, understand the context here: we are talking about typical personal and work situations, not something where you, or they, have committed some crime or somethin…

The need for continuous, simulation-based learning in developing soft skills Soft skills really mean nothing until something goes wrong… and then, boy, do you wish you had some. What do you mean “go wrong”? Well, you experience a crisis, with a client, or in your organization. These can range from small to full-on disasters. The fundamental difference in solving problems and dealing with small and big issues is the way your mind-is-set (see how I did that!). Your mindset is the fulcrum for whether you win or lose. This is an obvious statement and principal of sports — whether amateur or professional —, but it is also the mark of great teams and leaders. In business, we are often managed by people who are specialized in administration, who have no understanding of how performance is created and maintained. Arguments, disagreements, and being upset, are a fact of working in a team, group, or organization. It’s quite simple: stuff goes wrong… all the time. How you and your team manage these behaviors on a personal and social level will determine how you feel about your mission or job function. Handled wrong, it can turn you off; while, handled skillfully…

Challenging conventional wisdom in education and innovation You know what the problem with innovation is? Education! No way! The difficulty with organizational learning, or organizations adapting to change, is the conditioning that results from sitting in a classroom. It cannot be overstated how powerful a cultural phenomenon the schooling system is, and how much it affects how we think, talk, and act. The pedagogy utilized in this environment formats your future. Here lies the heart of the issue, because it is from this lens that you then interpret, assess, and value, future ideas and strategies. From the cradle to the grave, you carry these rules governing your experience. Exams determine the hierarchy of competence. Smarts, who has them, who doesn’t, determines your level on the ladder. Now, we are faced with something new, something very challenging, something that morphs from singular to plural, like from one instance periodically to a tsunami of change whereby technical, scientific, societal, and political, change threaten to overwhelm the stability of all our institutions. Then, our hard won principles, by which we live, are suddenly cats aside as the …

The risk of underestimating emotional, social, and collaborative intelligence It seems impossible. What does? Breaking habits. Why? Well, look at cigarettes: even with the most difficult presentation of the associated illnesses and messaging, people still continue. Yeah, but that’s a drug… so to speak. True, but I think the metaphor stands. Habits, over food, exercise, learning, speaking, thinking, activities that have controlled your past, and continue to map out your present, and future. So, imagine you are in a room of business executives; you have just finished a two-day workshop on the impact of AI and other technologies on your organization, as well as other impact points; it shows unequivocally that you as an organization need to change and adopt behaviors that you currently don’t have. What are you going to do? Nada! That’s what’s going to happen. Maybe some changes on the edges, just to give the impression that you are cognizant of the world moving in a new direction; but in truth, the team will return to what their habits have in store for them. Like the analogy of the frog being boiled in water slowly, they will stay warm and…