From Harvard Business Review, Alison Wood Brooks discusses her research on how performing a ritual before a stressful task improves performance. Alison writes: In a series of experiments, I investigated this question with Juliana Schroeder, Jane Risen, Francesca Gino, Adam Galinsky, Michael Norton, and Maurice Schweitzer. We tested whether pre-performance rituals can improve performance by reducing…
About 30 years ago, I took at course on securities law at Boston University School of Law. I don’t remember the professor’s and remember very little about the course, one of the things that stuck with me over the years are the seven forms of argument. The professor said that there were seven…
From the Harvard Business Review, Christopher Germer describes the importance of self-compassion to help you recover from failure. I once interviewed a woman who had gotten fired from her previous job. She told me that after that she couldn’t get out of bed for a month. Aside from not making a good impression in a job…
From Fast Company, Lydia Dishman discusses the question about whether it is better to fit in or stick out if you want to get ahead. I’m reminded of Jeffrey Pfeffer’s observation of that quote “the nail that sticks up gets hammered down” was not good career advice. Lydia shares new research that seems to modify…
From the Wall Street Journal, Elizabeth Berstein shares research that shows that men who are good storytellers are more appealing. She also offers recommendations for couples to continue to tell stories to continue to bond including setting aside story time, telling stories of “firsts”, and telling stories of the past, present, and future. But…
From HBR.org, Peter Gruber, in a terrific article, outlines the four truths of a story teller. Peter says the four truths are: Truth to the Teller — what a storyteller says must be consistent in their heart and mind Truth to the Audience — the storyteller has to understand and recognize and what the…
From FastCompany, Paula Davis-Laack discusses how she taught resilience to Army drill sargeants. She based her training on the work of Dr. Martin Seligman who identified three pillars of resilience: personalization, permanence and pervasiveness. Paula writes: Your resilience grows when you focus on developing specific skills in the following three categories: thinking differently, connecting…
From Harvard Business Review, Jonathan Gottschall discusses the power of storytelling and what happens when a story is used to manipulate. Jonathan writes: Humanity’s strange, ardent love affair with story has always fascinated me. To explore our enthrallment and explain the science behind it, I wrote a book – The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human. The book…
From Fast Company, Chris Anderson discusses the importance of having one overall message – a “through-line”– for a presentation. Chris writes: WHAT’S YOUR “THROUGH-LINE”? The number-one reason for this tragedy is that the speaker never had a proper plan for the talk as a whole. The talk may have been planned bullet point by bullet point,…
From Fast Company, Stephanie Vozza discusses the importance of expressing gratitude in the workplace. Not only does gratitude have benefits in the workplace but being grateful also improves your own happiness (see New Neuroscience Reveals 4 Rituals That Will Make You Happy). You should express gratitude for your own sake and because it strengthens teams…
From the Review, Elie Halfacre shares her observations from a lecture by Angela Duckworth. Ellie writes: Over the course of her career, she has advised the White House and Fortune 500 companies on what makes a person “gritty.” Gritty people strive for completion in their endeavors, and they show resilience in the face of adversity. Effort…