What’s That Odor?

I've sometimes gone into organizations and noticed something a bit off. People less than trusting in what they hear. There's a bit of a fetid ambiance and a lack of open and honest conversation as everyone is careful to watch their back. I've thought about what it is that underlies...

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Flexible and Welcoming…Inflexible and Irritating

There is a restaurant in Chestnut Hill, right on the edge of Philadelphia Pennsylvania. I've been at Paris Bistro a few times and enjoyed my visits. I was looking forward to a nice time with a friend on my last attempt to drop in. We walked in the door at...

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It Just Ain’t So

When I read a wonderful quote from Mark Twain a few days ago, my mind flashed back to my recent missive Be Curious. The quote started off the current copy of the exceptional newsletter that Paul Sloate, CEO of Green Drake Advisors, sends out regularly. Sloate is a great...

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Clear Your Brain

There is less and less quiet in the world. Sensory overload is rampant. Your attention is diverted by noise and moving pictures continually .Everywhere you go someone else's favorite music blares at you. Televisions hang on walls everywhere, sometimes with sound, sometimes with streaming words, sometimes just soundless random...

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Be Curious

So many think they know everything. They manage by ordering people around, telling them what to do, making all the decisions and expecting everyone else to carry them out. And yet, clearly there is no one who knows everything. There is not even anyone who knows everything about their specialty....

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You Are What You Do

We've all heard the stories. A famous person, senior executive, or government official says something insulting, denigrating, or just plain nasty in a fit of anger, while drunk, or while thinking there are no outsiders around. Often there's racism, sexism, homophobia, or some other hate filled speech included. You know what...

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Be All There

Be All There, or Be All Here, depending on your view of language. However you say it, notice what's going on around you, the moment to moment changes as well as the variety of more long lasting things. Hold an open mind and take it all in and avoid...

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Chameleon, Placebo, Hostility

I collect random interesting drivers of human behavior. Sometimes they give me an idea for this missive, sometimes they fit into a talk, and sometimes they are a great idea that helps me advise senior executives more effectively. Others are ideas that I'm sure will be useful for something sooner...

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