By Clemens Rettich, on December 15th, 2011 
I don’t want a balanced life. I want an aligned life.
You want the wheels on your car aligned. When the wheels are even a little bit out of alignment, the ride is uncomfortable, the wear on tires and other parts goes up, and the vehicle works less efficiently. When the wheels are critically out of alignment the ride is unbearable, and your safety is at risk.
When things that matter in your business and your life are not in alignment:
there is conflict and discomfort; you, or your business, use more energy than you need to, and . . . → Read More: The One Thing That Matters: Alignment
By Clemens Rettich, on November 24th, 2011 
There is in the human soul a desire for reproducibility. Not reproduction, (we have that for sure!), but a need to reproduce things, perfectly and repeatably.
Traditional MBA programs are built on that desire; on the belief that the behaviours that constitute good management can be learned and repeated in any context. Those programs suggest, by making management a discipline, that if you get the basic skills down, you can manage a retail business or a bank or a restaurant, each with equal success.
The trouble is, it just isn’t true. But it seems that the desire to create . . . → Read More: A System or A Symphony?
By Clemens Rettich, on November 22nd, 2011 
The biggest misconception about improvisation is that it is all about making stuff up… that anything goes.
The reality is that good improvisation, whether it is jazz, classical Indian music, or improv theater, is always grounded in a strong set of rules and guiding principles.
A new improv game for business
The next time you are onboarding a new recruit, here’s a little improvisation I would like you to undertake. The rules:
Confirm that the candidate has the basic skills (and only the basic skills) required to do the job Present the candidate with the current written objectives for . . . → Read More: The Ultimate Business Improv
By Clemens Rettich, on November 10th, 2011 
Information theory. Physics. Classical music & jazz. Monastic orders. The sciences of the brain and cognition. Statistics and probability.
Business Fundamentals.
Rules.
Each of these disciplines have rules at the heart of them.
So why do I find myself constantly going back there to think and act out of the box? Isn’t getting out of the box, out of the rut, all about breaking the old rules?
No. This is a complete failure of insight. We are not boxed by rules. We are boxed by habits, instincts, and unexamined emotions. One prejudice creates a prison of a box more . . . → Read More: Back to the Middle to Get Outside
By Clemens Rettich, on November 8th, 2011 
Ideas are easy. Consistency is hard.
I think that one of the reasons I return to that epigram so often is because of my music training. The business world has much to learn from the musical world.
In music we keep going back to the fundamentals over and over again. You keep practicing all the time. Inspiration and creativity matter, but if you are a professional, it is your chops that really matter. No one expects to get it right the first time. You make mistakes, but you keep practicing until you don’t make mistakes any more. Yes originality . . . → Read More: Play it Again. And Again. And Again.
By Clemens Rettich, on August 9th, 2010 
Image by Clarita
Begin:
A group of participants sit in a circle. The facilitator starts the circle by saying a word (‘blue’). Without pausing the person on the left repeats the word, then free-associates another word in response (‘blue … sky’). The next person on the left repeats the pattern starting with the last word (‘sky … clouds’).
Start Again:
When the group has become comfortable with this process, the next layer is introduced. Everyone in the group, at the same time, sets up a 4-beat rhythm: 1) slap your hands on your thighs 2) clap your . . . → Read More: Play it Again… Eight to the Bar!
By Clemens Rettich, on May 8th, 2010 
A group of people stand in a circle.
One person holding two tennis balls (or something similar) stands in the center. The center person tosses one of the balls out to a person in the circle and that person tosses the ball to another person in the circle a few positions to their left. That person tosses the ball back to the center person, who then tosses the ball out again to someone just to the left of last player and the whole pattern starts again, moving around the circle in a triangular pattern.
When the confidence of the . . . → Read More: Forget the Shoulda’s!
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