When conflicts stall progress, skilled leaders look beneath surface positions to uncover the needs driving them—transforming tension into understanding and alignment.

Conflict isn’t failure. It’s what happens when smart, driven people work closely under pressure. The real test of leadership is noticing it early—and shifting into a productive mindset before it spirals.

Root cause analysis is just one part of collaborative problem-solving. The next time you see a recurring issue, ask: Have we taken enough time to understand what's really driving this? Or are we just mopping up oil without finding the leak?

Rushing to fix problems without good data leads to costly mistakes. Take a scientist's approach: "I don't know—let's find out!"

The key is to integrate winning and success, with a heightened emphasis on acting with integrity.

Leaders often feel trapped between two bad options, where both choices seem to sacrifice something vital. Welcome to the sucker's choice.

Effective leaders focus where they have a comparative advantage, delegate other tasks, and prioritize developing their future leaders.

Escaping the blame-game unleashes untapped potential. Improve problem-solving by shifting your focus from finger-pointing to accountability.

In this post, I explore how the "knower trap" hinders problem-solving and offer strategies for recognizing and getting out of it.

HPTs embrace an inherent paradox—that creation and innovation is often impossible without some friction.

The S-Loop is a cyclical, four-stage problem-solving framework that can help you tackle complex problems in human systems.

Unlock potential in your startup or small business with peer-coaching. Develop your leaders and solve problems better, faster, and cheaper.

In a TED video, Atul Gawande summarizes what we do at RPC every day—we help managers learn to analyze and solve problems in human systems.

Skill alone is not enough to guarantee performance. You must also have opportunity to perform, self-efficacy, and a supportive environment.

Most “training problems” are system problems. Clear expectations, solid processes, helpful feedback, and the right tools shape performance far more than training alone. When leaders fix the system first, people succeed—and training finally sticks.

A few excerpts from an article by Maria Konnikova about Dunbar's number, the nature of friendship and the limits of social media.

A troupe of jugglers from Berlin helps us apply a simple, powerful framework for thinking about and diagnosing problems in human systems.

As leaders, we don't often think much about poetry, until it becomes a necessity.

An overview of the ways in which you can better express empathy on the job.

In this time of constant-distraction-as-norm, leaders need quiet time for reflection and discernment more than ever.