Just when you thought it was safe to turn on the TV and avoid the Baby Boomer financial planning advertisements (cf., Easy Rider selling Ameriprise), along comes the 40th anniversary of Woodstock. I was a baby when this occurred— and I have never met anyone who was there— so my only knowledge of it comes from movies, newspaper articles, and other media that have documented the event.

Fortunately, my work responsibilities don't require me to have an expert understanding of Woodstock. But what if this wasn’t the case? What if I needed this knowledge to perform the tasks expected of me?

There are many features I like on my Toyota RAV4, but I have to confess the cup holders drive me to distraction. There are two positioned on the floor between the driver and passenger seat, directly below the entertainment console. The placement is fine, but it is their size that is the most noticeable feature. There is no other way to say it—they are simply huge. I am not sure even a Route 44 cherry limeade from Sonic would take up the entire space in one cup holder.

“Lean in, back off, but don’t do nothing.”

I just finished reading Seth Godin’s book Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us, and, of all the thought provoking statements he makes, that phrase is the one sticking with me. I like to think of it as the equivalent of a car’s accelerator pedal. You can push down and go faster, or let up and coast, but under no circumstance should you touch the brake.

I have been on hiatus from blogging for the last six weeks so, as a way to get back into the swing of things, I have been reviewing recent entries regarding pointers to keep in mind when undertaking change programs. Based on her experiences at BP, Fiona MacCleod provides great insight to the role culture and organization design play in any change program.

One of the most interesting conversations I had at the HR Houston Gulf Coast Symposium conference last week centered on the fragmented nature of personnel files. While HR programs have made tremendous strides towards electronic management of these record sets, HR organizations continue to struggle with inefficiencies caused by multiple physical and electronic repositories.

So, I was passing through a Hardees drive-through the other morning (had to feed the urge for a chicken biscuit), and decided to risk their coffee. While the coffee itself was just okay, what really impressed me was the labeling on the cup. This was no ordinary cup of joe, it was “Channel Islands Coffee”.