Karout is a leadership trainer and researcher working at Harvard and across the US and the Middle East, who teaches and coaches based on the principles and practices of adaptive leadership. Her work aims to build the capacity of individuals and communities to hold conflict and navigate complexity across various levels of authority. She holds a Bachelors of Engineering from the American University of Beirut, a Masters in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School, and is an incoming PhD candidate at UC Berkeley, where she will research the pedagogical and theoretical implications of generative AI. Vartika Sharma is a collage artist and illustrator based in New Delhi, India. Inspire... posted on May 15 2024 (2,731 reads)

all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.’ ~Alexander Graham Bell Many of us grew up in the age of multi-tasking, where you couldn’t call yourself productive if you weren’t a good multi-tasker. We learned to always have several balls in the air at once — while writing something on the computer, we had a phone call going, we were writing something on a notepad or paper form, we were reviewing documents, sometimes even holding a meeting at the same time. That’s the productive worker, the effective executive. When email and Instant Messaging and blogs and the rest of the Internet came al... posted on Oct 5 2011 (39,046 reads)

ways, and complain about it: This is the source of their angst, their confusion, and yet here you are, one of the leading teachers on what unblocks creativity, and what you're offering is actually quite simple, at least on the surface. JC: I think that my tools are very simple. I sometimes say to myself, "Julia, it's like they go to school with you, and they come to kindergarten," but I believe that having the tools be so simple is one reason why so many people work with them, Tami. They have a feeling almost of déjà vu when they try the tools and they realize, "Oh! I used to journal!" "I used to go on expeditions!"... posted on May 7 2013 (26,445 reads)

the leaves have fallen around it and some have fallen into it. Rain and snow have fallen into it, and the fallen leaves have held the moisture and so have rotted. Nuts have fallen into it, or been carried into it by squirrels; mice and squirrels have eaten the meat of the nuts and left the shells; they and other animals have left their droppings; insects have flown into the bucket and died and decayed; birds have scratched in it and left their droppings or perhaps a feather or two. This slow work of growth and death, gravity and decay, which is the chief work of the world, has by now produced in the bottom of the bucket several inches of black humus. I look into that bucket with fascinati... posted on Mar 4 2014 (20,324 reads)

mom, chubby red-haired kid that went to a different school every two years. So you know no self-esteem at all. I had a really good third grade teacher. She had a big roll of butcher paper. She was like, “Now who should I give this to?” I was just kind of like “…ehh.” You know?  She’s like, “Yes, you.” It was just one of those things. I felt like I could do this. I could paint. I could draw. It was mostly nature. When I was very young I worked in acrylics, mostly nature. And when I was a teenager, it was cars for a while, pen and ink. All kinds of exotic cars, and I just kind of went back into oil paints exploring how to paint an emo... posted on Feb 16 2014 (22,064 reads)

is for amateurs — the rest of us just show up and get to work,” Chuck Close scoffed. “A self-respecting artist must not fold his hands on the pretext that he is not in the mood,” Tchaikovsky admonished.“Show up, show up, show up, and after a while the muse shows up, too,” Isabel Allende urged. But true as this general sentiment may be, it isn’t always an easy or a livable truth — most creative people do get stuck every once in a while, or at the very least hit the OK plateau. What then? Not too long ago, Alex Cornell rallied some of our time’s most celebrated artists, writers, and designers, and asked them to share t... posted on Apr 22 2014 (26,335 reads)

too long, too many of us have been entranced by heroes. Perhaps it’s our desire to be saved, to not have to do the hard work, to rely on someone else to figure things out. Constantly we are barraged by politicians presenting themselves as heroes, the ones who will fix everything and make our problems go away. It’s a seductive image, an enticing promise. And we keep believing it. Somewhere there’s someone who will make it all better. Somewhere, there’s someone who’s visionary, inspiring, brilliant, trustworthy, and we’ll all happily follow him or her. Somewhere… Well, it is time ... posted on Aug 28 2014 (34,885 reads)

“but once I got out the situation was pretty dismal.” That’s when he turned to the Doe Fund, as tens of thousands of homeless men and ex-cons have done since 1990. One of some 700 current members of Ready Willing & Able, the Doe Fund’s flagship training and sustaining organization, Joe will spend the next few months cleaning the streets for a small hourly wage while the organization offers him a place to sleep and three meals a day. His evenings will be spent working for a GED and learning computer skills. (There are also drug relapse prevention workshops, AA/NA meetings, conflict resolution, financial management, and parenting classes.) Then, if all goes ... posted on Jan 4 2015 (30,842 reads)

during an opening at Green Chalk Contemporary in Monterey, that I heard a compelling story about a photographer who had been taking photos of homeless men. But it was more than that. There was something about the way he was doing this that was having an important effect on the men themselves. Many of them were finding homes. I’d never heard a story like that before and immediately wanted to hear more. Thanks to another photographer, Jerry Takigawa (the opening at GCC was for Jerry's work), I was able to contact Bob Sadler directly.  Richard Whittaker: I’m going to ask you to repeat a story you’ve probably told more than a few times. You were standing by a rive... posted on Jun 13 2015 (15,699 reads)

and our own choices? How do you reconcile our material and spiritual needs so that you can stay grounded yet integrated and authentic in both pursuits? We are hoping to explore some of these questions not only with Jacob but also with all of you. We have a remarkable moderator today, Preeta Bansal. She is a lawyer by trade who spent some time in the private sector and in the public sector by serving under both the Clinton and the Obama administrations. She is currently a lecturer at MIT and working with their lab for social machines, determining how technology can be used for social emergence. So Preeta, thank you as well, for joining us today and for being our guide. We love to hear you... posted on Jul 4 2015 (8,565 reads)

years. He had the gift of seeing things with fresh eyes, almost like a child. And yet he was a thoroughly trained photographer having studied with the legendary Minor White. They were close friends right to the end of Minor’s life. The interview that follows is a testament to a wisdom born of experience and a long quest. We met at Nick's home in Corvallis, Oregon. Richard Whittaker: In one of my notes I have a quote you gave from Robert Henri. "The object behind every true work of art is the attainment of a state of being." Nicholas Hlobeczy: It is as he says. I believed him when I was going to art school and I still believe him. I think he worked for the Art St... posted on Apr 2 2016 (10,219 reads)

open seems right, as opposed to an exclusive club of folks indulging in some kind of mumbo jumbo.   Donna:  That’s why we are completely attracted to one another; we are like-minded in this.   RW:  Earlier you mentioned heroines and heros. When we talk about a hero, we’re talking about a person who has achieved some kind of greater potentiality. Would you agree with that? Donna:  Oh, absolutely, absolutely.   RW:  And an artwork somehow can be a kind of representative of that possibility?    Donna:  That’s a restating of my philosophy and why I’m very interested in transmitting these iconic t... posted on Apr 30 2016 (9,911 reads)

is the transcript of an interview between On Being's Krista Tippett and Frank Wilczek MS. KRISTA TIPPETT, HOST: “Having tasted beauty at the heart of the world, we hunger for more.” These are words of the Nobel physicist Frank Wilczek in his book A Beautiful Question. It’s a winsome, joyful meditation on the question “Does the world embody beautiful ideas?” — probing the world, by way of science, as a work of art. Frank Wilczek is the unusual scientist willing to analogize his discoveries about the deep structure of reality with deep meaning in the human everyday. My experience of how his mind makes connections took off as we bantere... posted on Jul 25 2016 (11,768 reads)

the last two decades, much research has been published about the positive impact of forgiveness, particularly on the forgiver and in relationships. Now, a new study—building on a smaller but growing body of research in the workplace—supports the power of forgiveness to potentially improve well-being and productivity in professional settings. Conflict among colleagues is inevitable, and—left unheeded—associated with significant stress, health problems (both mental and physical), and poor productivity.  Researchers set out to explore the role of forgiveness in ameliorating these negative impacts. The participants—more than 2... posted on Sep 15 2016 (13,576 reads)

of women-led resistance remains as women across the country make themselves central to protecting human rights and defending the environment. “Women are inseparable from human rights defenders,” said Patricia Viseur Sellers, the special adviser on international criminal law prosecution strategies for the International Criminal Court. “We need to recognize women human rights defenders in the U.S. as well [as the rest of the world], because they are doing the honorable work of advancing democracy that affects the majority of Americans—whether it is our ability to have clean air and water, a living wage, healthy food, or education. In this humanity comes our st... posted on Jun 8 2017 (5,525 reads)

had trouble connecting to religion and spiritual practice, but that this Franciscan changed their lives, deepened their spirituality, helped grow them up. So, at long last, I’m here to draw him out. And it’s a conversation with expansive scope, much like his teaching and writing — on why contemplation is as magnetic to people now, including millennials, as it’s ever been; on male spirituality and the epidemic of what he calls “father hunger;” and on the work of moving into what he describes as the second half of life. The first half is necessarily about survival, “successful survival,” and preoccupations like titles and prestige and posse... posted on Sep 11 2017 (14,548 reads)

9, 2015 I first heard of Vaea Marx from John Toki. Vaea is an old family friend of the Toki family. John’s parents founded Leslie Ceramics Supply in Berkeley in 1946. Their business was built on integrity and a deep spirit of support for both aspiring and established artists who came into their shop, first as customers and then, quite often, as friends.        John told me stories of Vaea and Peter Voulkos, both friends of the Tokis, who worked closely together for decades. Then one day artist Ann Weber handed me a catalog saying, “Here’s an artist you really should interview. He’s been around for a long time and should get more atten... posted on Jan 31 2018 (19 reads)

cooperation are terrifyingly clear. This world is depressing to contemplate, but it also is the truth of where we are. As leaders, we have a choice. We can courageously and willingly step forward to serve, or we can withdraw into denial and self-protection. We can be Warriors for the Human Spirit, leaders willing to defend and support people, leaders who remember and value what humans are capable of creating together. We need to turn our attention away from issues beyond our control and work with the people around us who are yearning for good leadership. We need to engage them in work that is within reach, that matters to them. We need to use our influence and power to create islands... posted on Dec 8 2017 (23,628 reads)

UNPLANNED ORGANIZATION: LEARNING FROM NATURE'S EMERGENT CREATIVITY From Noetic Sciences Review #37, Spring 1996   In my work with large organizations, one of the questions we often ask is, "How would we work differently if we really understood that we are truly self-organizing?" The first thing we recognize is that, just like individuals, the organizations we create have a natural tendency to change, to develop. This is completely counter to the current mantra of organizational life: "People resist change. People fear change. People hate change." Instead, in a self-organizing world, we see change as a power, a pre... posted on Jun 15 2018 (9,329 reads)

consultant Stephanie Pollack was brought in to work with the state chapter of a national nonprofit, morale was low. The organization was in the middle of a transformation that brought in new leadership, a new culture, new rules—and lots of tension and uncertainty. Her task? To teach appreciation and gratitude. Over the course of a three-day retreat, she taught a small group of reluctant employees about the benefits of recognizing the good things in their lives and saying thank you. And something shifted. After one person wrote a genuine note of thanks on an “appreciation wall,” soon everyone was participating. But what really surprised Pollack was th... posted on Jul 4 2018 (10,157 reads)