Office Space: Shift
The days are getting longer. That and a shift to rain in New England gets one thinking of Spring. Transitions in season are always moments to note what one is doing well and what must change. In communication, the impulse…
Office Space: Words Unsaid
There are all sorts of reasons people omit thoughts from a conversation, some of them quite good. Still, some omissions make good communication falter. These are a few: If you avoid speaking because it shows what you don't know yet.In…
Office Space: First Quarter Stretch
It is grey and cold in Boston this mid-February morning. I am interested in the types of statements clients make at different points in the year. Mid-February is often a time of frustration and for some isolation. The days are…
Flow: Feelings
I don't know about you, but I keep encountering people on the edge of emotion. They are quick to anger, easy to be hurt or cause hurt. They come by those feelings honestly. The fact is that times are hard…
Office Space: Mistakes Were Made
Sometimes your best-laid plans don't pan out. Messages can be unclear, or just incorrect. You may fail to influence those you need to influence. You can cause harm. These communications can range from mildly disappointing to catastrophic. You can't unring…
Mechanics: A Murmur, A Song
Murmur: A low, sometimes indistinct, but continuous sound. Song: A distinctive or characteristic sound. When we think of speaking or singing well we imagine great moments. We imagine clear and authoritative arguments or soaring vocal lines filling the room. Those…
Office Space: Making Contact
I am always amused when I get an overly-familiar email, LinkedIn request, or cold call. It isn't that people are attempting to connect with me but that they seem unclear about why they want to do so. One assumes some…
Flow: You Got to Move it, Move it
Despite knowing it isn't good for us, the pandemic has us all sitting even more than we used to. This poses problems for breathing among other key systems. It is a problem all of us with office jobs are all…
Office Space: What’s in Your Head
When did you last feel like you communicated clearly and with authority? Was it easy or hard to find that moment in your mind? Did you succeed? The brain is a wondrous place but we aren't always adept at interpreting…
Sing: Directing the Soundwave
When discussing how to send the voice into a space, we sometimes get stuck between magical thinking and nothing at all. It may help some of you to imagine a beam of light traveling away from you but I was…