Informal Roles

We all carry cards, have titles, responsibilities, comp systems and offices that define our formal roles at work. Also, each member in every work group has an informal role, both self-selected and assigned by the group. This selection process doesn’t happen according to any traditional method but develops over time, through the process of discovering…

Memorial Day in May

In the rural Midwest where I was born and, I am told, in the rural south as well, the federal holiday now known as Memorial Day was called Decoration Day. Only in recent decades have people there begun to say Memorial Day.  I remember well the annual practice of going to cemeteries with my family…

Photo of painting by Patricia Deck

On Knowing When to Stop

Patricia Deck, my wife and inspiration, is an artist. She has studied for decades to increase her painting skills. Color, texture, composition and brush stroke are languages and she is fluent in all. Patty can produce wonderful works in oil, acrylic, pastel or water color. However, those marvelous skills cannot alone or even in tandem produce art. When art emerges,…

It’s All About Teamwork

To depart from the usual business stories and athletic metaphors, come with me for a short journey into the performing arts, where teamwork is every bit as important in aesthetic pursuits as it is in more familiar areas. This past weekend, along with over 50 other singers, a dozen members of the orchestra and another…

Enlightenment by Sunshine

Near Lunenburg, Nova Scotia on Prince’s Inlet, rests a dilapidated excursion boat. I understand it was used in the 1940s and 50s as a whale watching craft. We are here again this year on a painting vacation staying in the home of a friend. The house overlooks the water of Prince’s Inlet. This small bay…