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What you do in your life today creates energy that will affect the future and your future generations.”

⏤ Abraham Fenster (Seize the Moment, 2009)

In 2012, I experienced a vision.

A vision that was so vivid and dramatic it upended my understanding of this world. 

It set my life and work on a different path from that day forward.

When I shared what had happened with my life coach, she responded in part with this advice:

“You are breaking down all the limits of what you have been told and you are being invited to move into direct, personal experience of TRUTH – beyond previously conceived notions.”

She then shared a story that came from one of her mentors. The story helped me understand what I had just experienced. 

I searched for her mentor’s name on Amazon to see if she had written any books because I wanted to learn more.

She hadn’t.

But when I searched for her name, one book came up on the search list. It was Seize the Moment by Abraham Fenster.

She didn’t write the book, but she was quoted by the author in the text.

But a moment of stunned shock occurred when I saw the book cover. It was strikingly very similar to what I saw in my vision!

That book perhaps punctuated in the most dramatic way a series of events over the past week.

It was my moment.

In the following days, I wrote my first article for the Cutter Business Technology Journal.

I now felt fearless to share my truth, given what I had experienced.

The editor introduced my article as follows:

“In our first article, Bill Fox looks at whether we’re asking the right questions and reflecting on what we’re trying to accomplish. By the time you read this, Fox will have interviewed three dozen experts in the field. Within two dozen, he came across a fascinating discovery that can change your own thinking on how to speed delivery and improve quality — and every other notion often attributed to agile, CMMI, or both. What if success with agile or CMMI really has nothing to do with agile or CMMI? Fox takes us down that thought path.”

I thought the article for Cutter would be rejected. It stood in the face of and was contrary to everything people were talking about and doing. (Get a copy from Cutter or request a free copy from me.)

The article was featured in the journal, and it opened the door to many more opportunities.

It also brought some of life’s biggest challenges as I began a journey to become a more authentic human being.

I discovered the power of sharing your truth.

It encouraged me to start sharing more.

Every significant dot since that time connects back to that moment.

The world needs to hear your truth too.

The one you’ve been hiding.

Seize the moment.

Making the invisible more visible and present.

Six weeks ago, I began an experiment to see if I could create simple designs to help make many of the powerful ideas that had influenced me more available and useful.

I call it, making the invisible more visible and present.

It was rough going at first, but now I’ve gotten into a flow. I’m creating one or two every day. Far too many to share in my periodic (usually weekly) newsletter

Because I’ve received so much positive feedback, I’ve decided to set up a separate newsletter that will focus on the designs.

They are short posts that focus on the images and the message. Recent posts include:

• In the way.
• Hero’s Journey
• What you bring is what you get.
• Who is leading?
• What’s missing in leadership?
• And more…

I invite you to subscribe if you’d like to receive notifications when new designs post.

As always, I welcome any feedback or suggestions that may come up from reading my newsletters.

Until next time, to your forward thinking life & successs!

⏤Bill

Synchronicity speaks of insight for new leadership residing not in the other, the guru, or anyone outside, but rather insight as accessible to everyone.

Letters from Readers (Synchronicity, 2011)

In 2013, I published my first article for the Cutter Business Technology Journal. And as is customary for all authors, I had an opportunity to write a follow-up email to share feedback I was receiving from readers.

The title of the email I sent was The Path to Leadership. In the email, I shared how hesitant I was about submitting my article for publication. I literally held my breath and closed my eyes when I hit send.

The thesis of the article was completely contrary to the prevailing best practices and wisdom at the time ⏤ and even today for that matter. So I never expected it would be published.

But to my great surprise, it was published!

Then after the excitement wore off, I became a bit anxious. Who would hire or work with me when I’m suggesting that almost everybody is focused on the wrong things!

But then, many leading experts (including those who were also published in the same journal edition) started telling me that my observations and perspectives were right on target.

What a relief it was to receive that feedback!

. . .

It was a challenging time for me. Suddenly, I had found the courage and voice to speak out about what I thought and how I see the world. And, I could see that this was changing how people were interacting with me.

Some people didn’t know how to respond to the new me that was publishing articles that were getting attention, so they didn’t say anything. But many others suddenly began seeking me out as an expert on organizational and personal change.

People were now telling me that I was a leader. That was a real shock for me. I was not comfortable with that label at all at first. A leader to me was the CEO or an executive of a big, successful company, the author of a NY Times bestselling book, and so on. People like Lee Iacocca, Tony Robbins, W. Edwards Deming, are just a few names that come to mind.

What I was just beginning to understand back then was that I was on an inner path to leadership. Set in motion by a simple yet powerful intention to fix what I saw was broken

This past week, as I continued to update my presentation with insights from my re-reading of Synchronicity by Joesph Jaworski, I came across this quote submitted by a reader:

Synchronicity speaks of insight for new leadership residing not in the other, the guru, or anyone outside, but rather insight as accessible to everyone through newly honed sensibilities of looking and listening within and to Life as it moves all around.

⏤ Letters from Readers (Synchronicity, 2011)

That’s exactly it in my opinion and experience. And, I believe it’s why so many people on the inner leader journey find Synchronicity so captivating.

In the Cutter article I mentioned above, The CMMI Agile Conversation is a Dead End, I raised the notion of evolutionary self-leadership. This was the idea that was energizing people the most who were getting in touch with me.

It’s my belief that anyone can be a leader at any level at any time and start to bring about change wherever they are. This has been my journey and one that I know that any person who wants to make a difference can take to impact their circumstances.

Continuous improvement and problem-solving aren’t just a job for experts; everyone can be involved and lead. Anyone can take a stand.

When they do, they will inspire others and create more leaders and create the change we are seeking.

And in my experience, the change happens almost effortlessly, right before your eyes.

As aways, to your great work life & success!

Bill Fox

The western scientific-materialistic worldview is no longer adequate for the issues our society is facing; a historic shift is now occurring.

⏤ Joseph Jaworski

One day not too long ago, someone asked me, “Why my work was focused on forward thinking?”

Frankly, the question startled me for a few moments because the story of what led me to brand my work as forward thinking wasn’t top of mind.

Then it all came back to me. It was 2016. I had just decided to move to Estonia after coming for a two-week visit.

In many ways, I was starting over ⏤ from ground zero. So I decided to take an in-depth look inside myself to find my way forward.

During this time of introspection, I was fortunate to discover the work of Sally Hoggshead, author of How to Fascinate. Sally takes an intriguing approach in that she helps you discover how the world sees you.

I decided to take her personality test, which she describes as: “The only personality test to show you how to grow your confidence, increase your value, and live more authentically.”

The test results showed people viewed me as a forward thinker. I was someone who was always looking for new and better ways to improve work and life for everyone. As I looked back over my career and work, that was indeed a common trait.

I now had a theme and focus that energized me and would help me live more authentically.

Forward thinking also matched up perfectly with six questions I had been thinking about for over a year. These six questions became the core questions in the Exploring Forward Thinking Workplaces interviews.

My Forward Thinking Journey

My initial intention for the Exploring Forward Thinking Workplaces interviews was simply to explore the idea and create content that might be helpful to people and businesses.

I never imagined or thought it would become the major focus of my work.

But slowly and step-by-step over the past four years, that’s what happened. Somehow my plans never worked out, and that seemed to open the door for the work to lead me forward.

Eventually, I caught on and started opening myself up to letting it lead me forward more fully. That’s when things really got interesting because it opened the door for more synchronicity.

The right people and ideas appear at the most opportune time.

I belong to a group called Visualization Value. A key focus in this community is learning how to use design to communicate our ideas with more clarity. You may have noticed that I have started to introduce design thinking into my recent newsletters.

This past week, I received a message from Pim Ruhe, a member of the Visualization Value group. Pim had visited my web site billfox.co and had some great ideas on how to use visual design to communicate the forward thinking story.

I welcomed his ideas because I had been admiring the work that he was sharing in the community and on social media. Visit pimruhe.com if you’d like to get into contact with him.

Below are the three images that Pim created for me along with the ideas from my site. I think they brilliantly help express the Forward Thinking story. Thank you, Pim for your contribution to my work.

We Now Live in a World that Has Shifted

Managing change, best practices, working harder, or even smarter are no longer enough.

When everything changes so quickly, these practices keep us stuck living in the past.

You’re here because you understand that.

The New Way to Level Up

Now you move forward with new questions, synchronicity, and one mind.

Working together in new ways to allow the collective voice, wisdom, and energy of everyone to emerge for the benefit of all.

It’s the age of Forward Thinking and allowing people to be themselves.

A Search for Better Solutions

Built upon an ongoing 21st-century conversation with 75+ global business and thought leaders.

Intriguing insights and practical wisdom are distinguished that help you achieve your most important strategic objectives.

You gain new awareness and develop your authentic strategic advantage.

Wrapping Up

Over the past few months, there’s been a lot of interest and feedback on my posts related to synchronicity. Several weeks ago, nine people from around the world met to explore the topic further.

There was a lot of interest in continuing to meet on a regular basis. However, I couldn’t seem to move any plans forward to continue to meet in a similar fashion.

To my surprise, this allowed space for something new to show up. In August, I will be announcing the next version of my work as Forward Thinking Pro.

Forward Thinking Pro will be focused on building a community of forward thinking leaders and helping businesses be the workplace of the future ⏤ today.

I’m looking forward to sharing more with you in the near future.

Thanks for being here

Thank you. It’s because of your support and encouragement that I do what I do. Every email from you in my inbox is exciting.

So I just wanted to take this moment to shout a HUGE thanks and to encourage you to reply to me with anything that comes up for you.

REPLY TO ME

As always, to your great work life & success!

Bill

The silver lining is that businesses have an opportunity to hit the reset button on how they interact with their employees.

⏤ Robert Scott

One silver lining we have today is to hit the reset button. Not only in our businesses, but also in our personal lives.

When so much attention has focused on the employee engagement challenge for so long — with few apparent results to show for it — aren’t we clearly missing or not seeing something?

My conversations with pioneering business and thought leaders have revealed some surprising themes on what people lack and long for in their work.

Recently, my findings published in the March 2020 edition of the Cutter Business Technology Journal.

In the article, I present an in-depth review and analysis of all the responses to the question, “What do people really lack and long for?”

Going through this exercise resulted in the discovery of seven key themes, five of which I cover in the article:

1. Feeling Greater Security in Being Their True Selves at Work
2. More Meaning in Their Work
3. More Alignment with Their Purpose at Work
4. More Appreciation, Recognition, Significance, and Respect at Work
5. More Community and Belonging at Work

Paying more attention to these themes may provide new and untapped avenues for greater employee happiness, engagement, and, ultimately, customer satisfaction and business results.

More information and a copy of the article are available directly from Cutter by purchasing a subscription.

Or, just shoot me an email to request a copy, and I’ll send you a PDF.

I hope you will read the article, and l’m looking forward to hearing what you find most intriguing?

Thanks for being here

Thank you. It’s because of your support and encouragement that I do what I do. Every email from you in my inbox is exciting. 

So I just wanted to take this moment to shout a HUGE thanks and to encourage you to reply to me with anything that comes up for you.

As always, to your great work life & success!

Bill

Photo by Ocean Ng on Unsplash