Facebook determines which of your posts get through to your friends. Your emails, on the other hand, all go through. But what if they didn’t? You’d have to write email to make it clearer, more compelling, more engaging. And that’s what you ought to be doing anyway. While Facebook’s algorithm is mysterious and ever-changing, we know…
I’m redesigning this blog. The top header is coming off (wasted space). I’ll be highlighting the book and the blog posts. What else needs fixing (from a design perspective)? Your comments appreciated.
Donald Trump says he is a great negotiator. But he’s actually a brinksman — a master of brinksmanship. This works great in business, where the government can bail you out. But if you crash the government, there’s no one to save you. I’ve studied negotiation with the Harvard Negotiation Project (the originators of “Getting to…
My heart goes out to the people of the UK in the wake of the Brexit vote. They face the uncertain task of navigating a post-European future with, very soon, a new prime minister to succeed David Cameron. Turmoil and suffering are inevitable. But of course, here in America, we think only of ourselves (America…
When our blood is boiling, we love to cheer on our causes and shout down the opposition. Is this you? “Guns — bad! Gun control — good! U.S. House of Representatives staging a sit-in to get a vote — very good! Periscope streaming to C-SPAN — great!” But hang on a second — have you really…
Earlier this month, owners of late-model Lexus vehicles found their navigation systems flailing. Lexus eventually apologized, but its statement is a classic example of how to use the passive voice to evade blame — or even a clear explanation. According to Forbes, an unknown number of 2014-2016 Lexus vehicles experienced the glitch, which caused the center…
Tribune corporation produced a video to excite employees about its transformation to “tronc” (Tribune online content). The video vividly shows why it’s unlikely to succeed. Newspapers are in bad shape. And Tribune — which owns the Chicago Tribune and the LA Times, and has stumbled from owner to owner — is in particular trouble. Hence…
Joel Gascoigne, CEO of social media tool startup Buffer, shared a 3500-word post in which he explains why he’s laying off 10 of his 94 employees. In contrast to bloodless posts from the likes of Intel and Microsoft, it indulges a different sin: oversharing. A lot of my correspondents forwarded Gascoigne’s post to me, hoping…
If the weight loss industry really worked, it would put itself out of business. But there is a way out of this contradiction. It’s not easy, but the problem of weight loss is fixable. You could even help fix it. Two out of three adults are overweight or obese. Some of us are happy to…
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