Category Archives: Adversity

A Tale of Two Tigers

By John Evelyn  |  February 8, 2010  |  Adversity,Agility,Blind Spots,Capability,Diagnosis,Fit for purpose,Rigidity,Risks,Sustainability

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we were all going directly to Heaven, we were all going the other way.” So begins “A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens. Although a story replete with social commentary, it brings into focus the impacts of adversity, particularly on the elite and unprepared. Aristocracy meant respect and a special place in the eyes of many, perhaps leading to hubris, and hubris often led to disaster.

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Blaise Pascal and the Somali Pirates

By John Evelyn  |  December 4, 2009  |  Adversity,Agility,Capability,Competition,Diagnosis,Fit for purpose,Lean,Rigidity,Risks,Six Sigma

Are we confident that our processes are delivering to the right quality and compliance requirements? How did we decide what the right controls, checks and balances are? Do we build in a safety margin or pay for insurance because we might fail? After all, failure has consequences, and insurance and safety cushions can be costly.
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I Have a Dream

By John Evelyn  |  November 16, 2009  |  Adversity,Capability,Leadership,Legacy,Tapestry of your life,Vision

When was the last time you dreamed? Not the go-to-sleep dream, but the dream that has a future that is really attractive, one we wanted to be part of? Is that dream still alive? In the universal words of kids in the back seat of the car, “Are we there yet?” Has the dream taken a detour, stuck in traffic, parked in the remote lot, or crushed in a junkyard, fodder for recycling? In this dream, were we the driver, passenger, or someone on the curb watching traffic go by?
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Thinka Linka Do

By John Evelyn  |  October 28, 2009  |  Adversity,Agility,Blind Spots,Capability,Competition,Customer Experience,Execution,Leverage,Resources,Rigidity,Teamwork,Technology,Winning

“Divide et impera”, or in English, Divide and Conquer is a phrase that we’ve all heard, many have experienced, and the clever have overcome. Forms of it have been attributed to Philip of Macedon and Julius Caesar and some incorrectly to Machiavelli, who in fact was denouncing it. It speaks to the power of effecting fragmentation, disintegration and dissolution of unity as a means to overcome adversaries or as a means to break down tough problems.
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Fast Times with Heisenberg, Gretzky, and Carroll

By John Evelyn  |  September 23, 2009  |  Adversity,Agility,Capability,Competition,Execution,Fit for purpose,Lean,Operational Excellence,Rigidity,Six Sigma,Transparency

Ever hear of Werner Heisenberg? Unless you are one of those people (confessed addict here) that is curious about lots of stuff, in this case quantum mechanics, you may not really care.
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“Have You Recovered?”

By John Evelyn  |  September 16, 2009  |  Adversity,Blind Spots,Execution,General,Integrity,Leadership,Legacy,Purpose and Values,Risks,Transparency

It has been one year since the economic tsunami swept across our world. There were lots of financial volcanoes bubbling with excitement, building pressure and spilling over. It became very evident that we did not have lots of volcanoes, but rather outlets under a sea of molten financial foundations with unstoppable pressures. In panic, some of the eruptions were temporarily plugged with financial corks, borrowed from our future, but a big one went and blew up. In the Straits of Wall Street, our own Krakatau, aka Lehman Brothers blew its top, exploded and sent a blanket of financial darkness around the world.
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“Ouch! Labor Hurts!”

By John Evelyn  |  September 8, 2009  |  Adversity,Agility,Alignment,Blind Spots,Capability,Competition,Fit for purpose,General,Legacy,Leverage,Resources,Respect,Rigidity,Risks,Sustainability,Teamwork,Technology

Yesterday was Labor Day in the US. When I was growing up, it was usually a milestone close to the end of summer and a signal that back to school was here. The contributions and needs of labor did not weigh into my view or feelings about the day back then. They are a big deal today and weigh heavy.
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“I’m Going to Pump You Up!”

By John Evelyn  |  September 4, 2009  |  Adversity,Blind Spots,Capability,Diets,Leadership,Obesity,Purpose and Values,Risks,Tapestry of your life,Transparency,Winning

Last year I lost a friend to heart disease. He had a stroke that eventually proved fatal.
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On the Shoulders of Giants

By John Evelyn  |  September 2, 2009  |  Adversity,Agility,Blind Spots,Books and Publications,Capability,Diagnosis,Execution,Fit for purpose,Leadership,Legacy,Risks,Tapestry of your life,Travel

I’ve often heard the term, “You are what you eat.” I suspect that some of that may be true. If you’ve read Michael Pollan’s “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” you may conclude that we are more corn than anything else.
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On the Banks of the Rubicon

By John Evelyn  |  August 31, 2009  |  Adversity,Capability,Competition,Execution,Leadership,Legacy,Risks,Tapestry of your life,Vision

How many times have we crossed the Rubicon, our very own River Rubicon? When Julius Caesar crossed the River Rubicon in 49 BC, it was an act of commitment to war with Rome, a point of no return, a decision to follow through without looking back. It was, in fact a decision that changed the course of history and our world as it is today
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