Approach
Legal support for Creatives, Artists, and Innovators.
11 Principles to Drive Results
Stand on results.
A result is a condition of well-being for people. Getting a result means something is better. Something has changed. This is the work of a leader. Define your result (in life, in an organization, in every meeting) and stand on your result. You gain real power and clarity when you do. Learn more here.
Consider the "mental models".
What framework are you bringing to the tasks at hand? What about your colleagues? What beliefs—about race, gender, talent, traditions, values, or opportunity—are at play? You don’t have to have the same mental model as your colleagues or partners to get work done (remember: Stand on Results!), but understanding each other’s points of view can expedite progress. Learn more here.
Clarify roleS.
Whether in a meeting or a in a year-long project plan, be clear if you are an advisor, a decision maker, an authority, or something else. You—and others—may have multiple and shifting roles (e.g. manager to some, employee to one, kickball teammate to all!). Consider your "B/ART" (boundary of authority, role and task) and the "B/ART" of others—and get comfortable clarifying your role and that of others. Learn more here.
Equity first.
Focus on race equity explicitly, as research has demonstrated that doing so drives a measurable shift in equity across a range of intersectional identities (gender, sexuality, ability, et al.). Learn more here.
Ask questions.
At the beginning of any conversation, meeting, or work assignment, determine your “effective questions.” What do you want to learn from this exercise? What really needs to be discussed? Effective questions help guide a conversation and move talk to action. Learn more here.
think in systems.
Ever feel like you’re plugging a hole in the dam? Like the work you’re doing is too small in comparison to all that needs to be done? Consider the system. Take a step out of your work to consider how the interrelated parts connect. From there, identify the best points for intervention. Learn more here.
Give the work to the group. They're brilliant!
Even though it can be hard, sometimes the most powerful work is done by staying neutral. By asking the right questions, and then asking the group to take the actions they think are most powerful, you can play a critical role in moving the work forward. Learn more here.
Define the problem.
Technical problems are usually easy to identify and can be overcome with technology, a new policy, or solved with a known solution. Adaptive challenges, on the other hand, “require changes in values, beliefs, roles, relationships, and approaches to work” and require adaptive solutions. Technical solutions won’t solve adaptive challenges. Learn more here and here.
Be future focused.
It’s important to learn from past mistakes (and successes!), but if your thinking is in the rear view mirror, you’ll get stuck. Shifting conversations from “what went wrong?” to “what do we need to learn, and what resources do we need to do better?” can reduce defensiveness and open possibilities. Learn more here.
name and ignite conflict.
Sometimes, conflict can prevent work from happening. Other times, it's just what's needed. Learn more here.
Start with the data.
Observe first. Before you hypothesize, before you infer, go “to the balcony.” What did you see? What did you experience? What data do you have about this issue? Learn more here.
This page informed by the work of the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Learn more here.