By and large, I concur with the sentiment that &ldquo;CULTURE eats strategy for breakfast,&rdquo; and though <a href="https://www.drucker.institute/did-peter-drucker-say-that/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Drucker didn&rsquo;t write exactly that</a>, what he did write (for example, &ldquo;Culture&mdash;no matter how defined&mdash;is singularly persistent.&rdquo;) suggests that anyone who underestimates Culture does so at his or her own peril.
Beneath Culture, however, lies something equally important and far more personal: MINDSET.&nbsp;
Mindset (like EMOTIONS, BELIEFS, and BIASES) is &ldquo;the software upon which our behaviors run,&rdquo; and&mdash;like software&mdash;sometimes there are bugs and glitches.
Sorta like an amorphic mutation (one that causes complete loss of gene function), OVERTHINKING can be detrimental to one&rsquo;s mindset.
So, what to do, what to do?
Today&rsquo;s <a href="https://youtu.be/88nGGc1Gjys" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GIFT (#23</a>, from our SERIES OF GIFTS) is a fun read by Jon Acuff entitled &ldquo;SOUNDTRACKS: THE SURPRISING SOLUTION TO OVERTHINKING.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Overthinking is a really interesting phenomenon that, safe to say, is not evenly distributed across the population. Sure, some folks overthink, but some folks behave as if they rarely think at all!&nbsp;
Or perhaps as if they have no filter.
Or perhaps as if they have no inside voice.
Or perhaps as if they have no empathy.
Or perhaps as if they have no manners.
Or perhaps as if they think too few steps ahead (infrequently considering the short or long-term consequences of their actions, as often happens when haste, instant gratification, desire, or rage trump reason). I'm reminded here of that incredible line by Ambrose Bierce: &ldquo;Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret.&rdquo;
Overthinkers, of course, may have a rich interior life, though they may have a problem with &lsquo;presence.&rsquo;
For example, overthinkers who live in the PAST may live lives of REGRET, or (if their past was great, or even simply remembered as great), they may live nostalgically about &ldquo;the good ol&rsquo; days,&rdquo; pine for how things used to be, complain about &ldquo;people these days,&rdquo; listen exclusively to Springsteen&rsquo;s Glory Days while bellied up to the bar recounting someone's successful field goal kick from 1973 that won the State Championship, or fancy themselves &lsquo;the historian in the bunch&rsquo; whose responsibility it is to remind everyone that "Back when so and so steered this ship, we didn&rsquo;t have all these problems.&rdquo;
Conversely, rather than dwelling in the past, some overthinkers live in the FUTURE. If they are optimists, perhaps the future is bright... if only we can live to see it! But if they are pessimists, welp, their burden is often one of WORRY. Worry is a brain cancer, of course, but it&rsquo;s also a rocking chair that never gets us anywhere. Or, as described in David Mamet&rsquo;s The Spanish Prisoner, &ldquo;Worry is interest paid in advance on a debt that never exists.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Should an overthinker&rsquo;s &lsquo;presence&rsquo; issue not be the PAST or the FUTURE, it could very well be the 'present,' aka, LIVING IN THE HERE AND NOW. The 'mentally, physically, or emotionally absent' folks are those among us whose minds always tend to wander, or who struggle to focus, or who struggle to live in and enjoy the experience at hand.&nbsp;
Clearly, virtually everyone struggles at one point or another or to some degree with the past, the present, the future, or overthinking any one or all three of them.&nbsp;
That being the case, anyone interested in learning more about 'being present' can explore <a href="https://youtu.be/0I9gNzq1h3g" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Episode 5 of November&rsquo;s GRATITUDE SERIES (&ldquo;LEADING &amp; LIVING IN RELATIONAL PEACE"), as I covered REGRET &amp; WORRY at length there (beginning at 00:24:30).</a>
Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy <a href="https://youtu.be/88nGGc1Gjys" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a few thoughts on Acuff&rsquo;s </a><a href="https://youtu.be/88nGGc1Gjys" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SOUNDTRACKS</a>, because his book is insightful, meaningful, and fun (and funny!).
I&rsquo;m indebted to Austin Powell for bringing it to my attention a summer or two ago.

A SERIES OF GIFTS — No. 23: "SOUNDTRACKS" by Jon Acuff

Like yesterday's, today's gift is a book review of sorts, but it's more than that.
For leaders eager to solve the 'culture conundrum' in our latest era of work (one defined by side hustles, desk sharing, hybrid cadence issues, influencing from afar, decreased employee engagement and divided attention), <a href="https://youtu.be/t1NRL3AFJ-Q" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GIFT #22</a> introduces a book that's chock-full of simple answers and actionable steps we can ALL take to design what author Dr. Daren Martin describes as "a company of owners."&nbsp;
And for those pressed on time or drowning in a glut of free advice, here's another biscuit to whet your appetite: The book is 144 pages, but most of them are PICTURES (infographics, diagrams, charts, fun statistics, insightful quotes, beautiful illustrations, bulleted best practices, etc.)!
It's a blast to read, and also a great gift to others.
Anyhoo, my additional thoughts are in the filmlet (along with a link to purchase the book as moved).
Pass it on............................

A SERIES OF GIFTS — No. 22: "ARCHITECTING A COMPANY OF OWNERS" by Daren Martin, PhD

The LORD works in mysterious ways...
&nbsp;
18 months ago, by happenstance (in God&rsquo;s economy), I met a fella named Mike Fransen who was completing a book entitled <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Legacy-Business-Practical-Insights-Assembling/dp/1664260153/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3HS69URT9W246&amp;keywords=the+legacy+business&amp;qid=1671693270&amp;sprefix=the+legacy+business,aps,108&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&ldquo;THE LEGACY BUSINESS: PRACTICAL INSIGHTS TO ASSEMBLING A LIFE WORTH PASSING ON TO OTHERS.&rdquo;</a>&nbsp;
Then, just last month and in another city, I was visiting with a group of leaders on the topic of LEADERSHIP IDENTITY. That&rsquo;s all. Nothing else.
After everyone had left and the room was cleared, one gentleman lingered and approached. We had a very nice visit (maybe 10 minutes or so) during which he remarked out of the blue, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m really feeling called to create a LEGACY BUSINESS.&rdquo;
Had I been sitting down, I probably woulda fallen out of my chair, but since I was standing, you coulda knocked me over with a feather.
&ldquo;I brought three books today,&rdquo; I replied, &ldquo;and look at what this one is called.&rdquo; I then reached for the stack, and the book in the middle was my personal copy of &mdash; you guessed it &mdash; Mike Fransen&rsquo;s &ldquo;THE LEGACY BUSINESS.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Believe you me, when I slid that gorgeous black book out and handed it to the gentleman, our eyes were the size of saucers!
The man continued: &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve started and sold two successful companies, but this last one&rsquo;s gonna be different.&rdquo;
&ldquo;How so?&rdquo; I asked.
&ldquo;The last two made tons of money, but they also robbed my soul. Having one left in me, I&rsquo;m making and giving this one entirely to the LORD.&rdquo;
&ldquo;And how&rsquo;s that going?&rdquo; I asked.
He smiled a knowing smile. &ldquo;My wife chastised me the other night because she saw me reverting right back into my old behaviors: the 24/7 hamster wheel, ego, arrogance, money. &lsquo;I thought this one was gonna be different,&rsquo; she said, so yeah, this is the book I need. I guess today was the divine appointment that nails it to the door for me. I cannot ignore God's calling anymore, and I can't believe that&rsquo;s the book you brought with you."
I can.
So here it is, <a href="https://youtu.be/9kJirRTyRXY" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GIFT #21</a>, my book review and lite summary of THE LEGACY BUSINESS.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
For everyone out there callousing his or her knees in prayer, toiling 24/7 to get something worthwhile off the ground or up and out of the ditch, or wandering in the wilderness (fearing, perhaps, that you&rsquo;ve altogether lost your way), or worrying or wondering whether God's abandoned you, just remember: His promises endure.
As evidenced 18 months ago and just last month: Come hell or high water, God will encourage those who write in the dark and even use those who unwittingly carry His testimonies of hope into faraway lands.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
In moments of doubt, I'm personally reminded of one of my late father-in-law's favorite passages in all of scripture. He was imperfect, as we all are, and as COMPETITIVE a human being as I've ever encountered &mdash; so you may have difficulty squaring that FIERCE mental image with the verse he'd highlighted and underlined so many times in his Bible that it nearly tore the paper &mdash; but here goes:&nbsp;
"The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.&rdquo;&nbsp; (Zephaniah 3:17)
Now, you may not believe that Mike's little black book could move mountains, but...
I can.
And with that, a butterfly flaps her wings.

A SERIES OF GIFTS — No. 21: "THE LEGACY BUSINESS" by Mike Fransen

**please read to the end: GIFT #20, updated video**
&nbsp;
You know it and I know it: MOTIVATING OTHERS in the workplace is a top-tier conundrum. Always has been, always will be. It&rsquo;s right up there with MANAGING CONFLICT, which I spoke about at length in November&rsquo;s <a href="https://lnkd.in/gMHdfsuB" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GRATITUDE SERIES, EPISODE 5: LEADING &amp; LIVING IN RELATIONAL PEACE</a>.&nbsp;
Now, when it comes to MOTIVATION, things get personal fast. Heck, there are moments, days, seasons, sometimes YEARS when even the most zealous lose the fires in their bellies. I see it all the time in organizational change, in acquisitions, at inflection points near retirement, and on teams with new and lousy bosses or bad apples.
We saw and sensed LOTS of this during COVID, did we not? Amidst disconnection, loss, hardship, and wavering purpose, our teens suffered, depression spiked, 20% of Americans changed careers, and an estimated 1.5 to 2 BILLION human beings struggled mentally.
Why, just last night as I stood briefly in a movie line, two young women in front of me were discussing <a href="https://lnkd.in/gZ96xM2g" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this article about Cara Delevingne hitting her own rock-bottom</a> these past few years.&nbsp;
Back in the workplace, though, any time someone shouts out in class, &ldquo;Hey, Dude, got any ideas for getting folks as excited about work as I am?&rdquo; laughter always ensues, because (A) It's relative, and (B) We&rsquo;ve all been there. MAYBE THAT&rsquo;S WHY THEY CALL IT &lsquo;WORK&rsquo;!
And sheesh, how do we even know who's working, or on what, given all this hybrid, side-hustle mess? If curious, check out EPISODES 2 &amp; 3 from last November for my thoughts on exactly that: <a href="https://lnkd.in/g4_dYp6s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">EPISODE 2: LEADING &amp; LIVING WITH OPTIMISM &amp; JOY (some BAD News)</a> and <a href="https://lnkd.in/g3XNMYye" target="_blank" rel="noopener">EPISODE 3: LEADING &amp; LIVING WITH OPTIMISM &amp; JOY (some GOOD News)</a>.&nbsp;
Anyhoo, for better or worse, I&rsquo;ve got recommendations for getting folks as motivated about work as you are, though you may not like the answers 😐.
&ldquo;Popular&rdquo; and &ldquo;Right,&rdquo; we must remember, are not always one and the same. In fact, I dunno about you, but after 53 orbits around the Sun, I&rsquo;m increasingly of the opinion that &ldquo;The right thing to do is simple to see: Among all the options, it's the difficult one!&rdquo;
See whatcha think.
And by the way, for those faithful few among you who already watched today's GIFT #20 (&ldquo;The CURSE of Motivating Others&rdquo;), please WATCH IT AGAIN. That original you saw was not quite the entire one, so today&rsquo;s version has the balance of my 2 cents ;-)
I do hope it&rsquo;s an encouragement to someone out there.
Here's #20, proper, this time:&nbsp;<a href="https://lnkd.in/gJUVhxAx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://lnkd.in/gJUVhxAx</a>.

A SERIES OF GIFTS — No. 20: THE CURSE OF MOTIVATING OTHERS

We live in increasingly tricky times, but human beings remain reaction machines. We judge books by covers (typically forming impressions of others within milliseconds) and, because we like &lsquo;social shorthand,&rsquo; the primitive portion of our brain frequently categorizes people with lightning-quick speed into one of four common categories: (1) Indifference, (2) Friend, (3) Foe, or (4) Potential Mate!
(1) When INDIFFERENT toward others, our minds wander to other interests.
(2) When we perceive someone new as a FRIEND or potential provider to our interests, we may approach.
(3) When we perceive someone new as a FOE, potential predator, or outright threat, we avoid.
(4) And if one perceives another as a potential MATE, his 13-year-old-self preens, peacocks, slicks back his hair and proceeds to jump ramps and pop wheelies to be seen. Or, like in 1985's Breakfast Club&nbsp;(or virtually ANY teen drama or musical), may slide into any number of social group identities (from 'jocks' and 'chessies' to 'bangers' and 'goths') for affiliation, power, protection, or provisional purposes.
All this to say that we human beings SORT &amp; STACK instantaneously, without trying: First Impression then Ignore, Approach, or Avoid. &ldquo;Wham, Bam, Thank You, Ma&rsquo;am!&rdquo;&nbsp;
Filtering (and quickly) IS key to our survival, so we&rsquo;ve gotten really good at it over the years (and for newbies, neophytes, and the nascent or naive, we&rsquo;ve historically equipped them with simple, memorable [and sometimes traumatizing] &ldquo;Stranger Danger&rdquo; lessons and the like).&nbsp;
Training wheels are great and survival mechanisms matter as much to adults as they do to children, but what happens when we generalize, stereotype, classify and fail to distinguish individuals from groups?
Dive into <a href="https://youtu.be/8WMCYZm0quc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GIFT #19</a> from our SERIES OF GIFTS and see for yourself!
We hope it&rsquo;s an encouragement to someone out there.

A SERIES OF GIFTS — No. 19: 3 SOCIOCENTRIC TRAPS

In GIFTS #2 &amp; 3 (from our group's SERIES OF GIFTS for 2023), we channeled Michael Gerber and the powerful distinctions he once made between working ON, FOR, or IN an organization.
Working ON, of course, is proactive, strategic, and architectural in nature.
Working FOR and IN can sometimes feel reactive, tactical, dweller, and perhaps even &lsquo;victim mentality&rsquo; in nature.
In today&rsquo;s <a href="https://youtu.be/2qODkw4iiSQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GIFT #18</a>, we revisit working ON the organization and answer the question, &ldquo;How does one make the FOR/IN shift as a micromanager to working ON the organization and pushing personal responsibility, pride, and extreme ownership upward, laterally, downward, and throughout the organization?&rdquo;
The shift includes making five subtle transitions affectionately known as &ldquo;the wedge.&rdquo;
Join us as we dive in... to the wedgie!

A SERIES OF GIFTS — No. 18: FROM MICROMANAGING TO EXTREME OWNERSHIP

<a href="https://youtu.be/A8yU8sLARVQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GIFT #17</a> from our SERIES OF GIFTS differentiates transformational from incremental change, but suggests a shorter route around the barn.
It begins with THE RIGHT DEGREE (versus fiddling with all the wrong knobs and levers) to alter one's state.
Enjoy!

A SERIES OF GIFTS — No. 17: INCREMENTAL vs. TRANSFORMATIONAL CHANGE & TWO PRINCIPLES OF 1°

<a href="https://youtu.be/hoR-ZX0StGs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GIFT #16</a> from our SERIES OF GIFTS is a heady one, as it explores the intricate process of SELF-DECEPTION and the lies we tell ourselves to sleep better at night&hellip; all while dishonoring those in conflict with us.
Dig in!

A SERIES OF GIFTS — No. 16: SELF-DECEPTION

Is ignorance really bliss, or is it simply the beginning of the end?
In <a href="https://youtu.be/STSaTna2eEQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GIFT #15</a>, "IGNORANCE &amp; THE SLIPPERY SLOPE" (from our SERIES OF GIFTS for the New Year), we explore indecision as deciding, and inaction as acting.
We must beware ignorance, yes, but beware all the more what cascades beneath, behind, and beyond it when we're not looking.
We hope today's installment behooves someone who's not paying attention!

A SERIES OF GIFTS — No. 15: IGNORANCE & THE SLIPPERY SLOPE

The last couple days, we've explored TRUST &mdash; what it is (a form of social currency), people&rsquo;s inclinations to trust or not (<a href="https://youtu.be/Jox1GxdG_Lk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">4 &frac12; paradigms</a>), and five common coins comprising the currency of trust (<a href="https://youtu.be/PvCY3Y02FoQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">approachability, character, integrity, commonality, and one&rsquo;s pattern of behavior</a>). Beyond these, trust is a multiplier. Without it (&ldquo;zero trust,&rdquo; let&rsquo;s say), little to nothing gets done, much less sustained. For example, human relationships devoid of trust neither flourish nor thrive. Two cases in point are Sacred Cows and Undiscussables. Without in-group trust, we might feel reticent to challenge that which others perceive as sacred (as can occur with group-think). Similarly, most groups, projects, teams, companies, countries, families, cultures, tribes, relationships (virtually any collection of people) harbor undiscussables: "Those things we never discuss (much less resolve) and yet, without resolution, can never move beyond." And so, the end result is the same result it&rsquo;s always been: status quo. We are trapped in amber. The splinter is never removed and so we never heal. Many groups, you'll find, will frequently re-arrange literally ALL their social furniture... save the Undiscussables! For example, they'll re-vision, they'll re-value, they'll even re-vote new leaders... but they'll never talk about the fact that "Brutus is a toxic back-stabber and until he's off the team we cannot move forward!" Such weak links, bad apples, and outright futility is absolutely MADDENING to high-integrity-high-performers and is the epitome of that old saw "insanity is doing the same thing yet expecting a novel outcome." Sliding a bunch of 10s around without expelling the 0 is a great way to reliably level-set back to 0 time after time after time. I'm reminded of Congress. And so much more. Remember: "PERHAPS MORE IMPORTANT THAN WHAT LEADERS DO IS WHAT LEADERS TOLERATE." Anyhoo, Socrates articulated the Undiscussables conundrum best when he wrote: &ldquo;The least important things in life we think about and talk about the most, and the most important things in life we think about and talk about the least.&rdquo; I shudder to think what the seesaw would look like if we put all our idle talk on one end and our constructive, meaningful dialogue to move forward civilly on the other. I am sobered by <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2012:36-37&amp;version=NIV" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Matthew 12: 36-37</a> when I weigh the enormity of eternity against my wasted grains of sand. And with that, WELCOME TO <a href="https://youtu.be/fQv2KKQes4s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GIFT #14</a> from our SERIES OF GIFTS: &ldquo;SACRED COWS &amp; UNDISCUSSABLES!&rdquo; Aren't you glad you came today? Nevertheless, we hope it's an encouragement to someone out there!

A SERIES OF GIFTS — No. 14: SACRED COWS & UNDISCUSSABLES

<div>
<div dir="auto">If trust is social currency, then what comprises the coin stack?</div>
</div>
<div>
<div dir="auto">&nbsp;</div>
<div dir="auto">May <a href="https://youtu.be/PvCY3Y02FoQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GIFT #13</a> from A SERIES OF GIFTS &mdash; "THE CURRENCY OF TRUST" &mdash; be an encouragement to someone out there.</div>
</div>

A SERIES OF GIFTS — No. 13: THE CURRENCY OF TRUST

"There are two reasons we don't trust people: First, we don't know them. Second, we do."
We hope <a href="https://youtu.be/Jox1GxdG_Lk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GIFT #12</a> in our SERIES OF GIFTS is an encouragement to someone out there.