Joe Gerstandt | keynote speaker, freedom fighter, freak-flag flier

I’ve concluded that genius is as common as dirt.  We suppress our genius only because we have not yet figured out how to manage a population of educated men and women.  The solution, I think, is simple and glorious.  Let them manage themselves. -John Taylor Gatto

*** spoiler alert *** A few key components of the Avatar plot will be discussed here. My first and likely my only movie review.  I generally do not write much here about the going-ons of pop culture simply because there are so many other people doing it and I am sure many of them do   [Read More…]

When we follow fashion and ask for steps, recipes, and certainty, we deny our freedom, for we are trapped by the very act of asking the question.  Following a recipe assumes there is a known path to finding our freedom and that someone else knows it.  Freedom asks us to invent our own steps.  The   [Read More…]

Today I am going to share a post from Carmen Hudson (aka PeopleShark).  It is timely, it is relevant and it continues the themes in my posts on The Whole Truth and Whole People Make Whole Organizations.  Conversations about this topic pop up frequently in my work and I am often surprised at how common   [Read More…]

Just about all the concessions we make to work in a well-run, non-disturbing, secure, predictably successful, managed environment have to do with giving up our voice. –Cluetrain Manifesto

You must be the change you want to see in the world. Mahatma Gandhi From Suzanne M. Hoenig: Are We Being the Change? Do you wish the world was a _______ place? A) Better B) Safer C) Greener D) all of the above This Christmas, I’m donating $100 to the North Texas Food Bank.  Last   [Read More…]

Any situation in which some individuals prevent others from engaging in the process of inquiry is one of violence.  The means used are not important; to alienate human beings from their own decision-making is to change them into objects. Paulo Freire (Pedagogy of the Oppressed)

* disclaimer: one of my favorite books is The Answer to How is Yes by Peter Block, so this post may only further frustrate those looking for a “real answer” * In response to a recent post of mine, a reader asks “how” Good morning, Joe. I like your message — be good to each   [Read More…]

Between stimulus and response there is a space.  In that space is our power to choose our response.  In our response lies our growth and our freedom. -Viktor Frankl (Mans Search for Meaning)

One final post on the whole self at work. This idea of bringing your whole self to work is a bit abstract for some…especially, I would imagine, for those that have never realized any real resistance to doing so.  I often run into people who know exactly what I am talking about and share their   [Read More…]