By: Jeff Styer on February 24, 2025
After reading Joseph Bentley and Michael Toth, Exploring Wicked Problems: I realize that our country no longer has an immigration problem; our country has an immigration mess. In this post I will define tame and wicked problems, define a mess (it may or may not be my son’s bedroom), show why immigration is a mess,…
By: Glyn Barrett on February 24, 2025
“Exploring Wicked Problems” [1] by Bentley and Toth offers a brilliant, albeit lengthy, exploration of the distinction between “wicked and tame” [2] problems. Many leaders are likely acquainted with this concept, which is difficult to dispute at its core. The authors highlight that while some problems are clear-cut and easily addressed, others are intrinsically complex,…
By: Christy on February 24, 2025
In 1973, Horst Rittel and Melvin Webber introduced the term “wicked problem” to describe the complexities and challenges of addressing planning and social policy problems. Unlike the “tame” problems that occur in science, wicked problems lack clarity in both the problem and solution. Examples include: climate change, homelessness, border control, poverty, terrorism, and healthcare access.…
By: Judith McCartney on February 23, 2025
Shaping the Future of Leadership. I read an article from Harvard long ago called “Women less inclined to self-promote than men, even for a job. My curiosity peaked when they discussed how even when a woman knows she answered 15 out of 20 questions correctly on a task and a man knows he answered 15…
By: Noel Liemam on February 21, 2025
Introduction One review stated that the rewiring of childhood has led to a decline in physical play and independent exploration which are crucial for healthy development in our children. And Haidt called for both parents and educators to recognize this issue and to adapt in order to support the mental health of the children.[1] This…
By: Julie O'Hara on February 21, 2025
In The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt provides the research behind what I thought I already knew: devices can be dangerous. Our Story It was late 2012 when our then-sixth-grade daughter convinced us she needed a phone. Her youth pastor communicated…
By: Joel Zantingh on February 21, 2025
It was a couple of years ago that I did a quick informal survey of the prevalence of mental health diagnoses among young adults in my world. It aligned with what the Canadian Association of Mental Health reported, that “Mental illness is the leading national cause of disability among those aged 15-29, with an estimated…
By: Linda Mendez on February 20, 2025
I hired someone to manage our Unhoused Mobile Shower clinic in August of last year. However, in January, they resigned. Two weeks into the job, she requested a meeting to share concerns about my leadership. I will admit it was tough to hear. I had never had an employee challenge or question me like she…
By: Chad Warren on February 20, 2025
“You’re killing me, Smalls!” I grew up watching The Sandlot, which is easily one of the most oft-quoted movies among my friends and now my kids. It reminds me of the magic of a childhood spent outdoors—pick-up baseball games, daring adventures, and friendships forged through scraped knees and summer mischief. The boys in The Sandlot…
By: Jess Bashioum on February 20, 2025
I have had leadership on my life since I was young. My mom told me that when I was 4, I would line up my dolls and stuffed animals and give them inspirational speeches about things they should do with their lives. Unfortunately, I grew up with a dad and a church community that didn’t…
By: Christian Swails on February 20, 2025
Pursuing and accepting leadership is a crash course in exposing my triggers. (so is being married and having a child). When I arrive late for an appointment, or make a scheduling mistake on a complicated work-week, or if I am questioned about….anything – my chest tightens, my breath shortens, and my body puts on…
By: Jeremiah Gómez on February 20, 2025
Scrawled across my office whiteboard is a haunting and helpful question, especially as I face painful challenges in my current leadership season: What would a GREAT leader do? How would a fantastic leader dig into my organization’s challenges and opportunities? What would they do to navigate the turbulent and dangerous waters of transition and financial…
By: Debbie Owen on February 20, 2025
I put another log on the fire and closed the door to the wood stove. I waited a moment until the flames caught, sending warmth into the room. I sat down, opened The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt, and picked up where I had left off the night before. Just as I started reading, my…
By: Daren Jaime on February 20, 2025
Taking a trip down memory lane, I vividly recall witnessing fights, student altercations during lunch, instances of verbal disputes, and, in rare cases, incidents of extreme violence such as stabbings or killings. While peer pressure, hazing, and occasional encounters with bullies were commonplace, the overall climate was mild. Fast forward to 2025, and the landscape…
By: Mika Harry on February 20, 2025
Completely overwhelming. As I turned the last page of Leader-smithing, I was overwhelmed. The idea of 52 action items, one for each week of the year, felt daunting.[1] Are leaders really supposed to adopt a new practice for 52 weeks straight? The sheer magnitude of such a task feels insurmountable in my current season. Much…
By: Elysse Burns on February 20, 2025
Nothing incites panic quite like realizing your phone is missing. While driving through a narrow street in our neighborhood, Kari hopped out of the car to help direct me through. Somewhere between exiting the car and stepping into her role as traffic guide, her phone slipped from her lap and disappeared into the sand. Neither…
By: Graham English on February 20, 2025
Six years ago, I gathered a few teachers in my church and facilitated a conversation, hoping to learn more about the community we were pastoring. When I asked them about the issues that children and families were dealing with, the number one response was anxiety. Each person spoke about how alarming levels of anxiety in…
By: Betsy on February 20, 2025
A predecessor to Google Search for finding contacts before smartphones and search engines took over in the UK was called The Yellow Pages. It was a massive yellow book with a familiar strong smell, about the size of a small suitcase with all the contact information for different work sectors and friends and was the…
By: Darren Banek on February 20, 2025
When American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46 a.m., the Port Authority initially advised people in the South Tower to stay put. Rick, Morgan Stanley’s Vice President of Corporate Security, ignored this directive.[1] He immediately grabbed a bullhorn and systematically guided the corporation’s employees out of the…
By: Robert Radcliff on February 20, 2025
Eve Poole’s book, Leadersmithing: Revealing the Trade Secrets of Leadership, discusses how Practice and Pressure are needed to forge healthy leaders. A key to leadership is knowing yourself and feeling resourced to accomplish the task.[1] Critical incidents shape the lives and outcomes of the leader. Practice templates help develop muscle memory for known situations and…
