Finding Clarity in an Ambiguous World
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The Cloud of Outrage
He was yelling into his phone in the late evening. “You think I’m just going to take this?!” Ann and I emerged from our apartment and saw this man on the way to our car. Something about coming across someone on a cellphone connecting violently with another person struck me. This is exactly how I…
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Micromanaging Destroys Initiative
Control is the opposite of trust. This is a challenge for managers who believe they have the clarity to see the right decision for those they manage, yet see their employees going the “wrong” direction. Often they decide to use their control to influence the situation, robbing others the chance to learn from experience and…
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Judging a Book by Its Cover
I chuckled when this picture was sent to me. The depiction seems obvious and shocking from the perspective of a first grader. I really laughed though when I read the story that went along with it… A first grade girl handed in the drawing below for her homework assignment. The teacher graded it and the…
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The Anti-Example
I remember thinking, “If I say this, it will be really obnoxious.” And then saying it. This adolescent stage lasted until I turned 16. I remember distinctly when it ended because at the same time my brother turned 12, entering this same stage. Faced with his new-found obnoxiousness, I realized just how annoying I was…
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Adapting to Life
Waiting for a bus, you’re reading the newspaper. There was a tragic accident where the driver became paralyzed. Horrified, you anxiously read the next article about a mechanic who just one the lottery. Your friend sitting next to you says, “I’ll bet you $100 that two years from now, the two of them will be…
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Making Abstractions Concrete
Ever read something and found your mind go numb? Was it your company’s vision statement? Most vision statements are worthless. Not because they don’t try to establish a lofty idea of what the company desires to become, but rather because they are filled with abstractions. Much of our communication has be become so filled with…
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The Objects of Fear
I am not afraid of waking up to a stranger standing over my bed at night. While working out, the TV had a closed caption news report on the concealed carry permits in Phoenix. They showed the training that people go through as well as several with permits as well as interviews with several of…
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The Fat Shoes
Sometimes even the best laid plans backfire in ways that we don’t expect. It’s easy to think we should charge for everything of value we provide, but trying to extract the last penny can cost us the entire sale. This is one such story. We were shopping in Mexico and went to a Skecher’s shoe…
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Paying the Cost Today
If I say this, then she is just going to say this. If I don’t say it though… We all have this type of internal conversation — simulating future possible events and speculating on their outcome. It’s one of the many things that distinguish us as humans. We simulate what the future might look like,…
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Meta Conversations
“I don’t think I could ever love you, but I want to be friends that touch.” One of my friends was told this when she asked her German boyfriend to be brutally honest. Brutal honesty to an American means something different than brutal honesty to a German. Communication is tough. Even when we speak the…
Got any book recommendations?