When past mass shootings occurred, I wrote about the resilient nature of how people handled these tragedies. After the Charleston hate murders, President Obama sang Amazing Grace. When the gunfire settled down following the Orlando Pulse slaughter, the Gay Men’s Choir of Washington sang “We Shall Overcome” at the White House. After the machine guns were quieted in Las Vegas, people launched paper lanterns up into the desert sky. Seems a little different this time, doesn’t it? Most people think...

I was doing a workshop at one of our local colleges last week and talked about the idea that every educator’s goal would be to have students who are fully engaged in their learning. I called it consumptive learning and the President of the College came up to me later and told me that she had been looking for a phrase that described the kind of culture that she wanted her faculty to create for the students. When my wife...

An article from the Center for World Indigenous Studies tells of the work of Mahan Chandra who is in a race to preserve Indian native rice seed before the effects of climate change threatens to destroy these varieties. Chandra travels to villages across Northern India, meeting with elders of the communities to create his “seed-saving” library that has now grown from 2 to 250 different kinds of rice. Seed preservation libraries are not new with the most famous one being...

One of those amazing pieces of research shows that having friends and supporters who you can really count on, in tough times, creates a significant impact on everything from longevity to success at work (duh!) Most of us think that means that we should reach out to others when we need them. By creating a network of friends, old and new, fun and serious, we create a scaffold of support that surrounds us in good and bad. What if we...

If resilience is being able to respond effectively to disruptions that occur in our lives, then addressing how we manage the daily disturbances in our workday is an ongoing opportunity. Interruptions are the norm of the workplace. In our more open environment neighbor conversations can be easily overheard. Glass doors encourage stop by visits and meetings (OMG…meetings) ensure that there will be few minutes of the day that provide time for thinking. On top of all the environmental factors is...

I was attending a team meeting for one of my client’s and the President commented that everyone in the room should not be surprised to have to do work outside the office. He told them that they were highly compensated, responsible for significant budgets, and had multiple responsibilities, which he understood took significant time. He also told them that when they did not get tasks done during their work week, they should plan on spending their weekend getting it all...