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

Either you repeat the same conventional doctrines everybody is saying, or else you say something true, and it will sound like it’s from Neptune. -Noam Chomsky Our oldest daughter has always had her own sense of style and right before school started this year, she got her hair cut really, really short. It looks amazing…like   [Read More…]

It is Friday. And on Fridays I try to promote and celebrate the flying of the Freak Flag. Any day and everyday is for flying The Freak Flag, but I make an extra effort to promote it on Friday.  Seems appropriate.  Flying the Freak Flag is basically about authenticity…knowing who you really are and acting   [Read More…]

I am a fortunate one. Fortunate, blessed, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky. Period. I am married to a wonderful, wonderful human being and she usually enjoys my company.  My children speak to me, sometimes they will not stop speaking to me in fact.  I do work that I love…madly.  I have not had a “boss” in   [Read More…]

Wow.  The last month and a half has just flown by.  I had several short business trips in July followed by a short family trip, followed by another short business trip, followed by a big family vacation followed by a few days in St Louis for ASAE 2011 which just wrapped up. And I have   [Read More…]

There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which can not fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance-that principle is contempt prior to investigation. -Herbert Spencer It is hardly possible to overrate the value of placing human beings in contact with persons dissimilar to   [Read More…]

I think that there are two kinds of organizations. Living ones and dying ones. We seem to have this idea that organizations, especially large ones are around forever, or at least for a very long time, but they are not.  With few exceptions, organizations have a pretty short lifespan. A big part of what gives   [Read More…]

Long overdue blog post… Most of the work that I do is about content first and process second.  I speak at conferences, deliver learning programs to client organizations and I bring specific content to those engagements.  How it is presented depends on objectives, size of the group, amount of time, etc.  I also used to   [Read More…]

I talk a lot about diversity of thought.  I get some interesting responses to this message, which is for another post, but most of the people that I talk to find this to be a valuable, important and actionable topic.  Some people even tell me that it is just good, common sense. But. This is   [Read More…]

“So what are the best practices?” This is always where the relationship goes bad.  Everyone wants to know about best practices…and I have beef with best practices.  I think that best practices are relics of another time and I think that they are copouts. Here is the thing… People seem to be holding on to   [Read More…]

I originally posted this about a year ago, but as I am at a big ass Human Resources conference this week, it seems like it might make a good “re-post.” Stop. Running. Away. Todays rant. I have said numerous time before that HR should not own organizational diversity and inclusion work, and I think that   [Read More…]