The Participation Blog

Still Conflicted about Conflict?

Princess Diana once said, “You can’t comfort the afflicted without afflicting the comfortable.” We afflict a lot of clients. I mean that most clients hate conflict and avoid it any way they can and they often hire us hoping we’ll just make their problems magically go away. But, like most ...
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I Like Washing Dishes

This might sound weird, but I’ve always liked washing dishes by hand. I worked as a dishwasher and busboy at a local fancy restaurant in high school and I liked the dishwashing part more than bussing. I know that machines are more water efficient and I use mine all the ...
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People Still Don’t Trust You

The Annenberg Public Policy Center released a poll showing that just 71% of Americans think approved vaccines are safe – down 6% since April 2021. Just 63% think the COVID-19 vaccine is safer than getting COVID – a decline from 75% in 2021. This in spite of the fact that ...
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Anger Fixes Problems

Public anger is a fact of life in America today and most of those who work with the public are fully aware of that. We teach those people how to effectively engage with communities and deal with omnipresent opposition and anger. It’s often assumed that anger is a bad thing ...
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Let Me Be Brief

I can’t think of a better argument for brevity and quality than one that’s been around for more than a century and a half. Those of us who went to school when “civics” (or something like it) was a thing probably learned at least parts of Lincoln’s Gettysburg address. Delivered ...
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