I had a brief conversation with a very nice, young, new neighbor of mine last weekend. And in the course of the conversation, I asked what he did for a living and he said, and I quote, “Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And also ...
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The best way of dealing with arguments and viewpoints that are contrary to yours, and at the same time maintaining some kind of connection with the other person, is to avoid getting dragged into that polarizing debate. If you get sucked into arguing, you’ll likely accomplish nothing but a ruined ...
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Great questions get great answers. Like “Why is anything about Sean ‘P. Diddy’ Combs breaking news?” Answer: “BECAUSE PUBLIC SCHOOLS ARE UNDERFUNDED!” (I apologize for shouting but some answers are too important for lower case letters.) The world of engagement revolves around questions; questions that stakeholders have about initiatives, questions ...
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I just had my annual pilgrimage spending several days teaching a class of young, incredibly smart people who represent the future and, as usual, I learned more from them than they did from me and I left energized and hopeful. These were graduate and PhD students from several nations normally ...
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I had the honor of speaking and doing a little consulting at a conference last month with a group of highly educated and qualified scientists dealing with what is likely the most serious problem that we know facing humankind. I was the community engagement and communication guy. I felt a ...
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In almost every community engagement effort there will come a time when at least some of the people involved will need to sit down and work out the details of whatever they’ve been engaging in. Everyone’s usually worked hard to get to the point where they’re willing to have a ...
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Some of the toughest conversations that you might have right now could be around the current state of politics and the actions emanating from the White House. But the suggestions here are just as valid and useful for any hard conversation that you may find yourself facing. Confronting people with ...
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I talked with an organization that was running into growing community grumbles on one of their initiatives recently and the principal kept defending their actions by repeating her argument about their supposed “transparency.” She believed because they weren’t intentionally hiding anything, and their plans and operation were out in the ...
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When I first ran across this linked story, I felt equal amounts of recognition and frustration – reluctant resignation that the author, Robert Graboyes, is mostly right, and anger that Graboyes is mostly right. I debated even including it in this newsletter. But even though I don’t agree with everything ...
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If you’re reading this newsletter, you’re in the relationship business. You might have an engineering, science or planning background and education but eventually, your expertise needs to translate to action or acceptance by people who will be affected by and will have to live with whatever you have planned. Your ...
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