The Cocodona 250 is an ultramarathon that winds through the heart of Arizona, beginning near Black Canyon City and finishing in downtown Flagstaff. With 38,791 feet of elevation gain and 33,884 feet of descent over 250 miles, the desert race is demanding, even by ultrarunner standards. Runners must meet the 125-hour cut-off time, which might…

What if we treated leaders more like athletes? Think about it for a moment. We would never expect someone without the appropriate skills, training, and support to compete in a major athletic event and succeed. Olympic athletes, for example, train for years with the support of coaches, nutritionists, physical therapists, and mental health specialists to…

Apple TV’s show Severance hit the streaming site earlier this year for its second season and has garnered a new round of fans. Its sci-fi recounting of four “severed” employees working for a massive biotech company, Lumon, is both haunting and quirky, and thoroughly perfect for anyone working in a massive complex organization. Each day, upon…

“Finding efficiencies” is a phrase often used during organizational change and restructuring activities, particularly during economic downturns. Organizations seek to reduce costs by increasing efficiency, thereby achieving financial stability and predictable operations. The difficulty with this thinking, however, is that it assumes organizations are machines rather than ecosystems. Machines are closed systems designed so that…

The classic 1980s anti-drug TV ad This is your brain on drugs may not be familiar to some readers, given their age. Personally, I didn’t even know about it until my undergraduate advertising class. I can see why the ad is considered one of the best public health ads ever. The sizzling egg in the…

“He can upend it, but he can’t control it.” This was a comment one of my doctoral colleagues made earlier this spring. It left me feeling the most hope I had felt in weeks. Because she is right. I have kept this comment in my mind for months now, because at this moment, it feels…

Ambiguity is a fact of life, particularly in large organizations. We see it everywhere: the unknown and unpredictability that come from massive systems. What defines our organizational culture is how we respond to ambiguity. Leaders are faced with two paths. One is to focus on control and develop processes and systems that manage and control…

There is a relationship between creative generation and change. Creativity happens at the edge of chaos is a phrase that is equally terrifying and inspiring. But it makes sense for anyone who has experienced the creative rush that comes from the need to adapt, modify, bootstrap, or MacGyver quickly. Sometimes, our best ideas or most innovative…

What do you think of when considering what it means to be creative? Do you think about an artist in their studio? A writer at their desk? Or a great inventor like Nikola Tesla or a groundbreaking researcher like Marie Curie? These are all examples of “Big-C” creativity, eminent creative works with incredible value to…