Monthly Archives: May 2007

What is “Running Naked”?

In my career, I’ve helped a lot of teams change things they didn’t like about themselves.  To do this, I’ve encouraged them to “run naked.”

By “run naked” I’ve meant expose what they do and how they run to everyone else in their organization.

If you “run naked” two good things happen:

  1. Other teams see that you have nothing to hide, start to trust you more, and stop politically sniping at you.  I mean, if you saw a naked man fall down, would you want to hit him while he’s down?
  2. If you have to “run naked”, well, you damn well get yourself in better shape.  Who wants to watch a pot-belly run?

These principles have helped new teams, and old dysfunctional teams, start to seriously improve their performance, and raise the performance of their organizations.

Starting last June, I decided I wanted to change some things about myself as a person (not just a professional).  I’ve had some success over the past 12 months changing some things privately. 

But I’ve decided that what’s good enough for my professional career should be tried on the personal goals.  Therefore, I’m going to attempt to apply the “run naked” philosophy to my personal goals, and this blog is my attempt to be more public about those goals.

I encourage feedback, both negative and positive.  I will strive to be open in my posts (although I will keep some elements clothed to protect the privacy of others).

Lastly, I promise while I will philosophically run naked, I will not subject anyone to photos of me actually running naked.  Enjoy.