I 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 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 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…
Read More“To be playful is not to be trivial or frivolous, or to act as if nothing of consequence will happen. On the contrary, when we are playful with one another, we relate as free persons, and the relationship is open to surprise; everything that happens is of consequence, for seriousness is a dread of the unpredictable outcomes of open possibility….
Read MoreOut today in The Fulcrum, former elected official Joey Novick and I write that every political candidate and public figure needs improv training. Why? Here’s an excerpt from our article: “The term ‘improv’ can bring up many different associations, so it’s important to clarify exactly what we mean here. In the political world, we see two extremes that continue to…
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