Exactly. Maybe all those weirdos you met in life weren’t weird? Maybe you just didn’t understand them? Maybe you didn’t consider how they arrived at a different point to you? Maybe being blindly convinced that you’re ‘normal’ and then calling people you can’t be bothered to understand “weird” is really weird? Or maybe I just …
…don’t think alike. They challenge each other to think again. Intellectual chemistry occurs not when you both agree but when you enjoy disagreeing and then work together to get it right rather than be right. “Even if I don’t like it, what parts of what they’re saying could be right? And in which situations?” is …
People tell me they struggle to know what questions to ask when meeting people, switching on curiosity, seeking to understand, helping others to think, solving problems, making buying decisions, or when simply learning something. This can get you started. Use the 7 W’s: Keep repeating those in your head. I have them at my fingertips. …
So many arguments grow because of differing definitions of words or terms. (See Layne’s Law). If you’re arguing, pause to ask and understand how the other person describes specific words or terms you’ve used. Then describe how you see that word. Then, pick things up from the new understanding, not the word. You might find …
The easiest way to ride a horse is in the direction it’s already going. Then, with all resistance dropped for a while, it begins to let you turn it. And the same applies to conversations with people.
I heard someone say that it’s a shortcoming to be focused on truth and accuracy. That’s just not true, they’re wrong. P.S. The accurate truth is that many situations need truth and accuracy. Not pedants, but people shining a light on what’s real, so that we all have a chance. The growing mass of people …
Want to see how you might look through the eyes of someone else? Here are two ways to get closer to this: 1. What values of theirs do you admire? They probably notice and admire the same in you. 2. What do you not like so much about them? Take the opposite of that. Go …
There are two types of value: I rhymed them intentionally to help recall, because they’re worth recalling. If you just provide the value people request, you’re leaving an awful lot of value on the table. Because all of us can only see so far. You provide more value and become more valuable when you also …
I’m often asked by clients which of their current employees should be selling or engaging customers. There are numerous traits that suggest someone could ‘sell’, or be a strong leader (because the two roles are similar). But I’ve boiled down my top three: 1. They have strong ‘belief in cause’ 2. They’re credible in front …
You can’t help the hand you’re dealt. But you can help how you play those cards. And here’s what most people miss: you don’t have to play the cards you’ve got! People overlook this, using only what thinking or options come naturally to mind. But you now know that you can always pickup from the …
