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

Sometimes.The soundtrack for this life, is poetry.Walt WhitmanLangston Hughese.e. cummingsPablo Neruda in the eveningand Rumi.Always Rumi. Sometimes.The soundtrack is static.Incessant and neurotic. Sometimes.The moment is perfect,it is Nina Simonewith big broken hearton phonograph.Or Bob Marleywith Redemptionwith Love.Or Bob Dylanwith Revolutionwith Revolution. Sometimes.We march to a common theme,the Sesame Street song,the voice of James Earl Jones,a   [Read More…]

Our family has suffered an unexpected loss and this space is probably going to be silent for a while.  Sorry for the lapse. Be good to each other. -joe  

Once again, it is Freak Flag Friday.  Have a good one.  This week we celebrate with an actual flag…thanks to Eric J. Andersen.

…just because we can.

I try to celebrate the Freak Flag on Fridays, and it recently occurred to me that maybe someone could design an actual flag…and then it occurred to me that maybe others could share quotes, stories, drawings, pictures, etc. that I could post on Fridays.  As I have made more noise about Freak Flag Friday and   [Read More…]

This week I am recommending The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn’t by Bob Sutton.  It is a fun, easy read, but it packs a punch with an important and timely message connected to a lot of really good research.  I recommend you read anything that comes from Bob   [Read More…]

Contrary to today’s stereotypes, racists do not always chew tobacco and drive pickup trucks with gun racks.  They wear silk shirts, treat women as possessions, and talk about human rights at cocktail parties far from communities of people of color.  The men in pickup trucks are just as likely to be warm and caring as   [Read More…]

Last week, this was my office.

A great deal of my work revolves around issues of diversity and inclusion, and much of that work is about better understanding the raw value of difference and about being more intentional with our behaviors, processes and systems so that we do not waste, overlook or limit the potential and the unique contributions of those   [Read More…]