Ideas
Ideas I'm working through about leadership, organizations, judgment, and the places where the apparent problem isn't always the actual one.
Why the Apparent Problem is Rarely the Actual Problem
I kept trying to organize my teaching, advisory work, Near Enemies, and the book as separate things. Then I realized they were all the same move: finding what the apparent problem is obscuring.
The Near Enemies of Organizational Life
Organizations have Near Enemies too. A strength, story, norm, or reputation can acquire authority over questions it was never meant to answer, creating a collective blind spot that is remarkably hard to see from inside the system.
Everything I Do Is the Same Move
Teaching, advisory work, Near Enemies, and even real estate finance looked like separate workstreams for a long time. They weren’t. They were the same diagnostic move in different rooms.
Accountability vs. Self-Blame
Accountability asks what was yours and what you will do differently. Self-blame keeps expanding the assignment until the whole outcome becomes evidence against you.
What Is the Near Enemies Framework?
Near Enemies is a framework for understanding how real strengths can distort, overreach, or take on jobs they were never meant to do, and why those patterns are so hard to see from the inside.