A different way of looking.
“Early on the morning of 30 January 1990, George Cohon, president of McDonald’sCanada, left his hotel room and drove to Pushkin Square in Moscow. Nervous about the international press that would be covering the opening of the first McDonald’s in this nation and anxious to make the opening perfect, he arrived to see the streets […]
A matter of timing.
When I worked as a high school teacher and then a counselor, I sometimes helped student athletes fill out their NCAA eligibility profiles. One section always stood out to me: Have you ever been paid in any way to play your sport? Typical NCAA amateurism questions included things like: They were not kidding around. The […]
Perfect Popcorn – and Challenging Conversations.
Those of you that know me well know that popcorn is one of my favorite food groups. It’s the entire reason that movies in theaters still exist. At least for me. Popcorn is kind of fascinating. It’s bred for two very specific traits: a hard, moisture-sealed outer hull and a precise moisture balance inside the […]
Ernest Shackleton – and unfavorable conditions.
On March 9, 2022, the New York Times published this incredible news: “The wreck of Endurance has been found in the Antarctic, 106 years after the historic ship was crushed in pack ice and sank during an expedition by the explorer Ernest Shackleton. A team of adventurers, marine archaeologists and technicians located the wreck at […]
Backing up Blind.
Several years ago, my brother and his wife were moving back to our home state after some schooling. I was standing with our Dad on his long driveway while my brother tried to back a huge moving trailer into it – straight and clean. He was struggling a bit to get it into position. I […]
Three-lane Future.
Do you have a minute? It’s a weird week, so you might have a minute. I’m going to walk us through an imagination exercise. There is no pressure, I just want you to explore with me. Ok? Ready? We’re going to imagine three parallel tracks our lives could take from right here, right now. For […]
The Earlier Version of You.
Last winter, I had a day where I felt completely steady walking into something and completely unsteady walking out of it. I was only about ten miles from my house. I went into a company on a beautiful crisp, clear morning to give an in-person presentation. I thought it went so well. But when I […]
The Small Thing That Won’t Let Go.
We recently had our Primary Program at my church – a well-rehearsed hour filled with songs and speaking parts presented by the children in the congregation from ages 3-11. Darren, for the life of him, has not been able to get one of the songs out of his head. It has gotten to the point […]
When the bill breaks.
In 2009, behavioral economists Priya Raghubir and Joydeep Srivastava designed a series of studies to observe how people handle cash. They found that a single large bill carried more psychological weight than the same amount divided into smaller ones. Participants who received a fifty-dollar bill tended to keep it intact. Those given the same amount […]
The Wizard of Oz — and Remastering.
As some of you probably know, maybe even because I’ve told you, The Wizard of Oz is not in Kansas anymore. It’s in Las Vegas. And it’s incredible. According to the Wall Street Journal, Steven Hickson, director for AI foundation research at Google DeepMind, The Wizard of Oz project was “Very, very, very big and […]
