Introducing my blog

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Hello to everyone out there and thank you for coming to visit my brand-new blog. For those of you who don’t know me, my background is a mix of business and technology, with a focus in IT organizational performance. I did my undergraduate studies in Computer Science and then began my career in software development. I have since focused in the IT strategy space (I’ll attempt to answer the question “What is IT Strategy?” in a future blog) and have gone on to complete a graduate degree in business. During my years as a consultant, I have served a breadth of companies, large and small, across industries as diverse as energy, financial services, retail, non-profit, software and manufacturing. During this time, I have become particularly fascinated with the complexities of individual, team and organizational performance. On the side, I have studied a variety of philosophies and techniques including Landmark Education, the MBTI, and neuro-linguistic programming, and have applied these to improve individual and organizational performance through coaching, facilitation, training and consulting.

So, long story short, I have developed some opinions over the years and am excited to share some of them here. It is no coincidence that we launched a new company, Thought Ensemble, the same day as our blogs. Jim Smelley, my co-founder, and I have been sharing, debating and refining our ideas for years while building companies, serving clients and taking long hikes around the world. We have shared many of these ideas with our colleagues and clients, but we now want to expand the conversation. I very much welcome your comments here to fuel our ongoing dialogue.

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The Magic of Mortals

The Magic of Mortals

Daily we wake up to new developments in automation, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Machine Learning (ML). Across sectors and industries, automated solutions prove highly successful in surpassing the capacity of the human brain for certain tasks, improving...

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Leveling Up: How to Hone Your Skills at Home

Leveling Up: How to Hone Your Skills at Home

Leaders have been trying to crack the code on talent development for years. Recent studies have shown, however, that strength-focused leadership [read: intentionally elevating the qualities that already come naturally to us] is the clear winner for developing talent...

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Fake Case Study: Jack of all trades vs. Master of One

Fake Case Study: Jack of all trades vs. Master of One

  Listen to any earnings call or executive presentation and you will likely hear the terms “top line” and “bottom line.” These are words used to describe a business’s performance. According to Investopedia, the words are defined as follows: Top line refers to the...

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Your Personality Is Showing

Your Personality Is Showing

There I was, minding my own business one evening, digging into my organization's SEO performance (as one does), when I came across something interesting. Search terms related to "MBTI" — or the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, developed by Katherine Cook Briggs and Isabel...

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Lessons From a Change Manager Who Hates Change

Lessons From a Change Manager Who Hates Change

Hello. My name is Monique, and I’m a change manager who hates change.   After years of receiving “consulting therapy” from various mentors, I am now able to say these words out loud and proudly. But for a long time, it felt more like an admission of guilt. I mean, who...

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Creativity as a Cure

Creativity as a Cure

The topic of creative solutioning has been front and center these days as we talk more and more about organizational adaptability in the face of dynamic and uncertain times. For example, I recently read about a project that got me thinking about specific priorities...

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Thought Ensemble, a Pariveda Company — Why Now?

Thought Ensemble, a Pariveda Company — Why Now?

Big news over here as we close out the year - we have been acquired by Pariveda, a 750-person consulting firm in 12 markets across North America! We are now “Thought Ensemble, a Pariveda Company” and I’ll be serving as the Managing Vice President continuing to lead...

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Thought Ensemble Joins Pariveda Solutions!

Thought Ensemble Joins Pariveda Solutions!

Dallas, December 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Pariveda, a leader specializing in solving complex technology and business problems, announces the acquisition of Thought Ensemble. With the addition of Thought Ensemble, Pariveda now provides holistic business strategy,...

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Thoughts on Colorado’s Equal Pay for Equal Work Act

Thoughts on Colorado’s Equal Pay for Equal Work Act

It was about a year ago that we first started hearing about Colorado’s Equal Pay for Equal Work Act (SB19-085) and I knew it was going to be national news. We’d just gotten past the “Rocky Mountain High” jokes, and our lovely state was trying to break new ground...

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