Blog

In “People Solve Problems,” I dedicate a whole section to the role of the leader. Whatever level of people-leader you find yourself in, this section of the book helps guide you to important aspects of your role. In this short video, I walk through a little bit of the role

The very first problem-solving behavior I explore in People Solve Problems is to Learn Deliberately (Chapter 9). Learning is more than just a skill, just as problem-solving is more than just a tool. Learning deliberately is a mindset and behavior. One way to describe this is to hold our assumptions

Why do people resist change? Don’t they want things to be better? Of course, they want things to be better. We all do. However, what is the snake-oil salesman really pitching? What kind of dystopian world is planned? We don’t fear change but fear that the change will bring something

Happy Heuristics is a podcast about using rules of thumb, decision criteria, or heuristics to help leaders operate with speed and effectiveness in a complex and uncertain world. Podcast partners Jamie Flinchbaugh and Jeff Grimshaw explore specific heuristics, one theme at a time, that you can either adopt or use

Episode 30: “Celebrating 30 Episodes, Writing Books, and Great Whiskey” In Episode 30, Mark Graban and Jamie Flinchbaugh find things to celebrate, starting with the fact that we have hit 30 episodes. In that time, we’ve had 14 guests or co-hosts and tasted 56 different whiskeys (not counting the gin

Your spectrum of problems that your team engages with can span from firefighting to strategic breakthroughs, and many levels in between. However, it is very difficult for a team to operate all across the spectrum at once. You have a critical mass of problem-solving efforts and that anchors what your

Episode 29: “Yellow Cards, Coffee Cocktails, and a Barrel Down the Drain”  In Episode 29, it’s been a little while since Mark and Jamie got together for Lean Whiskey. We catch up on what’s new, which includes Mark’s new certification with distinction with the WSET Level 2 Spirits certification, and

Coaching is a very personal thing. Some coaches are more driven by their intuition. Some coaches are more driven by a process. Where do you fall on that spectrum? This is a question I ask participants in our coaching workshop. There is no right answer, but there are limitations based

Episode 28: “Mistakes make us better, and make whiskey necessary”  In Episode 28, Mark and Jamie begin by having our spouses pour mystery whiskeys for us. We don’t know what they are when we start drinking them. Mark’s wife at least joins him occasionally in a dram, but Jamie’s wife

Coaching means many different things to different people and within different organizations. Often I find someone believes they are coaching when in fact they are just sharing their experiences and points of view at opportune moments. I remember one executive I was coaching, who is now retired, saying “People can’t