Awareness
It is widely recognized that ‘awareness’ is the first step towards ‘change’.But in our hyperactive, always-on-the-move corporate world, where ‘noise’ is all around, how can we create ‘awareness’? Well, maybe the first step is a bit counterintuitive… it’s to slow down and take some time to reflect. Take a moment to ask these questions: • […]
Connecting Everywhere
When your mission is “Helping Teams Everywhere to Grow the Human Skills of Collaboration,” then we could imagine that we need to do lots of travelling. After all, in the world of team coaching and team development, we often say we need to “meet the team where they are,” and so we’d better travel over […]
Creative Collaborations
In 2003, Elsa and I got married in Paris. We had lots of family and friends who came to the town hall for the ceremony and to our party on the outskirts of the city. We have so many memories from the day, and one of my favourite moments was receiving an Applause Machine as […]
The Matrix
If you lead a team in a matrix organization — whether that’s a department or a cross-functional team — You’ll know the feeling: some parts of the organization are just stronger than others. Maybe the CEO built their career in procurement or supply chain, leaving behind a department that now treats cost-cutting as its primary […]
Languages
I was born and raised in Yorkshire, UK, and I’m a proud Yorkshireman. In Yorkshire, we have such expressions as “Off t’ pub” (I’m going to the pub) and “reet chuffed” (I’m very happy). These two expressions are often combined: “Am off t’ pub an’ am reet chuffed abart it” (I’m going to the pub, […]
Power Games
Over 20 years ago, I was promoted to Engineering Manager. With this career move, I gained more responsibility — for more people in my team, more customers, and new peers in the cross-functional organization. In our corporate hierarchies, when we gain more responsibility, we also gain more power.I gained more power in terms of deciding […]
Let Love Rule
Yesterday I was one of 250,000 people who marched in Amsterdam in a demonstration for peace and against the genocide taking place in Gaza.It’s only the second time in my life that I’ve felt the urge to join a demonstration. The first was earlier this year when I joined 150,000 people who marched for the […]
Interdependence
When working with teams, I often wear different hats — coach, facilitator, trainer. Shifting skillfully between these roles is essential to support a team’s development. Equally essential is to meet the team where they are. I often think of it like being a conductor of an orchestra — guiding and supporting the musicians while also […]
Team Debrief Session
If you’re gonna talk the talk, then you also need to walk the walk. Right?YES… certainly right at our (family) business. This week we officially launched our Skillful Collaboration website — with coffee, mint tea, water, and cake!And to celebrate, we decided to take our own Team Assessment as the Skillful Collaboration Development Team. I’ve […]
A Snapshot of Collaboration
In my experience, every real change starts with awareness.But is that awareness individual? Or is it collective — at the level of the team? Over the last 30 years I’ve worked with hundreds of teams. Some brilliant, some good, some OK, a few poor, and a couple terrible. Those are my perceptions… but how do […]