LEAP UPDATES
Knowledge has to be improved, challenged, and increased constantly, or it vanishes. 
--Peter Drucker
Welcome to the archive of monthly Leap Updates from Mario Morino and Lowell Weiss. The final Leap Update was published in March of 2022.
With Gratitude and Much Good Luck
Editor’s note: Listen to the audio version of this column. This issue of Leap Update closes a wonderful 11-year run for Lowell and me in writing this monthly newsletter. This decision is part of my bigger life decision as I’m currently scaling back and then likely refocusing the work I’ve done in the social sector…
A Devastating Indictment
In the 1980s, when Lowell was a teenager in the Maryland suburbs, he did a dumb thing and got himself into trouble with the law. Late one evening, he and a friend snuck onto a canal barge in Rock Creek National Park. They got busted by two federal policemen on a charge that carried a…
Even the Highest Performers Are in Triage Mode
Over the holidays, which were snowy and slow in our home towns of Cleveland and Seattle, we had plenty of time for reading. We read one book in common: Voices from the Pandemic by the Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Eli Saslow. We’re both fans of Saslow’s writing, based on our admiration for his book Rising Out…
Lemonade
This is the time of year when we write out our respective New Year’s resolutions. We often make modest resolutions, because we know that we humans are just not wired for making big life changes. But behavioral science has shown that there’s one exception to this rule: We’re pretty good at making significant personal change…
New Signs of Evolution in the ‘Galapagos’
Foundations are among the least responsive institutions in America. Even foundations that focus on sparking positive behavior changes in others (e.g., giving up smoking or eating a healthier diet) are remarkably good at resisting change themselves. As thought leaders Tom Tierney and Joel Fleishman wrote in their book Give Smart, “The absence of external accountability…
Quotes From Leaders Like You
“Managing to outcomes is not about simply counting things or gathering information. And it is not about satisfying funders. It is an internal effort aimed at figuring out what works and what doesn’t, so that the organization can provide the best possible services to its clients”
“You have to have undying passion for the population you’re serving. We can spend time patting ourselves on the back for the 85 percent of the kids who are doing really well in our program. But we need to be as concerned about the 15 percent who aren’t succeeding and learn how we can improve for them.”
“Through a process of self-reflection, our board members asked themselves fundamental questions: How can we improve? How can we make a greater impact?”
“Every day, you have to say, ’How can we do this more efficiently and more effectively?’ It’s in our DNA.”
“Any school in the country can do this. And it breaks my heart that we’re not [all] doing this!”
“Stories substituting for facts is like fingernails on a chalkboard for me!”
“You’re taking someone else’s money to get into somebody else’s life to try to make a difference. You better be showing you can make a difference!”