The Byrnes Blog

We tend to think of “lost” as something temporary. A glove. A set of keys. Something misplaced that, with enough retracing, can be found again. But not everything we lose works that way. Sometimes it’s a relationship. A sense of belonging. A version of ourselves we had quietly grown into. And sometimes—it’s the job. One day it’s there. The next, it’s not. In today’s environment—marked by constant disruption—leaders are being asked to make difficult decisions. Workforce reduct

Most disappointment isn’t caused by what happened. It’s caused by what didn’t  happen—the version of events we expected, but never actually agreed to. Somewhere in my early thirties, I made a quiet decision. I gave up expectations. Not because I had read a book or attended a workshop. Not because I had a grand theory about human behavior. But because I kept noticing something. People were getting frustrated. Disappointed. Angry, even. And when you peeled it back, the root was

There’s a list. There is always a list. The app, the sticky note, the grocery list, the calendar, everyone’s  schedules, and shared calendars at work and home. There is always something to do. All those to-dos wrapped around the fast-paced change we talk about all the time drives us to tick off those boxes, to take care of things and stay on track. Tick. Tick. Tick. The question I raise today is this: do we have to check off all those boxes now? What if we waited? A day. Or t

Never Have I Ever  is a classic social game where friends take turns naming things they’ve never done. Lately, though, it feels as if the game has moved from living rooms to center stage. Instead of saying what I’ve never done, I find myself thinking: I have never seen something unfold quite like this. I have never heard language used in this way. I have never witnessed such callousness normalized so quickly. Add to that the pace of it all — the frequency, the acceptance — an

In 2000 I was working in London on one of my company’s first e-commerce projects. It’s hard to imagine a world before e-commerce now, isn’t it? But that world existed and my company had signed a UK company to create their first ecommerce site before the holiday season. It was a wildly exciting time to be in the tech industry and advising businesses on such monumental change. Upon arrival I met Andrew, a brilliant developer from New Zealand. Andrew introduced me to the concept

Inspiration noun the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative. I absolutely love the sensation I get when I read something, hear something, or see something that inspires me. It’s as if the idea in that moment turned on my ignition switch. It lights a spark. It shoves whatever was on my proverbial mental table to the floor and makes room for rolling out something new. I feel fortunate that I am surrounded by people, or