Who is loud in meetings. Who gets in early or leaves late. Who made the fewest mistakes with their code or submitted a commit to GitHub first. These proxies, along with the usual human discrimination based on caste or gender, all lead to an ongoing and compounded series of errors.

Creating an intentional culture that focuses on finding, empowering, and amplifying enrolled individuals is the work of a skilled leader.

Management runs a race to the bottom; leadership offers a chance to run for the top.

Because change is the metric, we need to acknowledge the “who.” We cannot (and don’t even want to) change everyone, so “Who is it for?” is a question we’re comfortable asking. If we keep measuring the wrong things, we’ll keep getting the things we don’t want.

We shouldn’t be doing management to our employees. If we’re good, though, we might be able to do it with them.

his best technique for growing the business was to call every store every day and ask, “What’s wrong?” and then fix the problem. The store manager who told me this story made it clear that if you didn’t have a problem to share, you were in trouble. Two sides of the same coin. It’s possible your team knows what’s up.

How do I create the conditions for other people to do work that matters?

The planet does not need more successful people, but it does desperately need more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of every kind.

If the work of the organization involves innovation, connection, or the creation of change, then only humans are going to do that work. Treating them like a measurable asset is a trap.