“What do I say when it’s all over … And sorry seems to be the hardest word.” — Elton John

Mistakes happen. People fall down. What’s important is how you get back up. This is really geared towards leaders and pro-active repair, but I think the frame below is useful in many everyday situations. It’s powerful because you’re owning your mistake, you’re acknowledging it, and you’re finding a way forward. What you resist persists, and dwelling doesn’t help.

“Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things.” – Peter Drucker

Efficiency. Effectiveness. Elegance in action. That’s the Lean way.

Whether you find the free prize or not, this post will make you think.

“It’s not who you are that holds you back, it’s who you think you’re not.” — Author Unknown

I was listening to a Tony Robbins talk a while back and he hit on a very important distinction … faith vs. belief. His point was that while belief is based on evidence, faith is not. Faith you believe without evidence. Right or wrong, it’s what you truly believe in your inner core.

“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” — Maria Robinson

When you have to think your way through things, you wear yourself out. This is why routines and going into automatic pilot serve you. You don’t have to think your way through the basics and you can focus your thinking on higher level things up the stack.

Every now and then I come across a metaphor that really sticks and helps me think differently about something I see every day. The metaphor helps me look at these situations with a new lens, and, as a result, think, feel, and act more effectively.

I’ve heard of several ways to think about our thinking. I’ve heard of the left-brain and right-brain. I’ve heard of the emotional side and the rational side. This time, the metaphor is the Elephant and the Rider.

You know those moments when you feel fully alive? … those moments when you are fully in the moment and you want the moment to last forever? This quote puts the search for these moments front and center:

This is an excerpt from my latest book, Getting Results the Agile Way. It’s from the A Word from the Author section. One of my reader’s tells me that this was the most impactful prose for them. I think because it answers the question, “Why did I write this guide?” This is yet another reminder to me how important it is to lead with your why. Here it is …

When I was a kid, I had a bike that I thought I could ride pretty well. After all, it was my bike and I rode it every day. I knew its quirks, I knew its strengths, I knew its weaknesses. Or so I thought. One day, a friend asked to try my bike.

He hopped on my bike and then paused as if sizing it up. Then, with confidence and grace, he rolled slowly forward and balanced on the front wheel. He then started to hop on the front wheel several times, before spinning 180 degrees.

“Diamonds are nothing more than chunks of coal that stuck to their jobs.” — Malcolm S. Forbes

On our team at Microsoft, things move fast and we can’t afford to get stuck. Being blocked on something is one thing, but feeling stuck is another.

When you feel stuck, it’s easy for your thought patterns to create a spiral down. This is ineffective and it can be paralyzing. The good news is, you can break the thought patterns, by asking yourself a different set of questions.

Here are some of the questions we regularly use:

“Your willingness to wrestle with your demons will cause your angels to sing. Use the pain as fuel, as a reminder of your strength.” – August Wilson

As a parting gift at the end of one of my projects, I wanted everybody to walk away with their list of personal strengths. Not just a list that I made up, or their own list, but a list of strengths through the eyes of the team.

“Many of us crucify ourselves between two thieves – regret for the past and fear of the future.” – Fulton Oursler

If you carry regrets around with you, this post just might lighten your load. It’s easy to regret. It’s easy to second guess yourself, especially with 20/20 hind-sight. It’s easy to ponder the “what if’’s” and “what could have been’s.” It’s not so easy to let your regrets go.

It had to be done. Out with the old, in with the new. In this case, it was a bit more like spit and polish. I cleaned up Sources of Insight to get rid of some of the things that were bugging me. I consider it an example of sweeping in action.

Here are the outcomes I wanted to achieve:

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Have you ever been fascinated by how to build wealth? Wondered why some people become wealthy and others don’t? From a young age, I read and studied millionaires and investing, looking for the answers to those questions. I read Think and Grow Rich when I was 10 years old. I got a Business degree, became a Certified Financial Planner (CFP), and spent 28 years in the financial industry, because I wanted to know how to build wealth.

“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” – Charles Darwin

I was skimming Secrets of Consulting: A Guide to Giving and Getting Advice Successfully and I came across this nugget: