Pensights

It’s been an incredible last couple of years.  The convergence of so many historic events (the pandemic, staffing shortages, supply chain issues) have put considerable pressure on our organizations, our communities, and on us as leaders and professionals.  But we’ve all learned a great deal.  We’ve learned more about agility and the need to quickly[...]

Minneapolis is a great place to live -- great outdoor attractions and park system, a world class theater scene, all major sports, higher than average income and population health outcomes, world class educational institutions, a vibrant business community. I could probably go on.  But the last couple of years have been extremely difficult for the[...]

Much has been written about the extraordinary leadership displayed by the explorer Ernest Shackleton; not as much has been written yet about Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy (but certainly will be over time).  The Shackleton story took place over a 100 years ago; the Zelenskyy story literally is being written as we speak.  Both stories were[...]

I have good news, bad news, and mixed news.  First, the bad news: every size and type of organization continues to experience staffing shortages, some more than others.  I believe there are four main reasons: 1) Americans are retiring in record numbers (many of them taking early retirement); 2) immigration to the US is down[...]

We’ve all just experience an incredible two years, with layers of unprecedented challenges that have impacted our organizations, our communities, and ourselves.  But in every crisis, there is opportunity –opportunity to learn and discover new (and better) ways of doing things, of more effectively managing change and navigating challenges, of maintaining stability and resilience. Winston[...]

We’re all dealing with a lot: a continuing global pandemic; significant changes in work environments and other organizational challenges (staffing shortages, supply chain issues, workplace toxicity); and the stresses of constant work/life pressures.  The events of the last nearly two years have compelled many to reexamine how their professional lives align or harmonize with their[...]

So this month’s column was to be about gratitude, in the spirit of Thanksgiving.  And it still is.  But an article on gratitude seemed somewhat cliché, overly simplified, and quite honestly, a bit insensitive given the circumstances.  The pandemic continues to rage -- maybe accelerate to our fifth wave, to be more accurate.  I know[...]

Work is changing.  I mean really changing – a shift as big as the Industrial Revolution.  In fact, many have called this current shift the Fourth Industrial Revolution, a label first used by Klaus Schwab in 2016 to describe the rapid advancement of technology into human knowledge work. But technology is only one factor that’s[...]

What is excellence?  Seriously, what does it mean to be excellent at anything – at a sport; at an artistic endeavor; in business?  Excellence is a tough thing to define – kind of “I’ll know it when I see it” type thing. Merriam Webster says excellence “is the quality of being outstanding or extremely good,”[...]

[Our Back to the Future trivia results are at the end of my column, including announcing the winner of a free ticket to PENworks 2021!  Read on!] So my daughter finished her summer internship last week – an office job in an accounting/finance department of a midsize business, and her first “real job” outside of[...]