Last Wednesday, in the middle of a canceled flight, I got an idea to host a free virtual pop-up REINVENTION SUMMIT.

This week we are about to start Day 3 - and finalizing Week 2.


We opened up with an idea that COVID-19 is another reminder that "black swans" - a metaphor used to describe rare and improbable disruptions - are everywhere, showing up in flocks:

We also explored a pragmatic exercise you can do TODAY to coach your team, your clients, or your kids how to use fear as a productive resource - and you can watch the video and download the worksheet (no email needed) here>>


My dear friend and change extraordinaire Dr. Lindsey Godwin spent time with us diving deep into the power of Appreciative Inquiry to survive and thrive in crisis:

You can watch that inspiring talk here>>


Aidan McCullen shared a story of a burning phoenix as a symbol of constant reinvention - his talk will be available soon. 

The amazing tribe...

Crisis is in the air.

Coronavirus is raging, the market is crashing, oil prices crash means the entire countries are now on a verge of bankruptcy.

What are we to do?

In the last few days, I got calls from 3 different CEOs from very different countries, industries, and environments, all asking me the same question.


"What should I say? I don't know what to do yet, it's too uncertain, so what should I say to my people, my investors, my partners?"

Hearing this question brought me right back to 2015. 

I was working with a company in crisis trying to survive while the whole industry was struggling.

Amidst sleepless nights and intense projects, I noticed one peculiar thing.

He was (and still is) a very bright, kind, and effective person. 

But here, he would consistently raise his voice and become agitated and unproductive with seemingly reasonable questions and requests.

So, I asked him what's up.


"I don't know what to do. I don't know what to tell them when they all come to me...

We barely made it through 2 months of the New Year, and so far we've:

• Faced a possibility of World War III,
• Survived bushfires of a massive scale,
• Witnessed a new wave of business bankruptcies and layoffs (hello, Pier 1 and HSBC!),
• Watched a first market crush of the new decade, and
• Discovered that Coronavirus has nothing to do with the beer.

It's safe to say that disruptions are here to stay - not as a one-time event, a project we can manage and move on - but as a new standard feature of our modern world.


Now, what are we to do to get ourselves comfortable with this ever-growing uncertainty and volatility?

Here are four places to start:

#1: First and foremost, it's about getting ourselves used to discomfort and experimentation. 

Talking to people you don't normally talk to, read news from new sources you don't normally read, get to places you don't usually show up at. 

Make it a part of your weekly routine - and challenge your...

I have always loved the word "innovation."

I love its power, its energy, its promises. 

I love what this word can bring to the world, to our organizations, to our lives.


So, imagine my shock when I discovered that this word means something very different to the vast majority of employees on planet Earth.

It took me a while to get over myself and stop pedaling this word over and over again.

All I needed to do is a touch of compassion - and putting my audience (and not myself and my "perfect" opinions) at the center of attention.


And that's exactly what my latest article is about - published by Harvard Business Review:

I hope it can serve as a catalyst for some much-needed conversations with your colleagues or clients - and I would love to get your feedback (good, bad, or ugly).

It's hard to believe that one word can make a difference. 

I hope the research and the examples I offered in this article will convince you otherwise.

...

Today could not be more surreal.


It started with taking my daughter to an Emergency Room after nine rounds of vomiting all over our house.

I only thought that happens in movies - and with my husband over in Europe taking care of his mom after two consecutive heart attacks, it was just the two of us amidst the mess and confusion and puke.

(Don't worry, she is much better now, I have proof...)

Then the news came out. 

Pier 1, a US-based publicly-traded retailer has filed for bankruptcy, confirming it will fire 40% of headquarters staff and close as many as 450 stores.

There are new floods and new storms with lives lost.

There's a new humanitarian crisis for displaced Syrians caught in the battle for Idlib (and we are so used to this war, it doesn't even make the main page anymore).


And then I had a call with a client. 

Amidst the Coronavirus, the company has moved into full crisis management - and give it another month or two, it will reach the...

Here is the deal: it’s not that easy to surprise me. 

No, I have not seen everything there is to see on Planet Earth. 

I have never been to Australia.
I was spared from war and violence.
I don’t know what dragon fruit tastes like (to be honest, it kind of freaks me out).

But after living on three continents in two different political systems, working with countless organizations doing what I do, getting me genuinely amazed is not an easy task.


However, when the Managing Director of a successful 14-year-old consulting company announced that he quit and took on a whole new never-before role barely 2 weeks into our reinvention course, I was seriously surprised:

What surprised me was not the intellectual reasoning behind this decision. After all, I have been championing the idea that every organization needs a Chief Reinvention Officer for a good half-of-a-decade.

[My logic is simple: many years ago when the speed of change was bearable, when the volatility...

Our 2020 Reinvention FEST is in full swing.

We got 134 scholarship applications (announcing the 5 winners soon), hosted our January Reinvention Happy Hour, got together with our Reinvention Academy alumni for a high-energy reunion (you guys are really smashing it!), and gave new interviews for super-cool podcasts (such as The Fearless & Successful, which you can catch here).


And the best of the FEST is yet to come: starting this Thursday, we are hosting a series of live (free and online) Masterclasses jam-packed with tested easy-to-implement solutions.

But before we dive in the what and the how of reinvention at those hour-long Masterclasses, it's crucial that we speak about the why.

Why reinvention?
Why now?
Why does it matter?

That was exactly the question recently asked by the wonderful editors of the Higher Education Digest - and I am certain this 5-minute read will open some good conversation here:

(Zoom on the images or download...

I am often asked why I decided to focus on reinvention.

There are so many other options to choose from.

Topics to research. Projects to complete. Impact to make.


In fact, only 5 years ago the word reinvention was not even in my vocabulary. 

I was running a crisis management company while teaching business and non-profit leaders how to survive and thrive.

Between intense boardrooms and exhausting classrooms, I felt like a total failure. No matter how much effort was spent on putting out fires, there always seem to be another one on the horizon. And growing.


And one day I had an aha moment.

I admitted to myself that my glorious (and very lucrative) business was not that glorious. 

I was treating symptoms - rather than going after root causes.

I was "fishing" for others - rather than teaching them how to fish.

And since our Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous (VUCA) world was getting crazier by the minute (recessions, new competition, new customer expectations, new...

I don't know how you like to spend the very first day of the New Year, but for me, it's always a good work day.

The party is over, the guests are sleeping, the team is on a break.

It's the perfect time to take on those less-than-enjoyable tasks postponed for days (or, if we are honest, weeks) and screaming for attention.


This January, my first day of the year was spent convincing a CEO of a multi-billion-dollar company to explore his beliefs.

You see, this amazing (and very successful) business leader had asked my opinion on a new initiative. 

The proposal was solid, the arguments were iron-clad, and the need for this solution was really big.

The problem, however, was that we've been there, done that already.

This was exactly the 5th attempt to create a solid change implementation platform - and all other attempts have already failed.

They did not fail because of bad ideas. Or bad management. Or bad data.


They failed because the CEO did not believe in...

By now you already know that I am a bit of a freak. 


I am obsessed with one thing. Value.

Creating value, delivering real badass value, making a dent, that's big in my books. (As you could see in my last Facebook LIVE, I also own a lot of books about value. Pun intended ;))

The problem with value, however, is that it's hard to know at the moment on whether you created any.

Something looks like a real breakthrough - until months later you realized that you did not help, or perhaps even hurt somebody.

Often, you are left guessing. 


So when the amazing leadership + strategy thinker Dov Baron told me my interview was his #1 most popular episode of the year, I was like - MUST TELL EVERYONE.

Because here, there is no guessing.

Dov's show is consistently ranked #1 worldwide for C-suite executives and thousands of people listen to each episode. 


Their vote of confidence means one thing - this episode has value. And I want you to get...