Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 9hI've been thinking about what we gain when we give people time and space to think together. More on that in this week's Substack, link in bio. 000
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 9hI was reminded of that during a recent facilitation engagement. The group's understanding shifted considerably over two days in person. I don't think the same process would have unfolded quite the same way online. 100
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 9hThere's a difference between hearing everyone's thoughts and building something collectively from those thoughts. 100
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 9hI spend plenty of time on Zoom. It gets the job done for a lot of things. But getting a group to make a complicated decision together is a different kind of work. 100
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 07/10/2026There is a lot in the world that feels heavy right now. I am increasingly grateful for the parts of my work that remind me that something new can still be built. I wrote more about that, and a very emotional run through DC, in this week's Substack, link in bio. 000
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 07/10/2026The professional development session gave us space to strengthen the project and think more deeply about the work. I left feeling very lucky to get to do this kind of thing. 100
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 07/10/2026There is a particular kind of joy in that progression. Not because every idea needs to become a project. But because sometimes a weird little idea deserves enough attention to find out what it could become. 100
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 07/10/2026Recently, I accompanied a Silphium client to a professional development session after a wild idea had made its way from voice memo to a pilot project to grant-funded work. 100
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 07/10/2026One of my favorite things about consulting is getting to watch an idea become real. Especially when the idea starts somewhere extremely unceremonious. Like a voice memo. 100
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 06/10/2026That run ended up being much more reflective than I expected. I wrote more about what I found myself thinking about as I moved through those old chapters on Substack, link in bio. 000
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 06/10/2026It made me think about how much of our professional lives we carry forward without realizing it. Skills, people, questions, ways of seeing; even jobs we have left behind can keep shaping the work we do now. 100
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 06/10/2026I could trace the different chapters of my working life through a few miles of city streets. Government. International development. The work that eventually brought me to Silphium. 100
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 06/10/2026I found myself thinking about this while running through DC last week. So many pieces of my career are physically close together there. 100
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 06/10/2026There is something strange about returning to a place where you used to work. The buildings are familiar. The streets are familiar. But you are not the same person who used to walk them. 100
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 29/09/2026I've been using this lens in strategic planning conversations lately. I wrote more about it, along with two other questions I'm asking teams on Substack, link in bio. 000
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 29/09/2026I like these questions because they force us to think beyond whether an idea sounds good on paper. A plan should be connected to the future you're actually trying to build. 101
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 29/09/2026And then the companion question: If it doesn't work, what does it close off? 100
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Not "will we hit the metric?" Not "did we complete the initiative?" What becomes possible for the organization if we get this right? 100
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 29/09/2026One question I like to ask about a strategic plan: If this actually works, what does it make possible? 100
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 23/09/2026Sometimes the next chapter starts before the current one ends. That's been sitting with me lately. I wrote more about it, and why I keep bringing this into coaching conversations, on Substack. 000
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 23/09/2026None of those things magically solved the bigger problem. But they reminded me that I wasn't completely powerless just because I hadn't reached Point B yet. 100
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 23/09/2026I started actually unplugging on weekends. I figured out where I could set better boundaries. I started paying attention to what made my life feel more like the life I wanted. 100
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 23/09/2026I stayed in that job longer than was probably right for me. But I didn't make myself wait for the eventual exit to start changing things. We went camping. 100
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 23/09/2026When I was burned out in a job that didn't feel culturally comfortable, I had a pretty clear picture of what Point B looked like. And weirdly, one part of it was just...more camping. 100
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 22/09/2026I've been thinking about this question a lot lately, both personally and in coaching conversations. I wrote more about the difference between designing Point B and bringing Point B with you on Substack. 000
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 22/09/2026This doesn't mean every situation can be fixed by making small adjustments. Sometimes you really do need to leave. But you can still ask: what part of the life I want can I practice now? 100
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 22/09/2026Want more time outside? Start taking walks. Want more time with your family? Protect one evening. Want better boundaries? Practice one. You don't have to wait for the dramatic life change. 100
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 22/09/2026But a lot of the changes we want don't require us to completely leave our current lives behind. Sometimes you can start with one small piece. 100
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 22/09/2026We are very attached to the idea that change happens in chapters. You are here. Then something happens. Then you become the person who lives over there. 100
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 16/09/2026Your team's calendar is carrying information about their capacity, energy, and needs. Pay attention to it. I unpack this idea more fully in this week's Substack, link in bio. 010
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 16/09/2026This is one of the reasons I think change management gets more interesting when you stop treating the calendar as the enemy. Sometimes the best move is not to fight the rhythm of the organization. It's to work with it. 100
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 16/09/2026For another team, December was clearly not the moment to introduce a new initiative. So why not use that window for staff recognition instead? 100
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 16/09/2026For one team we worked with, the answer was time to build relationships and camaraderie during an intensely demanding stretch of work. That wasn't a distraction from the work. It was part of the work. 100
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 16/09/2026One of my favorite questions to ask a team is: "What does this season actually give you?" Not what does it prevent you from doing. What does it make possible? 100
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 15/09/2026The organizational calendar is telling you something. The question is whether your change plan is listening. I wrote more about this over on Substack, link in bio. 000
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 15/09/2026A busy season might tell you: don't launch something new right now. It might also tell you where your team needs recognition, connection, support, or simply permission to focus on the work already in front of them. 100
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 15/09/2026We often treat those periods as inconvenient obstacles to our carefully constructed project plans. But what if we treated them as data instead? 100
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 15/09/2026Legislative session. Back-to-school. Winter break. Every organization has stretches when people's capacity looks very different from what it does on paper. 100
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 15/09/2026A change initiative can be perfectly reasonable and still fail because you launched it at the wrong time. The problem isn't necessarily the plan. It might be the season your team is in. 100
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 09/09/2026My official rating: 12/10. And because Nerds Gummy Clusters are a 9/10 in my personal rating system, please understand the gravity of this recommendation. Want more context behind this particular book recommendation? The full story is on my Substack, link in bio. 000
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 09/09/2026I recommend it so often that I feel like I should have a referral code by now. To be clear, I am not a therapist and do not play one at work. I am simply an extremely enthusiastic reader. 100
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 09/09/2026A book that has had an enormous impact on how I think about all of this: No Bad Parts by Richard Schwartz. 100
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 09/09/2026I have been thinking a lot about the stories we tell ourselves. The ones that quietly shape how we interpret criticism, conflict, relationships, and our own behavior. 100
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 08/09/2026Good leadership includes care. It also includes humility about the limits of your role. I've been thinking more about that line lately over on Substack, link in bio. 010
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 08/09/2026There is a line between supporting someone compassionately and believing you are responsible for healing them. Knowing where that line is matters for everyone involved. 100
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 08/09/2026But workplaces cannot solve everything a person is carrying. And I think leaders sometimes feel an enormous amount of pressure to try. 100
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 08/09/2026Leaders can do a lot to create healthier conditions at work. Better expectations. More clarity. Reasonable workloads. Actual rest. Space to be human. 100
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 08/09/2026A lot of the teams we work with are tired right now. Not "I need a long weekend" tired. The kind of tired that starts changing how people communicate, make decisions, and show up for one another. 100
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 02/09/2026And then stop working. I particularly like this ritual because the goal isn't to create more communication work for leaders. It's to make communication a small, predictable part of the work so it doesn't disappear when everything gets busy. Read about this in this week's Substack, link in bio. 000
Silphium Collective @silphiumcollective.bsky.social · 02/09/2026Then use transcription + AI to organize the rambling into a clear team update while keeping your actual voice. Read it once. Fix anything weird. Schedule it for Friday morning. 100
