by Brooks Mendell | May 31, 2025 | Leading/Managing, Books, Communication Skills, Forestry, Learning, Sports, Thinking/Analysis
As a kid, I learned that the “knee bone connected to the thigh bone” thanks to the School House Rock song “Them Not So Dry Bones.” The lyrics remind us how things “really fit” and “it’s a framework… holding you together.” This idea, that we are combinations of...
by Brooks Mendell | Apr 27, 2025 | Thinking/Analysis, Communication Skills, Learning
How to Load a Dishwasher Take a break from fixing the world via social media to consider the art of loading silverware into a dishwasher. Dishwasher manufacturers recommend putting knives point down and spoons and forks tongs up (though there exists a minor kerfuffle...
by Brooks Mendell | Mar 31, 2025 | Learning, Leading/Managing, Thinking/Analysis
Years before getting married, I went on a date to a forgotten restaurant for an unremarkable meal. However, I remember the moment when my companion was rude and dismissive to our waitress, and thinking, “nope, this is not going to work out.” Everyone has bad days, but...
by Brooks Mendell | Feb 28, 2025 | Thinking/Analysis, Communication Skills, Forestry, Leading/Managing
Introduction When it comes to managing positive and negative risks, I think in terms of “transparency” and “competence.” Many risks are relative, and we have the abilities to enhance resilience, mitigate unwanted exposures, and leverage our best opportunities. Years...
by Brooks Mendell | Jan 15, 2025 | Thinking/Analysis, Learning
I am passionate about learning and logical, rational thinking. If something does not make sense or fails to explain how things work, then it doesn’t make sense or explain. At a minimum, it is incomplete. Perhaps it answers a different question. Or, simply, it is...
by Brooks Mendell | Nov 30, 2024 | Thinking/Analysis, Forestry
The economist Mohamed El-Erian, in his book The Only Game in Town, writes about the importance of having and revisiting frameworks to support clear thinking. He tells a story from the 1980s when the International Monetary Fund (IMF), for whom he worked at the time,...
