February 2025

Throughout my lifetime space travel has been a grand dream and a slowly unfolding reality. One of my earliest memories is of the Apollo 11 crew taking the first steps on the surface of the moon. While advances along man’s journey into space are captured as snapshots in my memory (e.g. the loss of the Space Shuttle Challenger, astronauts capturing jello floating mid-air in the weightlessness of the International Space Station, the SpaceX rocket vertically landing for re-use after delivering its payload into space), I’ve missed the big picture. Space to Grow by Matthew Weinzierl and Brendan Rosseau tells the fascinating big story of the commercial space industry, and along the way teaches us important business lessons applicable to almost any industry.

I’m fascinated by the big story here. I guess I had never really paid close attention to the fundamental shift that has happened in how our country approaches space flight. The authors tell this story well by telling several little stories, each with its own heroes, challenges, and conflicts. The authors use an intellectual framework to explain how the integration of all of these little stories into the big story makes sense economically, considering the relationship between governments and markets in space. “The three steps of the framework, and thus the three parts of the book, are: (1) establish the market through decentralization, (2) refine the market through addressing market failures, and (3) temper the market through alignment with social objectives.” In telling the stories within this framework, the authors introduce readers to a number of important economic concepts and principles.

Space to Grow is a fun and informative read. It compellingly tells many stories that combine into a fascinating big story of the emergence of a commercial space economy. Along the way, the authors teach us basic economic concepts that might benefit any business in any industry. Overall a recommended read for any business leader, especially those of us that have always been fascinated by space and the stories of how the future will change us.

Read my full review here.

The words “you don’t trust me” or “I don’t trust you”, even if left unspoken, are destructive to any relationship.

Faithfulness has both *to* and *in* aspects

We tend to focus on being faithful *to* the trust others have placed in us, and that’s important. Our faithfulness shows up in our being consistent, reliable, able to be trusted, and dependable. We should strive to be this kind of faithful to those around us. We should follow through on our commitments, whether explicitly given or simply reasonably expected. Others should be able to count on us and trust us. When we betray the trust of another, our relationship with them crumbles.

But if we dissect the word faithfulness into its three parts we find that the word means the quality or state (ness) of being full of faith — completely trusting *in* another. This is hard. When we aren’t seeing progress or evidence towards commitments made, we tend to be skeptical and are tempted to think the worst of the other person — and often for good reason. Other people have failed us, and if we’re honest, we are just as imperfect, forgetful, and unreliable as they are.

It’s the same in business, and our faithfulness can help us build trusted relationships with employees, customers, suppliers, investors, the community at large, and even competitors. We do this by living up to our commitments. But healthy relationships also require us to trust our employees, suppliers, and customers. We need to listen well, trusting their input, and be responsive to their needs. When they make mistakes, we need to show them grace (while being discerning to ensure they aren’t abusing our faith in them) to strengthen the trust in our relationship.

As Christians, when we consider how to live out faithfulness as a Fruit of the Spirit, we can think about our vertical relationship with God and our horizontal relationships with others. The meaning of the word doesn’t change, but the practical application of it does. Click the link below to see what I mean.

Admittedly, faithfulness can be hard, but it can also be incredibly rewarding. The good news is that faithfulness is a fruit of the Spirit, meaning that, as Christians, the Holy Spirit is working it more and more into our lives and our character. As we mature in our faith, we grow in our faithfulness.

Read the full article here.

I eagerly anticipated reading “The Insider’s Guide to Innovation @ Microsoft”. Microsoft is one of the most valuable companies on the planet and has built that value by helping people and businesses leverage technology in innovative ways. As part of the celebration of the company’s 50th anniversary, Dean Carignan and JoAnn Garbin, two innovators inside the company have produced this collection of seven diverse case studies and four innovation patterns that emerged from those case studies.

Bottom line, “The Insider’s Guide to Innovation @ Microsoft” is an interesting study of what innovation looks like at Microsoft today. As with any large company, different parts of the business operate somewhat differently, but the authors have done a good job of finding the commonalities from which lessons can be learned. While the book may not be the most productive book on innovation for a small and young startup, I do believe there are valuable lessons that leaders at large and mature companies could learn from reading it. I recommend the book for those readers.

My full review is here.

When someone says “he is a good man”, I think they typically mean that that man can be counted on to do the right thing, even when it’s difficult. He has high moral character. He demonstrates strong ethical principles and integrity. He also shows compassion, is reliable and honest, and considers the well-being of others. He lives up to his commitments and treats people with respect and understanding.

Just as we, as individuals, want to be seen as “good,” businesses increasingly want to be seen as “good.” 

Harvard Business Review collected “15 Eye-Opening Corporate Social Responsibility Statistics”. Here are a few of the highlights:

• “Seventy-seven percent of consumers are motivated to purchase from companies committed to making the world a better place, while 73 percent of investors state that efforts to improve the environment and society contribute to their investment decisions.”
• “Twenty-five percent of consumers and 22 percent of investors cite a ‘zero tolerance’ policy toward companies that embrace questionable practices on the ethical front.”
• “A majority of American consumers (55 percent) believe it’s important for companies to take a stand on key social, environmental, and political issues.”
• “Creating value for the customer, positively impacting society, and inspiring innovation and positive change are the three top reasons impacting an organization’s purpose.”
• “Nearly 70 percent of employees say they wouldn’t work for a company without a strong purpose.”
• “Fifty-eight percent of organizations that currently have a strong and clear sense of purpose experienced 10 percent or more growth during the last three years.”

In the U.S., a new classification of business called a Benefit Corporation has emerged. Businesses that file as a Benefit Corporation are still “for profit” but profit is not their only goal. They seek to make a positive impact on society by addressing social, economic, and/or environmental needs. They must issue an annual Benefit Report defining, reporting, and assessing their social and environmental performance. 

But as Christians, is that what we mean when we seek to demonstrate “goodness” in our business?

Read my answer here.

“HBR Guide to Generative AI for Managers” by Elisa Farri and Gabriele Rosani (HBR Press, 2025) is a practical and helpful guide for managers. It not only teaches them how to use Gen AI in general, but identifies specific tasks that are at the heart of a manager’s job that can be enhanced with Gen AI, and even provides sample prompts for achieving those gains. 

The book identifies thirty-five specific types of managerial tasks that can be enhanced with Generative AI, describes how to do so, and gives specific examples of prompts for doing so. The authors identify two different approaches to using Generative AI: co-pilot (assigning tasks to AI) and co-thinker (collaborating with AI). The thirty-five tasks are evenly split between these two approaches and are further broken down into four types of managerial activities: managing yourself, managing teams, managing business, and managing change. The book covers such a broad array of activities that almost any manager can relate to some subset of the tasks. If you are open to experimenting with Generative AI, then this is a great guide to getting started in a way very relevant to business leaders.

The HBR Guide to Gen AI is structured to work well both as an instruction manual and as a reference guide. It can be read linearly to learn how to use Gen AI in practical ways. It is also easy to quickly find instructions for using Gen AI for specific types of tasks. The book is clearly written and well organized, further enhancing its practical value.

I strongly recommend the HBR Guide to Gen AI for managers open to leveraging new technologies to do their jobs better, easier, and faster.

Read my full review here.

Our kindness in our business shows up in how we treat others especially our employees, customers, and suppliers. We are compassionate towards their needs, bearing with their weaknesses and mistakes, and seeking their good, even at our own expense. By doing so, we reflect the character of God and bring Him glory.

We all know people who have been kind to us, and these are the types of people we generally like to be around. We cheer for them and like to see them succeed.

Opposites of kindness include cruelty, meanness, heartlessness, maliciousness and pettiness. Each of these words brings forth images that help us better appreciate what it means to be kind. 

People like to work for kind bosses. Customers like to frequent businesses where they are met with kindness. Many more are happy to see a kind business succeed than to see a cruel or heartless one prosper.

Read the full article here.

InEVitable, by Mike Colias, weaves together dozens of personal stories to illuminate the electric vehicle revolution. Through intimate portraits of innovators, engineers, executives, and everyday drivers, the book transforms an industrial shift into a human journey. These individual narratives make tangible both the challenges and opportunities in reinventing a century-old industry. 

InEVitable may be my favorite book of the past couple of years. If you’re fascinated by EVs and want to know more about the industry and what’s holding it back, read this book. If you love reading about the history of technology and/or business, read this book. If you want to be a fly on the wall as company executives wrestle with hard strategic discussions, read this book. If you simply have a long set of flights or a lazy weekend and want to read a great story, read this book. 

Read my full review here.