One of the most misapplied principles out there today is Strengths Based Leadership (SBL.) When I have discussed with people that you need to be aware of your biases and work to manage their impact, many people respond with, “No, everyone knows you need to lean on your strengths to be successful.” They don’t have the wrong answer, if this were a different question. But I am talking about leadership, not finding your optimal domain for personal satisfaction.

At the six-month mark we had to completely rebuild MYM&Ms operations by removing all the best practices the engineers and experts had installed. 55% OT&C to 99.97% required a new way of solutioning.

How a room full of specialized IT engineers spent an hour over-engineering a solution to a problem that didn’t exist, and why basic, non-technical logic found the answer in two minutes. A masterclass in how polite persistence can dismantle siloed thinking

While this was a brief experience 25 years ago with valuable lessons about “experts”, simplicity, and providing feedback that are just as relevant today.

This free preview post discusses the origin story of “act against your nature.” This will help you see the foundation that the stories and lessons are built on.