Attended the Christmas cocktail party of TechnoMontreal, a non-profit technology cluster in which reelyActive participates.  Ended up having a great conversation with the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) from a long-established company and the marketing lead for a non-profit.  Despite the differences in our respective organisations, we had no difficulty finding common ground on the fact that it is difficult (and lonely!) to advance a progressive agenda!  There is no shortage of resistance to change. This reminds me how important it is to find occasions to interact with people just outside one's usual circle.  If you're constantly surrounded by people who are participants in the same game as you (ex: tech startups) it's easy to accept the dynamics of that game as normal.  Stepping outside of that circle, it becomes clear to see what aspects are unique and common to each game.  And such wisdom is critical when trying to affect change!

Had a quick catch-up call with Tom who was the first person to reach out to reelyActive on AngelList way back in 2012.  Over the years we've kept in touch and I consider him to be an outstanding mentor even if we only find the time to speak once or twice a year. It was Tom who suggested to me that I read Frédéric Laloux's Reinventing Organizations on a previous call after I explained to him my ambitious plans to avoid hierarchy and embrace emergence within our startup.  That's the same text I discussed with Cynthia and the same author I presented to Will . Tom was supportive of my Startical, reminding me how much he enjoyed and learned from his own three-month sabbatical not long ago.  Did his business fall apart during that time?  No.  Did he stress about that the whole time?  No.   Did he return to work motivated and refreshed?  Yes! I often feel quite alone and isolated in my thoughts and eccentricities, and it doesn't take much to beg...

This morning my sister reached out about having lunch together, and Will and I joined her close to her office. Upon reflection, living walking distance from downtown affords me the ability to take advantage of spontaneous meetings, both social and business.  I recognise how much location factors into well-being.  If I lived further afield, I would easily isolate myself by justifying passing up meetings such as these. One of the highlights of the lunch discussion for me was Will's interest in leadership, especially in the context of progressive organisations that seek to do away with hierarchy.  This reminds me of a great book that was recommended to me by a mentor: Reinventing Organizations.  We've had discussions in my startup about how we should organise ourselves and structure responsibility.  Being exposed to various organisational structures over our individual careers, it is difficult to align on an ideal for our own startup. Our discussion helped me recog...