Modern management culture culture praises the quick decision and drums its collective fingers when solutions are delayed by more than a millisecond. We’ve grown comfortable with automatic decisions and snap judgments. Making quick decisions is so much a part of our culture that we need a tool to help slow down our minds so we can actually think.

As we move into the second decade of the century the focus on leadership skills will be surpassed by an accountability for individual performance at all levels. Organizations will continue to need leaders, but those charged with setting the pace will lose some of their luster and the spotlight will shine more brightly on the need for every individual on the team to be more keenly aware of their own strengths and their own personal contribution to the company's success.

Balance is a good thing for bicycles, tightrope walkers and ballerinas. Toddlers need balance, as do the wheels on your car and those amazing young women who jump and spin on a four-inch wide balance beam in the Olympics. However: warning: Too much focus on balance will impede forward progress.

I had the pleasure of listening to a series of CDs from Dr. David Ball, a consultant who helps trial lawyers strategize cases and understand how jurors might respond to their arguments. Ball's work is specific to litigators but his comments on "rules" caught my attention. I think you'll find value in some of them (paraphrased for a broader audience).