Feels like most of us forgot how to actually debate each other
“Won’t somebody think of the children?!?!?!?” But honestly, we need to model arguing and debate better. Continue Reading
Conversation
The familial vs. broader society disconnect
How we make decisions with our families and how we want to be seen when posting online are often very, very different. Continue Reading
How to make conversation: A semi-informative guide
It’s not really about slinging business cards around or dressing down your employees. It’s more like a game of catch. (And also: it blows up the idea of professionalism.) Continue Reading
Difficult conversations at work: A how-to
The sheer fact of the matter is … most managers are uncomfortable talking to their employees. It’s been proven time and time again in research. As a result, difficult conversations are going to happen. How do you manage them? Continue Reading
Paraphrasing should be a part of your Thanksgiving
Here’s the deal: Thanksgiving can be an emotionally-misguided time. Drama emerges, things are said, etc, etc. We’ve all been there. (I honestly think it’s either that or small talk. There’s no middle ground.) Can it be avoided? Sure. You can… Continue Reading
Brief thought exercise: what percentage of conversation in a given day is transactional/small talk?
Last night I was in this class, and there were eight full-time faculty members in the class to evaluate some presentations we had done, and prior to the class actually commencing there was pizza and much merriment (and some nerves… Continue Reading
On Eli Pariser and the algorithm bubble
Eli Pariser, who’s currently the chief executive of Upworthy, wrote a book in 2011 called The Filter Bubble. A nine-minute TED Talk on many of the same topics is embedded above, but essentially, the idea is that personalized search — i.e. the… Continue Reading
A semi-definitive guide to Thanksgiving conversational opportunities and small talk
Let’s be pretty honest about this: in the next 36 hours or so, you will either be asked, be adjacent to someone being asked, or do the asking of this question: “So, how was the trip?” I find this more interesting now… Continue Reading