focused group

A few weeks ago I visited Carnegie Hall to hear a concert by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, a group known for maintaining the highest level of musical artistry while also performing without a conductor. Instead of one director, different members lead each piece, coordinating the rehearsals and giving cues during the performance.

This unique approach has earned them invitations to speak to business leaders around the country, who are interested in how this very diverse, very opinionated group of musicians manages to find harmony, literally and figuratively, through such a process. Harvard and Stanford have studied the group and they’ve conducted seminars at Morgan Stanley, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital, and …


new to you friday–eighth track

After I originally posted this, one reader told me how much he liked it and asked if I had written anything else on “P4.” Two years later I still haven’t, but I see examples each week, across industries, of dysfunction caused by poor processes or miscommunication. So the original track is still on frequent rotation.


Every person is a CD with recurring “tracks”—comments, opinions or rants they can always be counted on to share when a given topic comes up.

For instance, my mom’s blood starts boiling when the conversation turns to Bible college students (often preaching majors) who …