Ego is a Monster
Our courses on outrage spend time differentiating among true outrage, self interest and ego. Ego is one monster requiring special care. Here’s one mediator’s solution....
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Behavioral Science
You’re Odd
And by you I mean we – we’re all human, different, and irrational sometimes. And most of the time we have to operate in a (alleged) rational, objective, fact-based world. The world of our humanness and the world of reason frequently clash, which can make it tough to work with ...
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Being Soft is Hard
The world and working in it will continue to evolve at an astonishing pace with technology growth and artificial intelligence (AI). Oxford economics says that 47% of today’s jobs will be gone in 10 years. And that means that essential skills – empathy, communication, speaking, decision-making and good judgement – will ...
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Trusting Strangers
In spite of what Mom said, I frequently ride in cars with strangers. I travel a lot so I’ve come to rely on and trust Lyft and Uber. Now, normally I’m not a very good passenger – I much prefer to be the one driving. But I’ve become comfortable with ...
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I Can Explain It To You But I Can’t Understand It For You
The title above is one of those cute, arrogant bumper sticker quips that people sometimes wish they could say to a difficult person they’re dealing with. Dumbing it down is a term that you hear from a lot of professionals describing the same basic process of reluctantly simplifying something complex ...
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Humor is a Funny Thing
The United States is in a bad mood. I was talking with a group of smart people recently who agreed that there’s a general sense of malaise these days. I’m not suggesting there isn’t good reason for it, but we’re taking inconsequential things and ourselves pretty seriously these days – ...
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We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This
Running better gatherings of people is an exercise in understanding human behavior. Here are the simple basics....
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Let’s Talk About Me, Me Me
You either already are, or will be, dealing with true-blue narcissists, those folks who are … shall we say … unnaturally fond of themselves. Here are some thoughts for you....
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Why You Hate Those People
I really dislike the Bears, Lions and Vikings. People and the groups we belong to don’t like other people and groups who aren’t like us. This can bloom into hate. Science says, in part, it’s biology, and we can learn to believe differently....
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There’s One Thing That You Want People to Remember
Ellen Degeneres, the comedienne and talk show host, regularly uses the line – and titled her book, My point…and I do have one. The point here is to get to the point. In speaking, presenting or facilitating any group of people, decide the single, simplest point that you need ...
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