Word of the Year for 2026

Choosing a word of the year has become one of my favourite rituals. It’s far more grounding—and frankly, more inspiring—than any traditional New Year’s resolution I’ve ever made. If you scroll back through past posts, you’ll find the words that have guided me in previous years.

I’ve experimented with all kinds of ways to land on my word. Sometimes I try to catch the feeling that shows up as the year turns. Other times I ask friends for ideas or reflect on the big areas of life: family, friendships, finances, work, health. Eventually, I sit with the possibilities long enough for one word to rise to the surface. It always does.

For 2026, the word that found me is NOW.

I spend a lot of time in my head—often replaying the past or fast‑forwarding into the future. This year’s word is a gentle nudge to stay present and savour what’s right in front of me. I’ve heard it described as “being where your feet are,” and that feels exactly right.

It’s also a reminder that every change, opportunity, or improvement I want in the future begins with a single action taken in the present. Momentum starts in the now.

So, welcome to 2026. Let’s begin.

Creeping Determinism: Why We’re All Smarter After the Fact

If you’ve ever watched a sports replay and thought, “Well, of course they lost — the signs were obvious,” you’ve experienced what Malcolm Gladwell calls creeping determinism in his book What the Dog Saw. It’s the idea that once we know how something turned out, we convince ourselves it was inevitable all along.

The problem? It wasn’t inevitable. It just feels that way in hindsight.

The Hindsight Trap

Creeping determinism is basically hindsight bias with a twist. After an event, we look back and say, “It had to happen this way.” The market crash, the product flop, the hiring mistake — all of it seems predictable once we know the ending.

But before the outcome? Things were messy, uncertain, and full of competing possibilities. We forget that. Our brains rewrite the story so it feels neat and obvious.

Why It Matters in Business

In organizations, creeping determinism can be dangerous. Here’s why:

• It punishes risk‑taking. If every failed experiment looks “obvious” in hindsight, people stop trying new things.
• It distorts learning. Instead of asking “What could we have done differently?” we say “We should have known better.” That shuts down curiosity.
• It fuels blame. Leaders and teams start pointing fingers instead of acknowledging that uncertainty is part of the game.

 How to Push Back

So how do you fight creeping determinism? A few practical moves:

1. Document decisions in the moment. Write down what you knew, what you didn’t, and why you chose the path you did. Later, you’ll have a record that shows the uncertainty was real.
2. Normalize uncertainty. Remind your team that not every outcome can be forecast. Sometimes you make the best call with the data you have, and that’s enough.
3. Focus on process, not just results. A good decision can still lead to a bad outcome. Judge the quality of the thinking, not just the scoreboard.
4. Celebrate smart risks. Even if they don’t pan out, reward the courage to try. That’s how innovation happens.

The Takeaway

Creeping determinism makes us feel like prophets after the fact, but it’s a trick of the mind. The truth is, the future is always uncertain until it becomes the past.

Gladwell’s point is that leaders need to resist the urge to rewrite history. Instead, embrace the messiness of decision‑making. That’s where growth, resilience, and real learning live.

So the next time you catch yourself saying, “We should have seen it coming,” pause. Maybe you couldn’t have. And that’s okay.

If you know me, you know I am all about the task and the schedule - but sometimes the smartest move is to step away from the screen. Enter fika, Sweden’s beloved coffee-and-pastry ritual that’s equal parts caffeine, connection, and calm.

Fika (pronounced fee-ka) isn’t just a coffee break—it’s a mindset. It’s the art of pressing pause, gathering with others, and maybe savoring something sweet while you actually talk to each other. In Sweden, it’s built into the workday. And yes—it works beautifully for remote teams, too.

In a virtual world, fika can be as simple as scheduling a 15‑minute video call with no agenda except to chat over coffee. Cameras on, email closed, snacks encouraged. It’s a chance to connect as humans, not just as names in a chat window. The result? Stronger relationships, fresher ideas, and fewer “Zoom fatigue” yawns.

You don’t need a cinnamon bun the size of your head to make remote fika work. A cup of tea, a cookie, and a genuine conversation can do wonders for morale. It’s about creating space for connection—because when people feel seen and heard, they do their best work.

So tomorrow, try scheduling a virtual fika. Step away from the to‑do list, invite a colleague, and see how a little Swedish wisdom can make your remote day more productive—and a lot more pleasant.

I truly feel like I am a moderate in  all facets of life. If you ask me, I am most likely to say I am a realist. I have a couple of friends who are optimists and I admire how they seem so effortlessly are positive and hopeful. I can get to their position, but it requires a bit of effort.glass half full

I was recently listening to a Simon Sinek podcast and l learned the concept of strategic optimism and defensive pessimism. Strategic optimism is setting the bar high, and having the expectation that you will live into that expectation. “I am going to ace that test!” In comparison defensive pessimism sets low expectations and rehearses various negative situations.

Externally I am a strategic optimist. I absolutely believe my friends, or my family are going to knock their gig out of the park. But full disclosure – internally I am a catastrophizer and a planner to the core. I think through all the worst-case scenarios and plan out responses – plan A, Plan D, plan F. I do this – or I tell myself I do this to be prepared for the worst, and anything better then becomes a win. I guess this makes me a hard-core defensive pessimist.

The Conference Board of Canada is now producing several podcast series that I subscribe to. The title of a podcast, Upskilling and Reskilling Mid-Career Workers, caught my eye – actually, it irked me a bit if truth be told – so I tuned in.

The interview included information on studies have been done on  the skills that will be needed in the future but also in the investment in training and education of mid-career workers and also how to best bridge the gap.

The researchers shared 4 skill areas that will be in high need going forward – they deemed these to be future-proof skills. The four areas are:

1. Human Experience Skills – This skill area is related to high emotional intelligence, and an ability to understand, relate and provide good customer experiences.
2. Re-imagination Skills – This skill area is about the ability to think creatively and to have an innovative nature to bring ideas to life.
3. Pivoting Skills – This skill area was around change and included having learning agility and a desire to learn new things.
4. Digital and Data Acumen – This skill is related to the ability to use data to draw insights as well as the ability to use and learn new technologies

As a mid-career professional this is useful information to consider as I invest my time and money in professional development opportunities.

As a mom this is valuable information to ensure the Toad is well prepared as he enters the workforce in the next five years.

Do you remember the days when placing a phone call meant speaking directly to an operator? "Hello operator, I would like to call [name] at [number]." It was a time when human connection was at the heart of communication. While I may not be that old, I do recall the era of "party lines," where multiple households shared the same telephone line. If someone was already using the line, you'd have to wait your turn. And, if you were quiet enough, you might overhear your neighbors' conversations.

But why am I reminiscing about telephone operators? Lately, I've been reflecting on how often people reach out to me to "plug them in"—to connect them with a person, a document, or a project from the past. "LM, I need to do [task], but I don't know who to talk to about that. Do you know who I should call?" Or, "LM, do you remember who did the signage on the project 10 years ago?"

These requests highlight a growing concern: the loss of organizational knowledge. In my day job, I've been with my employer for 25 years, navigating through about 12 different roles and countless projects. Over time, I've become a historian within the system.

This phenomenon is known as "corporate amnesia"—the gradual loss of shared knowledge and experience within an organization. It's a condition that many businesses face, especial ly as employees retire, transition, or move on. The consequences are far-reaching:(en.wikipedia.org)

• Inefficiency: Reinventing the wheel because valuable insights are lost.
• Increased Costs: 
• 
  Spending more time and resources to rediscover information that was once readily available.
• Decreased Innovation: Lack of historical context can stifle creativity and problem-solving.
• Operational Disruption: Sudden departures can leave gaps that disrupt workflows and decision-making.(fastcompany.com)

In a world that's rapidly evolving, it's crucial to remember and learn from our history. By doing so, we can build stronger, more resilient organizations that honour their past while innovating for the future.

I had the occasion to review my resume recently. I actually try and do it every six months to ensure I capture updates in real time. I have operated Tree Toad Consulting for 6 years now, but I also have a full-time job and have been with the same employer for 24 years. When I went back over my employment I have held 12 different positions in the organization over that time. Some of the positions I applied for and others I was seconded to or restructured into. Those 12 roles ranging from construction, finance, program development, business model restructuring, organization development with engagement, facilitation and leadership training and more, each have projects and accomplishments.

I always say that I am purposefully a generalist as it best suits my personality to learn new things, to be exposed to new environments and to be in service to the people I work for and with. As I was revisiting all the different roles and projects I suddenly thought – “I am not just a generalist, OMG I am a Swiss army knife!”

I thrive on organization systems. In a corner of my kitchen, you'll find my command center complete with three calendars adorning the fridge—two paper and one digital on Outlook.

Despite my knack for organization, I must admit, corralling the myriad of wisdom nuggets, info bites, and future post ideas remains a challenge. Social media feeds, books (both physical and digital), podcasts, and news feeds offer a wealth of information in diverse formats. Here's my quandary:

To save information, I resort to emailing myself links or screenshots, but alas, I end up with an unsorted email pile. As a result, I often struggle to retrace the initial spark that prompted me to save the information in the first place. Frustrating, right? Without a proper organization system, my brilliant ideas seem to elude me just when I need them most.

Attempting to capture ideas in a small notebook and on sticky notes has been no more successful leading to the same chaotic end as my emails. Ugh.

So, what's your secret to organizing information and ideas? How do you handle this conundrum?

This week I had my skills acknowledged in a new way. My name was put forward for an assignment because I could “bird dog” the issue. My colleague and I had quite a chuckle googling the term and sharing images of hunting dogs and yoga poses. (This image is Dennis my favourite bird dog and my favourite Toad!)

The Oxford Dictionary defines the verb bird-dogging as “search out or pursue with dogged determination”. I think that is a pretty fair description of my skills and work ethic. I do like mining data and information from across a system, research comparative information with a broad lens and then integrating data and ideas towards actions or solutions. My generalist foundation supports information being bridged between disparate industries or jurisdictions. I do not consider myself visionary, but I am a pretty good puzzler. (just not jigsaw puzzles – they drive me crazy!)

Bird-dogger is now my second favourite unorthodox description of my work. The first? “She gets sh*t done!”