I usually think better when I’m talking with someone. There’s something about the process of sharing an idea that instantly makes it better. There’s the obvious aspect of this, which is getting good feedback from another person and iterating on an idea until it gets better and better. But I’m talking about something else. There are times when the person ...

This morning I got an email invitation to an event. I probably won’t go though. It is a busy time of year and I do have a conflict on the calendar. I probably could have moved it, but I didn’t. Why not? Because the email had that ‘mass communication’ feel to it that made it seem, rightly or wrongly, that ...

Readers who worry too much about The Matrix or Terminator may want to skip this post. Scientists are now envisioning a new approach to managing traffic flow by turning traffic lights into self-organizing nodes in a network. Move over SkyNet; say hello to RoadNet. The plan is to build sensors into each traffic light so that it can automatically adjust ...

You can think of connections as analogous to the packaging that wraps a product you buy at the store. The underlying “product” is the activity, or work, you want to coordinate with someone; the packaging is the connection between you.

A connection, or point of contact, in a relationship can take many forms. It might be your voice in my ear, my words before you on screen, or a simple pat on the back from a loved one just when you need it the most. Connections are really important, and very ancient, tools that biological life of all types uses to stay connected with its surrounding environment in a productive and safe way.

“Networks  are voluntary connections between autonomous peers.” Organizations are autonomous when they have final say over their own future. People are autonomous when they have final say over their lives. I might be autonomous at home but not at work, by the way, just as I’m free to decide who I vote for in an election or what movie to watch ...

Gideon Rosenblatt is now a writer. This is the post where he announces he's left Groundwire to focus his time on writing at Alchemy of Change.

The Wall Street Journal just ran an interesting piece called The Power Trip that essentially says ‘nice’ people often rise to power in organizations – and are then corrupted by their position. Contrary to what Machiavelli espoused, it turns out that in today’s society people with good empathy and interpersonal skills often rise to the top. “People give authority to ...

Finally got around to writing up my thoughts on the engagement pyramid, posted on the Groundwire website. There’s a lot more nuance here, which I hope to write about later. At least it’s a start for now.

JP Rangaswami’s post on platforms is worth reading. Rather than try to summarize it myself, I’ll just excerpt a few highlights: His definition of platforms: something that is a foundation, an enabling environment, upon which others can build things, make things something that exists for a specific purpose (or set of purposes), and which invests in capabilities related to those ...