Sublime
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Sociologist Elijah Anderson’s work on the “cosmopolitan canopy” showcases Rittenhouse Square and Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia—places that foster civil interactions among people from very different backgrounds. In these places, individuals change their behavior, often acting differently than they would in their own neighborhoods. Somethin
... See moreJohn MacDonald • Changing Places: The Science and Art of New Urban Planning
My claustrophilia is not extreme. While I prefer enclosed places, I can get along very well in sunlit rooms and in the open. I don’t have any touch of agoraphobia (the morbid fear of open places), though I would rather walk the canyons of Manhattan with tall buildings hemming me in than in Central Park, which is open.
Isaac Asimov • I, Asimov: A Memoir
The world is becoming more technologically complex, interdependent, and culturally diverse, which makes the building of relationships more and more necessary to get things accomplished and, at the same time, more difficult. Relationships are the key to good communication; good communication is the key to successful task accomplishment; and Humble
... See moreEdgar H Schein • Humble Inquiry: The Gentle Art of Asking Instead of Telling
EGOTISM. The number one reason people don’t see others is that they are too self-centered to try. I can’t see you because I’m all about myself. Let me tell you my opinion. Let me entertain you with this story about myself. Many people are unable to step outside of their own points of view. They are simply not curious about other people.
David Brooks • How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen
When God wanted to stop the people from building the Tower of Babel, he did not smite them down with a thunderbolt. He said: “… let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” He could think of no surer way to keep the tower unbuilt than to garble communications. While the Lord confounded langu
... See moreKenneth Roman • Writing That Works
you phone most often the people you see most often.
Robin Dunbar • Friends: Understanding the Power of our Most Important Relationships
logs. Many of the nontechnical employees weren’t comfortable with IRC, and so instead, they were onboarded into the company’s weird little chat app.
Andrew Chen • The Cold Start Problem: How to Start and Scale Network Effects
Clients recognize excessive self-orientation through such things as: 1. A tendency to relate their stories to ourselves 2. A need to too quickly finish their sentences for them 3. A need to fill empty spaces in conversations 4. A need to appear clever, bright, witty, etc. 5. An inability to provide a direct answer to a direct question 6. An unwilli
... See moreDavid H. Maister • The Trusted Advisor
Most of my important lessons about life have come from recognizing how others from a different culture view things.