On a long hike, a couple of friends and I once decided to take a shortcut by climbing up a hill from one path to another. Having downed an espresso and believing this would save us about 15 minutes of extra walking time, up we went. As we got about halfway up the hill, the angle of the slope suddenly…
Read MoreEvery week, I hear stories about communication in organizations gone wrong. I hear about decision-makers cutting communication budgets first when times are tough, since administration and operations, financial matters, and upkeep for buildings and grounds appear more important to daily functioning. I hear about staff meetings where the results of an entire annual communication planning process get reduced to everyone…
Read MoreI have a puzzle for you to solve. You ready? It starts with one simple question: What would you say is most missing from common understandings about communication? Here’s one clue. One of the first, wonderfully illuminating classes on communication offered at the college I went to was titled, “Messages, Meaning, and Culture.” Like many courses you could take on…
Read MoreToday I was scrolling through a series of social media posts about politics. Yes, I know, I might as well down a spoonful of castor oil. But occasionally I find this an insightful activity for seeing what the digital age hath wrought on strangers’ abilities to talk to one another. Here’s a few posts I saw on a public reddit…
Read MoreAfter living for three years in Bedford, England, when I was 15 years old my family made the life altering decision to move to Corona, California. At the time, this was more than a move from one country to another. It felt like a leap between separate solar systems. Arriving in sunny Southern California, for months on end I didn’t…
Read MoreHave you ever seen a speaker oblivious to what’s happening in a room? In reading off some slides or performing some memorized bit, sometimes speakers and audiences end up in disconnected worlds. On the other hand, have you ever seen a speaker communicating with a group with high levels of rapport, interaction, and adaptations? With each word, gesture, and audience…
Read MoreOne of the top questions I get asked is how to shift the culture of a group, organization, or community. Sometimes the question arises because a team is rife with conflicts or, with much consensus, an institution is perceived as having reached the level of “toxic.” But more often than not, I hear this question because those asking it simply…
Read MoreIf you’ve sat through any of my classes or workshops, you’ll hear me say repeatedly that we’re still using forms of leadership and organization that are thousands of years old. You wouldn’t expect this of your dentist, who you’d hope is using modern and updated methods to take care of that pesky tooth in need of a filling. But when…
Read MoreThis morning as I was driving into a lane to drop my kids off at school, the car of another parent swung out from behind and cut me off. While I fully expect to see such behavior out on the open road, I was surprised that anyone would make a maneuver like this in an elementary school zone. As I…
Read MoreI’ve been playing tennis for over three decades. There’s nothing I love to do more than get out and thrash some forehands and backhands around the court with as much spin and power as I can muster (in shorter supply, as I age). Seeking to improve a singles or doubles game, a lot of us recreational tennis players will watch…
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