Reading Time: < 1 min I never considered the difference between a “mystery” and a “puzzle”, but Mónica Guzmán laid it out nicely in her book “I Never Thought of It That Way“. She said: “People are mysteries, not puzzles. This means we can never be sure about them. But we can always be curious.” This sparks a few thoughts […]
Empathy
They probably don’t remember your name
Reading Time: < 1 min Kevin Kelly’s book “Excellent Advice for Living” gives a lot of small pieces of advice, and I really liked this one: Assume no one remembers names. As a courtesy reintroduce yourself by name even to those you have previously met: “Hi, I’m Kevin.” I like to take it from both sides. First, as you may […]
What am I missing?
Reading Time: < 1 min I’m constantly on the lookout for what I might be missing. I shared some of these fears a few years ago and how it related to game shows, but I think it’s largely part of being an Enneagram 5 — I feel the need to know all of the answers to all of things, and […]
The Curse of Knowledge
Reading Time: 2 min In reading Jonah Berger’s book “Magic Words“, he shared some thoughts on “The Curse of Knowledge” and how it can impact the ways that you communicate with others. In his words: This curse has a name, and appropriately, it is called the curse of knowledge. It’s a curse because the more we know, the more […]
Those other people will do lasting harm to our country
Reading Time: < 1 min I certainly have many convictions when it comes to political issues, but I try hard to see the “other” side as human — because they are! It’s difficult at times, but it’s something I try to be aware of. Some people don’t think that way, and keep more of an “I’m 100% right and you’re […]
Transparency isn’t the same as honesty
Reading Time: < 1 min It’s always felt to me that being transparent was a big part of being honest. It can be, but they aren’t the same thing. In his book “Lost and Founder“, author Rand Fishkin explains it this way: Transparency isn’t the same as honesty. Honesty is saying only things that are true. Many founders and startup […]
Empathetic Marketing
Reading Time: 3 min The single best thing you can do with your marketing is to always keep the end user in mind. When we build websites for our customers, we frequently remind them that the site is not for them — it’s for their customers. A common joke among web designers is that clients always seem to want […]
Why do they disagree with you?
Reading Time: < 1 min Through the course of your life you’ll encounter many people that disagree with you. They might not like your political party, your car, your mobile phone, your religion, or any number of other things. Why? If done in the right spirit, it can be useful for both parties if you ask and find out. Going […]
We all have biases
Reading Time: < 1 min If you’ve followed my writing much over the past few years, you’ll know that a big push of mine has been to see situations from all sides and remove as much bias as possible from my thinking. I feel I’m making solid improvements, but it’s not the kind of journey that you ever finish — […]
The people in this room aren’t all the same
Reading Time: 2 min Earlier this year I was at a business event, and the main speaker was a local congressman. As this man generally does, he made plenty of cracks about people “the other party” during his talk, assuming everyone in the room was on the same page as him. They were not. Granted, probably 2/3 of the […]