Organizational Duels

Whoever said the pen is mightier than a sword?

In a former life I spent a lot of time behind the mesh of a fencing mask.

In this week's video blog I reflect on my experiences as a competitive fencer and think how these experiences might be applied in an organizational setting.

Here are a few of the questions this two minute video tackles...

Do you see your struggles to be heard, influential and effective in your organization as duels? How often do you cross blades with opponents in your organization? Are you playing to win or have you written your own unpublished special set of rules to govern your interactions?

Over time something curious struck me…when I lifted my mask the struggles ceased

Get en garde and watch the video and then weigh in with your ideas:

Organizational Duels from Terrence Gargiulo on Vimeo.

A special thanks goes out to Serge Timacheff at FencingPhotos.com for graciously sharing the photos in the video. Be sure to check out his amazing galleries.

Last week was my son Gabriel's 7th birthday. He insisted on a fencing party. What a blast 25 kids ready to take on the world. Folks often ask me for video of my fencing. Unfortunately I really have none. Here's a little clip of Tom Lutton and I doing a fencing demo for the kids at the party. I pickup a weapon maybe once a year but for me it's like riding a bicycle. After so many years of living and breathing fencing it comes back quickly.

Here's a clip of me fencing. I'm on the right of the screen. TOUCHE!

I'll have to post later a small clip of the kids engaged in war with foam sword (aka whackers) pure delightful mayhem.