Karl Edwards presents Working Matters

Author: Karl Edwards

  • Quote to Consider: So Desperate For It We Miss It

    quote-to-consider“Most men pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it.”

    Soren Kierkegaard

  • A Timely Word of Thanks

    ThankfulnessI thought I was alone.

    I thought I was afraid.

    I thought I would falter.

    I thought I would fail.

    Until I felt your hand.

    Solid and sure. Tender and warm.

    Courage and compassion

    Kindled like memories

    Of an ancient story.

    And I knew.

    I knew I could not falter and would not fail.

    I will never be alone. I do not need to be afraid.

    Thank you.

    – Karl Edwards, Thanksgiving 2009

  • Question of the Week #3

    Does it matter who is sitting in your chair?

    The Question of the Week is offered to increase awareness of one’s personal leadership practices and encourage experimentation with creative alternatives.

  • Quote to Consider: Two from Flannery O’Connor

    quote-to-consider“The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it emotionally.”

    “Conviction without experiences makes for harshness.”

    Flannery O’Connor

  • Loving Monday: Life is Change

    loving_mondayLife is change.

    For those who find change unsettling, unnerving or outright frightening, coming to terms with this fundamental reality can be quite the challenge.

    In fact, some of you may not even accept my premise. Life is change. I suggest you reconsider. Much that is frustrating, much that Changecatches us off guard, much that proves to hold us back, arises from our resistance to change.

    The issue of interest to me is the direction of change. Change is inevitable, but is it change for the better or change for the worse?

    Better being more mature, more deeply or broadly skilled, and more richly connected. Change for the worse being becoming more childish, stale professionally, and increasingly isolated among others.

    Viewed as a developmental process, change becomes either a positive dynamic that is worth nurturing or a negative one worth avoiding. The key being you.

    Yes, you.

    Embracing change is embracing yourself. Who you want to become. What you want to learn and do. Where you want to live and work. With whom you want to partner, collaborate, work and play.

    Instead of something to be feared, change becomes the very path toward your future.

    Good thing. Because life is change.

  • Question of the Week #2

    What question or concern lies behind the question you are asking?

    The Question of the Week is offered to increase awareness of one’s personal leadership practices and encourage experimentation with creative alternatives.

  • Thought Leaders Unpacked -> What the Dog Saw #2: The Ketchup Conundrum

    thought-leaders“Three of these shapes are the same and one is different.”

    Sounds like a scene from Sesame Street, doesn’t it?

    Most of us learn early on to distinguish between what is the same and what is different. What is common and what is distinct. What is universal and what is diverse.

    What-the-Dog-SawWhile we have this capacity to distinguish same and different, our assumptions about where and when it would behoove us to make the observation can let us down.

    Hence this week’s Gladwell chapter about the universal nature of ketchup catches us off guard.

    When the mustard people and spaghetti sauce folk let go of their respective assumptions that they needed to create the universal best version for all people, they hit the jackpot. People preferred their distinct preference, whether it was brown mustard or chunky sauce.

    Sometimes we want the same thing as each other. Sometimes we want something quite different.

    The key is having our eyes open for either possibility—or even another, completely unexpected possibility altogether.

    It was a paradigm buster to realize that people wanted diversity in their mustards and spaghetti sauces. This new frame of reference was itself broken to make room for the possibility that people didn’t actually need or want diversity in their ketchups at all.

    Are you open to the possibility that the next alternative might not emerge from the current options? Think about it.

    What was your main take-away from this chapter?

    Each Friday I post my reflections from one chapter of What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell. If you are just joining the discussion now, welcome! Catch up on the entire series here.

  • Quote to Consider: Two Roads…

    quote-to-consider“Two roads diverged in a wood and I—

    I took the one less travelled by,

    And that has made all the difference.”

    Robert Frost

  • Free Resource: Employee Engagement in a Sentence

    Employee-Engagement-E-Book-223x300Check out this great resource from 200 leaders passionate about workplace cultures put together by David Zinger.

    And, of course, don’t miss my contribution!

    It’s not enough for the team merely to be present. It’s when everyone is engaged that work gets done, advances are made, productivity soars, and morale multiplies.

    Get your free copy here. Employee Engagement in a Sentence.

    On your side,

    – Karl

  • Quote to Consider: Where Change is Needed Most

    quote-to-consider“Everybody thinks of changing humanity and nobody thinks of changing himself.”

    Leo Tolstoy