When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen. There was an old commercial … a guy would be in a room filled with people. He'd tell a friend that his E.F. Hutton broker gave him some advice. The room would go silent. Everyone hung on this person's every word. I worked with someone who was like EF Hutton*. When Mario talked, people would listen. It was mysterious. It was like magic. A room would hush while Mario spoke. I asked a colleague how Mario did this. His answer was succinct and on … [Read more...]
Get your point across – Stop killing it
August 24, 2010 by
I am a plant killer. Years ago, I had this had this palm tree sort of plant. It would turn brown. So I'd water it. I would water it really well. I wanted the plant to live … To have a green and vibrant existence. So I kept watering it. For some reason, the palm would stay brown. It got more brittle. It withered. It died. I wondered what was wrong with the plant. When I threw the plant out, I took it out of its pot. The soil fell away. It seemed void. Stripped down. I noticed … [Read more...]
Do More with Your Tomatoes
August 23, 2010 by
Years ago, I was visiting with friends. I chose to cook dinner for everyone. I was dicing tomatoes for a salad. The tomatoes were ripe. The knife was dull. I had a mess on my hands. The tomatoes crushed under the force of the dull blade. My tomatoes did not obey me. They did not follow along with the plan! Rather than becoming neat little cubes, they became a collection of crushed and bruised pieces. I was frustrated. I'm sure the tomatoes were frustrated. The tomatoes weren't … [Read more...]
Communicating is a Hard Skill
August 22, 2010 by
Communicating is hard. Yet it is called a soft skill. It's easy to over communicate. It's easy to under communicate. It's hard to communicate. Rather, it's hard to communicate effectively. Communicating effectively comes down to succeeding at a single goal: Make A Point - Transfer an idea from one brain to another in a way that creates common understanding Multi-million dollar projects fail because communicating effectively is hard. Employee morale plummets because communicating … [Read more...]
