Blog

There’s a certain kind of pain that doesn’t come from what happened… but from what happens after it happens.
Not just the theft. Not just the betrayal.
But the smear. The side-eyes. The sudden chill in relationships you thought were solid. The whisper network that turns a clear boundary into a “character flaw.”
If you’ve ever been the target of a smear campaign, or if you’re fighting for your vitality and sanity in the middle of chaos, this is the one piece of advice that will carry you through...

I'm here to burst your capitalism vs. socialism bubble with data. You hate capitalism or see Satan behind socialism. Both have part of the answer, but miss some key distinctions.

As I wrote in my book, The Cage Fight No One is Winning, both sides of the ideological spectrum have distorted views that keep you from better policies. Hey, I'm an organization and system design guy, so that has given me a perspective that can lead to actual solutions. Let's dig in.

What Every Right-Wing,...

Let's skip the part where I acknowledge that most religious leaders genuinely love children and want them to be safe. You know it. I know it. And frankly, the children who got abused inside religious institutions knew it too...right up until the moment they found out what that love was actually worth when it bumped up against institutional self-interest.

Talk is cheap.

Implementing the systems that actually prevent child abuse? That costs something. And that cost, not ignorance, not negligence,...

“Forgiveness” is one of the most loaded words in personal growth. It’s preached as a moral duty, sold as a shortcut to peace, and weaponized as a test of your character. It often comes wrapped in a quiet threat: forgive, or you’re the problem.

And that framing, especially in religious settings, can turn forgiveness into something coercive, confusing, and unsafe.

For me this topic is real, deep, and emotionally intense. Just yesterday I thought about a situation where I regretted allowing two...

A teacher I respect asked me and the group I was with to start to pay attention to endings, how we manage them, why, and notice and adjustments we want to make. He said it was a fast path to growth.

Endings? Like canceling a once-valued service, blocking a former friend on social media, or dealing with death? Yes, was all he said. Then he asked, what do you notice about the end of a breath? Are you on to the next one, or do you allow that breath to fully expel? Like most of life, I was focused...

There’s a particular kind of pain that doesn’t come from tragedy alone; it comes from arguing with reality. You didn’t ask for the diagnosis. You didn’t request the layoff. You didn’t order the betrayal, the breakup, the public embarrassment, the “We need to talk” that arrives like a wrecking ball at 7:13 p.m. on an ordinary Tuesday.

And yet, there it is. Your hand. Face up. Unapologetic.

Resilience, in the Rise Strong universe, isn’t the glamorous ability to smile through chaos like a...

By Quinn Price

Let's start with an uncomfortable truth: You're holding up lies right now. So am I.

Not little white lies. Not fibs to spare someone's feelings. I'm talking about load-bearing lies, the kind that became part of your internal architecture before you knew better. The ones you picked up in childhood when you needed to make sense of chaos. The ones you absorbed from parents who meant well but passed along their own unexamined beliefs. The ones you downloaded during a weak moment...

Dr. John Gottman identifies criticism as a strong predictor of divorce. Yet to improve, we need feedback. So where is that line where feedback becomes harmful to relationship?

Quick rule of thumb

If your words attack identity, assume motives, or leave the other person with less clarity, less dignity, and no clear next step, you’ve crossed the line.

Red flags: you’ve crossed it

• Permanent, personally defining labels: “You’re lazy / incompetent / selfish” (attacks who they are, not what happened)....

Let's be honest—most of us are terrible at building healthy social networks. We either cling to toxic relationships because "we have history," collect superficial connections like LinkedIn badges, or retreat into isolation when things get messy. Meanwhile, we wonder why we feel emotionally drained, unsupported, or like we're performing our lives rather than living them.

Here's the thing: your social network isn't just about having people to grab coffee with. It's your psychological immune...

An interview with Quinn Price, author of "Creating Safe Spaces: A Complete Guide to Child-Safe Organizations"

I: Quinn, your book opens with a sobering statement: "Every day, organizations proudly declare their commitment to child safety... but talk is cheap, and children pay the price when that talk doesn't translate into action." That's a harsh assessment of organizations serving children.

Quinn Price: This was a hard book to write. It needs to be harsh because the stakes are that high. I've...

When Systems Thinking Meets Science Fiction: An Interview with Quinn Price About "The 300 Club"

We sat down with organizational effectiveness expert and novelist Quinn Price to discuss his new thriller "The 300 Club," which combines hard science fiction with real-world systems thinking to explore what might happen if the world's brightest minds finally had the resources to tackle civilization-level challenges.

Let's start with the premise. Your protagonist Sage gets fired for being too smart....

You might have noticed that I'm cranking out books at the pace of one or more a month. So it's all AI, right? No. Let me explain my writing process to be helpful for other writers.

First, my corporate career taught me to be productive, to use time wisely. I do. And I also learned that when I have a strong outline with research in hand, I do my best work. Like Stephen King, I write two, usually three chapters a day. I've found that when I dictate, I write much faster and it's sounds more...

The most resilient teams I've observed share a few key practices that their leaders deliberately cultivate, especially when disruption becomes the norm rather than the exception.

Psychological safety gets built through transparency, not protection. Resilient leaders don't shield their teams from reality - they share what they know, acknowledge what they don't, and create space for people to voice concerns without judgment. When team members can say "I'm struggling with this change" or "I think...

Ever notice how January's gym crowds thin out by February? Or how that productivity system you were absolutely committed to lasted exactly three weeks? Change is the corporate world's favorite buzzword and personal development's eternal promise, yet most changes have the staying power of a snowman in summer.

As someone who's spent years studying organizational effectiveness, I've seen ambitious change initiatives launch with fanfare only to fizzle faster than a cheap sparkler. The problem...