by Brooks Mendell | Aug 25, 2020 | Forestry, Thinking/Analysis
This post introduces a recent essay on the danger of using averages for making decisions or evaluating performance. Mathematically, the average tells us the arithmetic mean; it gives a sense for where the middle lies within a group or between extremes. But...
by Brooks Mendell | Jul 31, 2020 | Communication Skills, Leading/Managing
This post introduces a recent essay on mobilizing teams and making decisions during difficult times. When faced with ambiguity and uncertainty, we seek solid ground for making decisions. For novel and contentious issues, following our “gut” or simple frameworks may...
by Brooks Mendell | Jun 14, 2020 | Communication Skills, Leading/Managing, Thinking/Analysis
In my roles as a business advisor and as a team leader, I have the opportunity to continually discuss and test ideas on managing and making decisions, especially in turbulent times. The intensity and urgency of these conversations increased with the arrival in 2020 of...
by Brooks Mendell | May 25, 2020 | Communication Skills, Leading/Managing
In college at MIT, I played baseball for Coach Fran O’Brien. MIT hired Coach O’Brien in 1969. In the twenty seasons prior to Coach O’Brien’s arrival, MIT Baseball had one winning season. He inherited a Division-III, no scholarship, no recruiting team that expected to...
by Brooks Mendell | Apr 29, 2020 | Writing
Mystery Tribune, a magazine of fiction, non-fiction, art and photography that celebrates mystery and suspense, just published my story “Tour De Forest” (910 words; 4 minute read). In this story, Philippe, a rising competitive cyclist who just won a stage on the Tour...
