How Cost Accounting Hides the Truth from Management, Part 1 - Johanna Rothman

All organizations use cost accounting to report on their revenue, including profit and loss. We are so accustomed to using cost accounting that we don’t realize how it hides the truth about our progre...

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2026.20 Opportunity Costs Are Not the Same as the Costs of Delay - Johanna Rothman

This week’s podcast is from the Continual Planning book. I embed the podcast as a frame in these posts. If you cannot see the podcast, please click through to the post itself. (Or, get the RSS feed an...

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How Do We Trust Our Judgment When AI Offers Us Different Answers? - Create an Adaptable Life

Many of my colleagues use AI for parts of their jobs. (I do, too, to see what I’ve already written.) Using AI requires both trust and judgment. Trust that the LLM has given you the correct answer(s). ...

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How to Use AI for Writing Without Stealing from Others, Yourself, or Cheating Your Readers - Johanna Rothman

I’ve been writing professionally since 1997. While you might not agree with my stances on anything I write, you can tell I wrote it. Even in my early writing, my author voice shines through. And I lov...

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2026.19 The Sigh Test - Johanna Rothman

This week’s podcast is from the Continual Planning book. Enjoy! (I embed the podcast in a frame just below the Podcast heading. If you do not see the frame, please click through to hear it. Or, check ...

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Drowning in Work? Three Tips to Help You Choose Your Single Focus - Johanna Rothman

This is Johanna Rothman’s July 2026 Pragmatic Manager Newsletter. The Unsubscribe link is at the bottom of this newsletter. (Looking for the video? I post the video within a few days of publication on...

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How Do We Choose Between a Straight Reset and Starting Anew? - Create an Adaptable Life

This is Johanna Rothman’s July 2026 Create an Adaptable Life Newsletter. The Unsubscribe link is at the bottom of this newsletter. (Looking for the video? Go to the bottom of the newsletter for the vi...

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How Do We Differentiate Between Being Disabled and Our Insufficient Abilities? - Create an Adaptable Life

David Dame, in a LinkedIn post, said, “We are all going to be disabled one day. Some of us just beat you to it.” While he is correct, that is not the full story. I said, quoting his post, “I do not th...

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Public Speaking Myth 10: Speakers Must Pay to Speak to an Audience - Johanna Rothman

If you recently published a book, as I did, you might have this same experience. The scammers are out in full force. Here's what keeps happening to me. I receive an email with a Gmail address, from a ...

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Fragments: July 6

fragments 06 Jul 2026

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Leadership Tip 27: How to Support Other People’s Growth for Better Outcomes - Johanna Rothman

This is Johanna Rothman’s June 2026 Pragmatic Manager Newsletter. The Unsubscribe link is at the bottom of this newsletter. Most of us have worked with managers who guided our careers. But managers ar...

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2026.18. Plan Confirmation Bias - Johanna Rothman

My podcast this week is from the Continual Planning book. While I do embed the podcast into this post, you might not see it. Or, you might see a black or white box, depending on whether you read direc...

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How Can We Find and Use Our Courage to Maintain Our Joy? - Create an Adaptable Life

The Tartan Army has left Boston. They are bringing their joy to other locales. The local newspaper, the Boston Globe, took out a full-page ad, thanking the Tartan Army. While I can’t find the actual a...

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How and When to Use AI to Diagnose & Avoid Common Agility Problems, Part 3 - Johanna Rothman

I started this series discussing where AI use might create bottlenecks. The more people work solo on anything, the more likely they become bottlenecks for the team. When each person works solo with AI...

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2026.17. Starting Questions for Alternative Plans - Johanna Rothman

My podcast this week is from the Continual Planning book. Enjoy! (You might not see the podcast in the frame below, depending on how you read my feed. If you see a blank space or a white box, do click...

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How Could Anyone Run Out of Beer? (A Note on the World Cup and Culture) - Create an Adaptable Life

While I manage my alcoholic intake because of my vertigo, there is nothing like a great beer at just the right time. On vacation, or on a hot summer day, especially after something active. Right now, ...

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How to Diagnose the Bottlenecks In Your Team to Reduce Cycle Time, Part 2 - Johanna Rothman

In How to Use Value Stream Maps to See Where AI Creates Bottlenecks Part 1, I described three teams that used LLMs. However, those teams only used LLMs as individuals, reinforcing resource-efficiency ...

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Quiet Stories #195

Value Stream Maps & AI Bottlenecks, Why Can’t You Agree a New Value Prop, People Who Care Are Having the Hardest Time, & more!

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How Can We Assess Risks to Solve Both Today's and Tomorrow's Problems? - Create an Adaptable Life

This is Johanna Rothman’s June 2026 Create an Adaptable Life Newsletter. The Unsubscribe link is at the bottom of this newsletter. We have no end of problems to solve or manage these days. Some proble...

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2026.16 Continual Planning Book Description, First Draft - Johanna Rothman

My podcast this week is from the Continual Planning book. This is my first draft of the description, the text that goes on the back of the book. It's a first draft because it doesn't get to the point ...

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How to Use Value Stream Maps to See Where AI Creates Bottlenecks, Part 1 - Johanna Rothman

So many people (and some teams) work under mandates to “use AI.” While I am a fan of these two functions for the current LLMs: The ability to create fast prototypes for human assessment and judgment. ...

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The Effective Public Speaking Book is Available Everywhere! - Johanna Rothman

I am so pleased to announce that my newest book, Effective Public Speaking: How to Use Content Marketing With Stories to Show Your Value, is out everywhere. If you write books or consult as part of yo...

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A Wonderful Conversation About Consulting with Nigel Rawlins - Johanna Rothman

I had a wonderful time with Nigel Rawlins on his Wisepreneur podcast: Johanna Rothman Independent Consulting: Principles That Outlast Every Trend. We had a wide-ranging conversation about many aspects...

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How Can We Acknowledge and then Manage Our Inner Critic? - Create an Adaptable Life

Most of us have some form of inner critic. That critic tells us we are Wrong. Or Stupid. Or Bad. (This includes Imposter Syndrome.) My inner critic often shows up when I’m writing. You should see the ...

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2026.15. Long Plans Offer Less Value - Johanna Rothman

My podcast this week is from the Continual Planning book. Enjoy! Note: if you read via an RSS reader, you might see a black box or white space instead of the podcast player below. If so, please click ...

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Consulting Tip 12: How to Use Value-Based Fees to Stop the "You're Too Expensive" Trap - Johanna Rothman

Have you ever negotiated a consulting proposal or a new job? If so, you might have heard the (untrue) problem that there is not enough money for your proposal or what you want for salary. There is alm...

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How Much Can You Trust an LLM to Tell You What Your Customers Want? - Johanna Rothman

Most teams want to work on something useful for customers. In the same vein, most product leaders also want to offer something useful for customers. That's how products fulfill the organization's stra...

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