Connect with John Pisapia

Strategic Thinking Protocol

We are in the Weeds!

uuA few days ago, some the STQ Online Team (John, Lin, Gianni) shared a pizza at a local pizzeria.  The waiter came over and asked “how are you!”  I responded in my customary appreciative inquiry mode - “great and you?”  He answered, we are in the weeds. Thinking the worst, I aked, “what does that mean?” He said its restaurant talk for “we are busy.”

How I Missed the Future!

John PisapiaTwo years ago I entered my classroom and a student asked if her baby sister, a twenty two year old undergraduate student at the University of Florida (UF), could sit in the back of the room. Her reason for this request was that it was a holiday weekend and many public spaces on campus were closed.  She explained that her sister who was on break from UF would be attending a family function after class as a surprise guest.  So she needed to hide out for awhile. I said no problem; she could hide in my class since some of my own students were also hiding out; and I began class.

The One Big Thing!

thingDo you remember the movie, City Slickers?  Jack Palance played the sometimes scary cowboy named Curly, and Billy Crystal as the city slicker [Mitch] looking for perspective on a dude ranch vacation.  At one point, Curly asks Mitch - Do you know what the secret of life is?  Seeing that Mitch is puzzled, Curly holds up one FINGER and says THIS!  The incredulous Mitch says, “Your finger is the secret to life?” Curly responds, “One thing; just one thing!  You stick with that and the rest just don’t matter.” The inquisitive Mitch asks, “But what is the one thing?”  Curly smiles and responds, “That is what you have to find out.”

Blinking and Thinking

22A clear majority of us live in a quicksilver world – a world of fluidity – sometimes fickleness - where sudden and unpredictable change can and does occur. In a quicksilver world, things are uncertain. This uncertainty creates a web of tensions that challenge us to meet new demands in the face of local constraints.  It’s a world where there is no clear path toward success.What is known is that a quicksilver world rewards leaders who are creative rather than compliant, practice from analytic and integrative mindsets, use a multi-dimensional set of leader actions, connect their organizations to major environmental themes, and connect with the minds and spirit of followers. 

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