Every nonprofit — whether a charity, professional association, or community group — faces a constant flow of choices. Some are big and irreversible, others small and routine. But all of them involve ‘decision doors’: a threshold between what we know and what’s next. The Decision Doors framework helps us pause at that threshold. Instead of… Continue reading Decision Doors
Reflective (and Deliberative) Scaffolds: Turning Experience into Insight
Reflection and Deliberation as Twin Practices Reflection and deliberation are often treated as separate activities — one looking backward, the other forward. In reality, they are two halves of the same learning loop. Together, they form a disciplined rhythm of practice: Act → Reflect → Learn/Adjust → Deliberate → Act again. The newly published Reflective… Continue reading Reflective (and Deliberative) Scaffolds: Turning Experience into Insight
Reflective Practice using Identity Mode Processing – Part 2
In Part 1 of this series, the TWLDA Identity Mode Framework was introduced as a reflective practice tool, showing how its five modes — Thinker, Watcher, Learner, Decider, and Actor — support self-actualisation, enrich executive function, and promote systemic identity coherence. We also explored its applications in individual reflection and governance contexts, with charts illustrating… Continue reading Reflective Practice using Identity Mode Processing – Part 2
Reflective Practice using Identity Mode Processing – Part 1
Mentoring is essentially a reflective practice vehicle. A mentor metaphorically holds up a ‘mirror’ for the mentee to see their current situation and goals in a different light. Self-reflection is a skill, and as for most skills, it improves with practice. While mentees may have different goals, their reflective skills and insights tend to share… Continue reading Reflective Practice using Identity Mode Processing – Part 1
Traversing the Valley of Change: States, Stages, and Lenses
Advocates of ‘continuous improvement‘ often present the associated change process as one involving a linear series of positive steps between current and desired future states. This characterisation of the change process is unfortunately not the way many experience it, especially during the period immediately after a change is introduced. One prominent example of the ‘positive… Continue reading Traversing the Valley of Change: States, Stages, and Lenses
Watch your words; they become your thoughts
The Power of Words in Organisational Life Before NLP there was Lao Tzu. His admonition to “watch your thoughts, for they become your words” forms part of a ’cause and effect’ chain which helps us to think about how present actions, and the thoughts behind them, lead to longer-term consequences. While the truth of this… Continue reading Watch your words; they become your thoughts
Moral Accounting and Reporting
For many nonprofit organisations, 30 June marks the end of their financial year. Consequently, thoughts now turn to finalising the trial balance, engaging with the auditors, and preparing annual reports. End-of-year is when we close the books, take stock, and reset. It’s also the best time to capture lessons from ethical challenges, identify emerging risks… Continue reading Moral Accounting and Reporting
The Dimensionality of Thought and Ethical Leadership – Part 2 (Praxis)
Praxis and reflective practice “Praxis is the process by which a theory, lesson, or skill is enacted, embodied, realised, applied, or put into practice. “Praxis” may also refer to the act of engaging, applying, exercising, realising, or practising ideas” (Wikipedia). As its title suggests, this post therefore seeks to assist nonprofit leaders to reflectively apply… Continue reading The Dimensionality of Thought and Ethical Leadership – Part 2 (Praxis)
The Dimensionality of Thought and Ethical Leadership – Part 1 (Theory)
How often have you witnessed a ‘debate’ in which various of the participants are on different wavelengths? One sees the issues as ‘black and white’, while another sees many ‘shades of gray’, and yet another sees layers of complexity in full colour. Even when directors share a common ‘moral lens’ though, their stakeholders don’t. Dealing… Continue reading The Dimensionality of Thought and Ethical Leadership – Part 1 (Theory)
Foundational Thinking for Nonprofit Leaders
The Meta-Taxonomy of Foundational Thinking (MTFT) model was introduced in my previous post (First Principles First). That version has been inverted and expanded in this explanatory article, to address the wider range of considerations involved when using the model for problem solving and decision-making. The header image (From Root to Fruit) uses a tree metaphor… Continue reading Foundational Thinking for Nonprofit Leaders