MSI Press Blog

  You can learn from anyone- and everyone. As a leader, you see only the top layer of things and upward. You are the part of the iceberg that is visible, but what keeps you afloat is what is underneath.  When I first come as a new leader to an organization, I spend a lot of time in management by walking about (actionable listening activities, such as the Reverse Evaluation will spring from that but not first). I need to understand more of what is holding me up -- or not).  I almost always start with the cleaning crew; I make friends with them, a collegial relationship that becomes long-term and daily. If there are problems they see that I do not, they quickly bring them to my attention without hesitation. Learning from a cleaning crew, janitors, security guards keeps the iceberg from melting, keeps your head peeking over the top afloat.  The head of security at one installation and I developed a very close collegial relationship, and he helped me with things, like a ...

    Recently, An Afternoon's Dictation (Greenebaum), reached #296 on the Amazon bestseller list of books in ecumenism Christian theology. The book has been on bestseller lists many times.  Book Description:  In 1999 Steven Greenebaum felt he'd hit the wall. Fifty years old, he could not make sense of his life or the world around him. For several months he angrily demanded answers from God, if God were there. One afternoon, an inner voice told him to get a pen and paper and write. Steven then took dictation - three pages, not of commandments but guidance for leading a meaningful life.   An Afternoon's Dictation grapples with, organizes, and deeply explores the revelations Steven received and then studied for over ten years. His sharing is NOT offered as the only possible way to understand it the dictation. It is offered, rather, as a start. The book's sections include deep explorations into "The Call to Interfaith," "The Call to Love One Another," ...

  How Fear Turns Neighbors into Enemies One of the most corrosive legacies of the Civil War was not the battlefield carnage but the psychological aftermath: the belief that the “other side” was not simply wrong, but dangerous. Once a group is seen as a threat to the nation’s moral fabric, ordinary people begin to justify extraordinary hostility. We are seeing a modern version of that dynamic today. Political opponents are no longer just people with different ideas; they are framed as existential threats. Social media amplifies this instinct, rewarding outrage and suspicion. News outlets, influencers, and online communities reinforce the idea that the other side is plotting, scheming, destroying — always in the shadows, always with malicious intent. This demonization has consequences. It makes dialogue feel unsafe. It turns disagreement into moral combat. It encourages people to interpret every action through the lens of threat. And once a society begins to see its own citizens as e...

  Most authors love the idea of having a “niche.” It sounds focused, intentional, even strategic. But when we talk about a small niche — especially on Amazon — we’re talking about something very different. A small niche is not just a topic with a narrow audience. It is a topic with very little traffic , very few daily sales , and very low algorithmic activity . And that reality affects everything: rankings, visibility, expectations, and what “success” looks like. Let’s break down what authors need to know. 1. What a Small Niche Actually Is A small niche on Amazon is a category where: Very few books sell each day Many books sell nothing on most days A handful of downloads (even free ones) can move rankings dramatically The category has low competition because it has low demand This is not a judgment about the value of the topic. It’s simply the math of the marketplace. A niche can be small because it is: Highly specialized (e.g., “Chr...