Sometimes communicating can be complicated and torturous because you don’t realize you’re talking about two things at once. For example, you’re having an ongoing heated conversation with a colleague about whether you should do the sales dinner in … [Read more...] about Untangling
Inch along
Communicating complex concepts to people who may not want to hear them is tough. See last week’s post for great advice from Neil deGrasse Tyson on that. It can be just as hard to communicate complex material to people who do want to hear it. How … [Read more...] about Inch along
It’s complicated
People ask me all the time how to communicate complex issues to people they must persuade – like their bosses, juries, etc. It’s always challenging to communicate to an audience who has limited attention and perhaps less intellectual horsepower than … [Read more...] about It’s complicated
Creating a culture
June is Debugging Teams month on poseyblog. In this great book written to help engineers and other creators build soft skills, Brian Fitzpatrick and Ben Collins-Sussman spend a lot of time on creating and maintaining a culture. Fitz and Ben say, … [Read more...] about Creating a culture
Read Debugging Teams!
My new favorite book is Debugging Teams by Brian Fitzpatrick and Ben Collins-Sussman, two engineers who are deeply converted to the importance of communication and collaboration. Here’s their opening epigram, from Bill Coughran: “Engineering is easy. … [Read more...] about Read Debugging Teams!
Be a human.
You are a person who is motivated by strong core values. You are a person who’s so deeply interested in something that you’ve immersed yourself in it for years. You are a person who’s been through triumphs and mistakes like everyone else who’s alive. … [Read more...] about Be a human.
You can control one thing in a media interview
“Focusing exclusively on what is in our power magnifies and enhances our power,” says Ryan Holiday in The Obstacle is the Way. This isn’t just great advice for business strategy! This is great advice for media interviews! When you sit down with … [Read more...] about You can control one thing in a media interview
Get narrow!
“Focusing exclusively on what is in our power magnifies and enhances our power,” says Ryan Holiday in The Obstacle is the Way. This is great advice in times of real difficulty. It’s also great advice just for planning your business, your life, … [Read more...] about Get narrow!
What to do when things get sticky
Sometimes, even if you’re a lovely person, even if you have best of intentions, things go awry. Communicating helps you create great things. But when communication breaks down, the way out can seem impossible to find. Kerry Patterson, Joseph … [Read more...] about What to do when things get sticky
Innovation occurs elsewhere
Joy's law, attributed to Bill Joy, co-founder of Sun Microsystems, is this: "No matter who you are, most of the smartest people work for someone else.” The short version is more elegant: “Innovation occurs elsewhere.” There are great people making … [Read more...] about Innovation occurs elsewhere
