Ruthless Grace is the combination of high discipline and high empathy. Ruthless - not cruelty or punishment - but the likelihood of a sunrise and sunset tomorrow. Grace reminds us that we are human and our teams are human.

Approachability is an advantage. Making coaching easy is an advantage. This tool minimizes the effort to manage expectations, manage perceptions, and share helpful feedback across three communication channels.

There is a time and place for exotic word choice. Your project plan is not that place. Verb Sprawl creates ambiguity and noise. Verb Sprawl slows your planning and slows the interpretation of your plan.

The RACI matrix almost got it right but still harbors too much ambiguity. In your team’s formal planning, govern only what is worth documenting outside email, and nothing else. Govern with just Five Verbs: Draft, Review, Revise, Approve, Distribute.

When the Agile Manifesto was written, money was loose (dot com bubble) and frequent go-live dates were in style. As the intensity of innovation increases, Agile contributes to VUCA and low marginal cost is worth high upfront costs. Economics pressure us to innovate how we innovate.

Innovation professionals spend a lot of time in meetings. Rethink the relationship between meetings and “real work.” Have a firm grasp of the numerous ingredients of effective meetings.

Innovation should take inspiration from an expanded view of the Performing Arts - the Empathetic Arts. The world of innovation has much to learn, benefit, and profit from audience-centric collaboration that has a great employee experience.

Documentation is unpopular to build, but once you have it, it’s valuable to your current and future teams. Documentation is valuable for so long, it qualifies as an Asset Portfolio.

It’s one thing to identify what a user wants to be able to accomplish. It’s another thing to capture what they consider a chore and want to leave their scope of responsibility.

Your colleagues, especially your manager, need to know if you’re bored, buried, or somewhere in between. Share your workload so the team can balance the workload!

Change is disruptive, so evangelize to stakeholders why your change is desirable, stylish, and cool. Formalize the “D” in ADKAR. Craft an Elevator Pitch to convey the benefits of the upcoming innovation.

At the start of every project, to accomplish the first “A” in ADKAR, notify your stakeholders. An Awareness Blast is a low-maintenance way to let stakeholders know they need to contribute, and they need to help to identify other stakeholders who need to contribute.