Why Conversations Break Down: Episode 2, Time Travel
Jun 08, 2025
We are each not merely traveling our unique life’s path; in many ways, we are the path itself.
Throughout our lives, we blaze a uniquely individual trail. It is sometimes a smooth downslope that we travel with ease and grace. Other times it is an arduous climb, testing our limits and rewarding us with summits of success when we persevere. And of course, there is the difficult terrain, those stretches of sharp and slippery rock, harsh and unforgiving places that we must navigate in the cold and dark, the ones that leave us bruised and weary.
We do not simply leave these landscapes behind once they drop out of sight at our backs. We embody them. They become part of us.
I started to write a different piece this week, my first after taking the summer off from writing, but there was something in the way.
The story begins with dogs and kids. You see, when our daughter, Abby, was about three, we had two dogs, Marlee and Neo, both standard size labradoodles. For little Abby, they had simply always been there. I think they occurred to her more like older siblings t...
Every manager has been there. A task was assigned. The expectations seemed clear and understood. Time passes. It doesn’t get done.
Every parent has been there, too.
In fact, we've all been there with ourselves.
We tell ourselves, “I must do Task A by the end of the day on Tuesday.” Tuesday comes and goes, and we can’t help but notice that we failed to do the task.
Do this once, and the result i...
Conquering each of Patrick Lencioni’s Five Dysfunctions of a Team is a necessary, but not sufficient condition for overcoming the next.
Trust must be present for a team to engage in productive conflict, but it does not guarantee they will do so.
Conflict is essential for achieving clarity and buy-in, but it does not automatically result in commitment.
Commitment is required for team members to...
Untangled by Retexo
Work, life, and leadership in a complex world.
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