The Byrnes Blog

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

I have always been fascinated by what makes people, and cultures, tick. I want to know what matters to both the individual and the community they spend their time in. This could be their personal community or their work community. What creates sustainable, healthy, momentum? Bear with me as I explore two, seemingly, opposite stories that I believe have a connection. The first story began in 2008 when Dan Beuttner published a book called “ The Blue Zones ”. He was part of a pa

If you were to look back on your life right now, however long you have lived, would you say you have lived a good life? What does ‘a good life’ mean to you? A while ago I started conducting interviews with people over 80 years old. The project is called ‘5000 Years of Wisdom”. I asked them what advice they would offer someone younger about five things – love, work, family, change, and forgiveness. The project took hold and soon it was suggested I ask those in their 60’s, 40’s

I wrote about change previously, but as we enter this new year, I am hearing more and more stories from businesses and leaders about how change feels different these days. That is because it is different. I can recall the days in business when in a certain quarter of the year we would map out our strategic plans for change that would occur the next year. In Q2 we would identify what we wanted to change. In Q3 we would pressure test and align the impacts and run the scenarios