Category: Uncategorized

  • The power of distraction: Another lesson intransigent toddlers can teach us about intransigent colleagues

    Last week’s post discussed an important work lesson we can learn from toddlers: the power of why. Briefly, we often learn a lot by asking “why” of those who oppose us. This week, I’ll discuss another critical work lesson from toddlers: the power of distraction. Briefly, we often have to deal with colleagues who don’t…

  • The power of why: What intransigent toddlers can teach us about intransigent colleagues

    Our organizational colleagues and toddlers often have one thing in common: they seem opposed to whatever we support. Whether they “won’t back that idea” or “won’t eat that macaroni,” their intransigence is one in the same. By learning to deal with stubborn toddlers, then, we can also learn to deal with stubborn colleagues. In a…

  • The key to a stress-free Thanksgiving: Celebrating our differences

    My last post suggested that we’re often so concerned about (cultural) differences that we fail to negotiate decisively. In a word, it highlighted a hidden cost of an excess focus on diversity. This week, I think it’s appropriate to sing the praises of diversity (of a different kind, for a different reason): It is differences—not…