Every relationship – from an intimate friendship to a transaction at an airport ticket counter – contains moments when everything can change.
The First Rule of Storytelling
Most people suck at telling stories, and most stories are long, rambling and pointless. So don’t tell another one of those.
TL;DR
So here we are: a culture of people with paltry attention spans who must somehow get along with people who take too long to get to the point.
Is “House of Cards” Running a Morality Experiment?
Some classic thought experiments in morality, empathy and decision-making have been replicated in the Netflix hit series “House of Cards.” For those who watch the show it is a unique opportunity for reflection: How far is too far when it comes to immoral acts? And where is the line between discomfort and repugnance in our […]
Defeating the Lone Wolf
One of the greatest maladies an emerging leader must overcome is something we jokingly call “Lone Wolf Syndrome.” You can see this in leaders who try to achieve their goals without assistance, who are overly protective of their work, who don’t share credit and who fail to delegate. This operating style has a high cost. […]
Cognitive Science and Storytelling
One of my inspirations for The Narrative Leader was the connection I began to see between cognitive science and storytelling. Cognitive science seemed to explain some of the biggest mysteries about stories: Why do we build our lives around stories? What makes some stories more compelling than others? Why do some stories work better than […]
Thought Experiment of the Month
What is a Thought Experiment? A thought experiment is a set of circumstances – usually fictional – that are setup in such a way that we can think through a concept or problem. It is a scenario offered for consideration, to prove a point or explore a basic principle. Thought experiments are employed in a […]
Lying to Panasonic
This is a story about lying. It is also a story about the lengths people will go to when they can’t get the information they need. It was time for me to purchase a new set of cordless phones for my home office. My needs were simple: I needed a handset that had both a […]
Where Am I?
The biggest problem with stories, especially the ones we tell and listen to every day, is that they are too often… well… boring. When someone begins sharing a story we begin listening with every intention of being a supportive friend, spouse, co-worker. And then, before long, we notice that we have tuned out. Our attention […]