by JW | May 18, 2026 | Briefing
Each of us pays rent on yesterday’s decisions. This weekend, I rented a 15-foot U-Haul to help my mother clear out the last of her condominium before replacing the flooring. We loaded it with furniture, boxes that hadn’t been opened in decades, and the...
by JW | May 6, 2026 | Diary
This post was originally shared with subscribers as a “A Quick Note from JW.” If you enjoy these entries, I’d love to have you join the mailing list (below) and receive future notes before they’re published here. I’ve been noticing something...
by JW | May 4, 2026 | Briefing
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been noticing a pattern in conversations with leaders I’m working with. Things aren’t necessarily broken, but they’re taking far more effort than expected—more time, more energy, more attention than anyone planned for going in. Most...
by JW | Apr 20, 2026 | Briefing
You can’t force a wave to form. You can only recognize it—and move at the right moment. I learned that the hard way as a kid in Hawaii. The same is true in strategy. Leaders spend a great deal of time refining strategic design and improving execution. When a strategy...
by JW | Apr 6, 2026 | Briefing
The instinct to simplify is almost always wrong. Over the past several weeks, I’ve noticed a recurring pattern in conversations about organizational design and management systems. At some point—often immediately after a system is introduced—the same request emerges:...
