Happiness and Innovation are Linked: Learn How!
May, 2013 Email
What does innovation have to do with the pursuit of happiness? Everything!
This month and last we have been examining two of Anne Marie Slaughter’s mandates for change, “the pursuit of happiness” and “becoming an innovation nation“
Men, Women and The Pursuit of Happiness
April, 2013 Email
Yes we want to do a great job at work, but isn’t there more to life than work?
This year we’ve been focussing on how work can be redesigned for men, women and leaders. Now its time to look at why this approach is so important.
Even though some organizations think its about our “occasional need to be home for the cable guy” – we know its this and much, much more.
Three Steps Forward….Two Steps Back!
March, 2013 Email
Choose your path, old rules or new rules …
Recently Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo, announced she was putting a moratorium on working remotely.
Prior to this, Sheryl Sandburg COO of Facebook, and author of the soon to be released book “Lean In” explained that in order for women to succeed at work, instead of “pulling back” in their careers women should “lean in.”
Instead of “leaning into” the old rules … don’t we want to create organizations where both men and women can follow new rules?.
Given all the recent press on the “old rules” we thought it was important to remind ourselves why things can be done differently. This year we’ve been examining the 5 mandates for change Anne-Marie Slaughter outlined in her Atlantic article. To improve on the mandates we added “men and women” to each one.
I’ve Seen the Future and It Could Look Great!
February, 2013 Email
I was blessed by two different, but two intimately connected experiences the last two weeks…
Friday, I attended a wonderful Dad 2.0 conference and listened as one father after another dismantled outdated myths about fatherhood. Whether planned or unexpected (from a job loss or divorce) these fathers were all forging new paths around being a Dad.
Stay-at-home dads, flexing dads, and dads who wore 3 hats (father + full time employee + blogger) – each had taken risks and all were generously sharing the bounty of lessons learned.
Some spoke of bosses who denied them the right to take time off for a sick child. Others tried to negotiate a flexible schedule, only to be turned down. All joked of being referred to as “the baby sitter” instead of the competent dad in charge.
These men were pushing the boundaries for the next generation – just like the week before when I listened to the men on my Pioneering Leaders call re-write outdated scripts around the road to leadership.
Are We Willing to Trade Profit for Greater Life Satisfaction?
January, 2013 Email
If there is one Thursday call you should not miss, it’s the call we are having next week.
Three very inspirational leaders will be joining us. Each one has founded, or is part of the senior leadership team, of organizations that support an integrated approach to work and life from top to bottom.
It’s no coincidence they are small business owners. ThirdPath has seen that this is where innovation around these issues is transpiring most rapidly.
It’s also no coincidence that they learned a lot from trying to “walk the talk” themselves. Being an “integrated leader” – a leader who has been successful at work while also carving out time for their lives outside of work – isn’t easy. Got an hour? Call me and I’ll share some stories!
But what you might not have thought about … is how the different approach these leaders are modeling is also linked to managing a “reasonable” bottom line. Instead of creating organizations that rely on extreme performance goals to succeed, these leaders are following a very different path.
Wow! Thank You Peter Senge
December, 2012 Email
If you weren’t able to join us for the November 29th Thursday with Thirdpath call featuring Peter Senge …
In the second half of our newsletter we included some questions and answers:
Question: Creating a vision requires stepping out of the madness and finding a moment for contemplation. Instead people get stuck in “fast forward” mode. What can people do?
More then time, what is needed is giving yourself permission to create the space to do this. It also helps to have others who are willing to think with you, and to encourage you to focus on what’s important as opposed to what’s secondary. In our over stimulated world we can begin to think we don’t have enough time. But actually we have the same 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week and how ever many years we are going to live. That hasn’t changed a bit. What has changed is the mental model and the choices of how we spend our time. Once you realize this, you can make the necessary choices to create a different kind of space – a quiet space. It doesn’t matter if it’s running or yoga, just so long as it isn’t something “externally stimulating” like watching TV or surfing the web. There is nothing wrong with these activities. But in our over stimulated environments we never have enough time. What’s required is a shift in mindset.
Question: I get pulled into meaningless meetings. I negotiated a four day work week, but was told to keep it quiet. How do you live with this greater sense of meaning when faced with a work culture that is so different?
Taming the Four Headed Snake
November, 2012 Email
During the next few Thursdays with ThirdPath calls we will be examining Anne-Marie Slaughter’s mandate: Redefining the Arc of a Successful Career.
We will show why making change around this mandate is like taming a 4 headed snake – its possible, but if you aren’t careful, you might just get bitten by one of the other heads!
Creating Thriving Organizations,Relationships & Families
October, 2012 Email
What is the best way to approach our work so we have thriving organizations as well as strong relationships, families and communities?
We believe the 5 mandates outlined in Ann-Marie Slaughter’s article can shed light on this question. We also noticed that when we added the words ‘men and women’ to the front of each mandate, it looked surprisingly familiar!
Can Women “Have it All”?
June, 2012 Email
Once again there is a raging debate about whether women can “have it all” …
Not surprisingly this issue also lies at the heart of our work at ThirdPath Institute.
This latest round of debate was spurred by an article written by Anne-Marie Slaughter, a Princeton professor who recently left a job at the State Department. While reflecting on her article, it dawned on us that there was a simple but profound way to reframe her excellent suggestions that may help find a more unifying agenda.
It also created a wonderful list of mandates – mandates that are central to the work we do at ThirdPath.
In Honor of Father’s Day
May, 2012 Email
Let’s examine an often overlooked topic…
How do high pay long hour jobs impact men?
Lisa D’Annolfo Levey recently posted on RoleReboot.com, “Despite the full-scale entry of women into the workforce over the last several decades, many families continue to favor the “primary career” model. The dominant thinking is someone—usually the woman—needs to be the flexible one, able to manage the unpredictable needs of the children, while the other partner—typically the man—becomes more career focused.”
We know how this negatively impacts women. But it turns out it also isn’t such a good thing for men.
Some men are happy with high pay long hour jobs, others feel weighed down. As Lisa describes, these “high octane jobs characterized by long hours, constant accessibility, few limits, and outsized rewards” can end up making men feel boxed into the primary provider role in families.
Work Redesign – Making Time for Family
April, 2012 Email
Work can be done differently … and men, women, children AND organizations benefit from these changes
Male or female, young or old, entry level or executive, we hope our Thursday with ThirdPath calls continue to demonstrate that there’s a win-win work redesign solution for every job – a flexible solution that is both good for you and good for your employer.
Take A Vacation – Recharge Your Batteries
March, 2012 Email
The many benefits of taking a vacation …
Pack your bags. It’s time to recharge your batteries!
For those who have been able to truly disengage from work while on vacation, you know the benefits can be quite significant – both for you and your workplace.
Balancing Work, Family and the Teen Years
February, 2012 Email
Meeting the needs of teens and our goals for gender equity …
Thursday February 16th at 12:30pm ET Inga Dóra Sigfúsdóttir, a professor at Reykjavik University, will share her research demonstrating how increased parental involvement reduces teen substance abuse even in progressive countries like Iceland.
Professor Sigfúsdóttir’s research shows us that sometimes the most important ingredient for teens is just having a parent home and available as needed. But how do we do this without reinforcing gender norms – both at work and at home? Once again, Shared Care families help us shed light on this important issue. And as you read today’s newsletter, you’ll see they didn’t wait until their children were teens to put these practices in place.
Whole Life Leaders – Leading the Way to Change
December 2011 Email
We’ve created a community of trailblazers just for you …
For 12 years we’ve been creating a community of men, women and leaders who are blazing new paths. These trailblazers include dads and moms who are sharing in the care of their children, Whole Life Leaders who are succeeding at work while forging integrated career paths and entrepreneurs who are creating a blue print for 21st Century workplaces.
These pioneering men, women and Whole Life Leaders are showing us why an integrated approach to work and life isn’t just good for families, it’s also good for businesses and good for our communities.