This summer, I was honored to attend the World Future Society’s annual conference, World Future 2013: Exploring the Next Horizon, as a presenter, an author, and a journalist. My talk, “Visionaries Have Wrinkles: Serving the Generation Who Will Change the World . . . Again,” was timely for this audience of Futurists. The futuring profession […]
Lean In . . . or Out?
By now, you’ve probably heard of and perhaps read Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s book Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead. In her book as in countless articles, women are advised to do this or do that to close the various gender inequalities in the workplace—in promotions (particularly to executive and board positions), […]
The Triple Bottom Line
More and more companies are recognizing that an investment in employee well-being is an investment in sustainable success. This goes right along with the trend toward green business practices, which consumers actively look for when choosing among companies to patronize. In other words, sustainable business in the 21st century is one that meets what I’ve […]
It’s All in Your Mind
By now you’ve probably heard about Melissa Nelson, who was fired from her job as a dental assistant because her boss, James Knight, worried he would have an affair with her. Not because she was interested in having an affair with him but because she was attractive. But that’s not even the worst of it. […]
The Leadership Challenge
A survey by the Center for Public Leadership, of the Harvard Kennedy School, found that 68% of respondents believe there is a “leadership crisis in America.” Ron Ashkenas has written a post on the Harvard Business Review Network, positing that the difficulties facing today’s leaders are twofold: (1) The volume and velocity of issues leaders […]
Communities of the Future
In Will Doig’s article “How to Solve the Boomer Retirement Crisis,” he defines this “crisis” as an unprecedented number of retirees moving away from cities, making “caring for aging boomers vastly more complicated.” The rest of the article then focuses on how cities can be made more attractive to retirees. I agree with many of […]
Customize Your Future
There’s an exciting theme running through news articles, blogs, and various recent studies. From articles on remodeling or technology to studies of the future of the workplace, one idea keeps resurfacing: customization. We’ve discussed how this applies in the workplace (e.g., “A Future That Works”) and in tailoring our communities (e.g., “Communities of the Future”), […]
How Loud Are Your Actions?
We live in a media-savvy world, which means that it takes more than even the boldest PR moves to demonstrate that we mean business—on gender equality, environmental sustainability, political will, charitable contributions, and so on. A company that speaks out on increasing U.S. employment while outsourcing jobs to India will be scoffed at. A million-dollar […]
Caution vs. Hesitation
There are many persons ready to do what is right because in their hearts they know it is right. But they hesitate, waiting for the other fellow to make the first move—and he, in turn, waits for you. —Marian Anderson Before making any big change in our lives—particularly before reinventing ourselves, our work, our world—it […]
What Does “Reinvention” Mean?
I use the word “reinvention” often because it is a necessary process for most of us as we go through transition—career transitions; life transitions, such as entering midlife or beyond; relationship transitions; and the transitions we face in our lives, work, and businesses from the epochal changes the entire planet is undergoing—economic, environmental, social. But […]
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