Thoughts
Ideas that transform people, businesses, and industries
We’ve Refreshed Our Brand!
Why have we refreshed our brand, you ask? Well, as we have grown and matured as an organization, we felt that our previous brand elements no longer represented us as well as they could. You see, we founded Thought Ensemble back in 2008 to help companies better compete...
Thought Ensemble’s Purpose — Inspired in 2020
I recently wrote about how company purpose is being tested and inspired by all the events of 2020. This topic is very real for us at Thought Ensemble. We’ve been thinking a lot about what really matters as we’ve navigated the...
How 2020 Is Testing and Inspiring Corporate Purpose
In August 2019, the Business Roundtable rewrote their statement of corporate purpose. I followed this with significant interest being that I have never forgotten the debates about corporate purpose in business school almost two decades ago. We were taught that the...
Why Purpose-Driven Organizations May Struggle With Change
I love working with companies who really want to make a difference, beyond just making money for their shareholders. I mean, making money is fun and all, but it is even more rewarding to join in on a just cause. Plus, as this HBR article explains, companies who have...
Awareness of Self and Belonging
I found myself completely floored during one of my peer coaching sessions this week. A colleague said, “coaching is about increasing the client’s self-awareness. You can make better choices when you have self-awareness.” She said this casually and continued on with...
Is a Good Career Accidental or Intentional?
I accepted a Zoom call with a college senior recently. He wanted to understand how I had navigated my career to reach the position I’m in today. He had looked at my LinkedIn profile and assumed I had made a series of calculated career moves to get to my current...
Are You Mentoring, Consulting, Coaching, or Being a Friend? Hot Takes From a New Coach
A lot of us consider ourselves coaches. Calling yourself a coach is an increasingly popular way to frame people-management and leadership styles. Ask someone what their definition of a coach is, and you’ll get a variety of answers. In my life, I’ve had many friends,...
Culture Eats Breakfast for Strategy
You’ve probably heard the phrase “Culture eats strategy for breakfast”; in other words, even the best ideas and logical plans are destined to fail if the people involved are not bought in. A 2013 survey of over 2,200 global businesspeople conducted by the Katzenbach...
Why Change Managers Are Failing in Agile Environments – Part 3
Part 3 of 3: Don’t Let Agile Steal Your Future Like Santa Stole Mine To this day, I can tell you the one toy that Santa never brought me despite my pleas – the Fisher-Price 3-In-1 Tournament Table. That baby wasn’t just a tiny billiards table; it was also a ping-pong...
Why Change Managers Are Failing in Agile Environments – Part 2
Part 2 of 3: Being Flexible When Navigating Agile Changes Recently, while thinking about multi-year rapid release plans, and all the many considerations that go into them, I was reminded of being a kid and the week-long, summer road trips I would take with my family....
Why Change Managers Are Failing in Agile Environments – Part 1
Part 1 of 3: Who needs Change Management when you can be Agile? We all know why large projects fail. It usually isn’t because the teams aren’t talented enough, or because there isn’t enough money dedicated to the project, or even because the wrong solution is chosen...
How Do We Make a Difference?
Leadership in 2020 Everyone is saying that nothing is going to be the same again after 2020. I’d add being a business leader to that list. I’ll never be the same. In the first few months of the year, I was already working on being more expressive with my opinions and...
How We Are Using Scenario Planning to Navigate COVID-19
About six weeks ago, I couldn’t stop thinking about the scenarios that we as a company might be navigating later in the year and in the coming years. Back then (which seems like forever ago), we were in the midst of more immediate reactions to the current pandemic,...
Scenario Planning: A Tool for the Times
As we all make our best efforts, both personally and professionally, to move forward – despite the challenges we are facing with the pandemic and the economy – I’ve found myself thinking more and more about the value of scenario planning. I know it is tempting to just...
3 Reasons Why You Should Host a Virtual Workshop
I’ve started to challenge the commonly held belief that nothing can replace in-person interactions. Since the shelter in place order took effect over a month ago, I’ve facilitated two virtual workshops and have been blown away by how effective they’ve been. In part...
Homeschooling Take 2
A couple weeks back, I wrote in my post about homeschooling challenges that I’d post again once things got better. We have by no means figured it all out yet, but we have settled into a new routine. Our kids’ school has been trying to evolve to support family needs,...
So, COVID-19 Made You a Homeschool Family? Welcome to the Club!
Now that your first week of homeschool is over you may be thinking a lot of things. You may be thinking that it wasn’t as bad as you imagined it would be. You may even be thinking that you enjoyed it. And if that is the case, then I’m very happy for you and for your...
Thoughts for Colleagues of Parents Running Homeschools
I love working from home. I love my kids. However, I do NOT love working from home while also homeschooling my kids. The last few days have been a huge challenge. I’m exhausted. I feel like I’m not doing enough. I feel like I should read this article again. And then,...
Tips from a Veteran of Working Remotely
Before I go into this post, I just want to acknowledge that I realize there are many people out there who do not have the option of working remotely. For an overwhelming number of people, their incomes and livelihoods are dependent on being able to go into their...
Finding Courage Above the Tree Line
Last weekend, my girlfriend and I met up at a spa in Arizona with the promise that we would “enter the healing of an award-winning desert sanctuary and leave chaos behind.” For months, I’d been anticipating total relaxation – laying by the pool, reading books (but not...
Experienced Leader Dave Allston Joins Business Transformation Experts at Thought Ensemble
Dave Allston, senior executive based in Dallas, is joining as Managing Partner of fast-growing business and technology transformation consultancy Thought Ensemble. In his new role, Dave will focus on expanding Thought Ensemble’s Dallas market presence, bringing...