The proficient doctor does the necessary. She greets the patient without shaking his hand. Examines him from head to toe without looking him in the eye. She is alert to the slightest abnormal physical sign but does not notice her patient shivering because the room is cold. She writes out the medication script for the…
Being Humane: The Future is Emotional
For centuries, we rewarded prowess of the human physique. The self-sufficiency, farming and industrial revolution rewarded hard physical brute force. Our notion of “work” involved hard physical labor. Then later, we began rewarding the sort of intelligence that we came to represent as “IQ.” This was left brained and logical and focused on memory…
Being Humane: Disappointment and delight
One day you will disappoint a customer. Sooner or later, you will let someone down. You will let her down by failing to do the thing you promised. Her reality will come short of her expectation. She will leave that day feeling like she got less than she paid for. But more than that, she…
Being Humane: and Speaking Humane
The new sign in the toilets of fast food restaurant read: “It is our intent to provide you with the cleanest possible facility. If the room needs attention please notify a Manager.” I stood in the mirrorless bathroom looking at it for some time wondering how this was supposed to make me feel. There was no…
I’m not responsible for what you understand…
I'm responsible for what I say. Except, if you are a leader, actually you are responsible for what your team understands. Leading people means being able to articulate the vision clearly for understanding. Once they understand, they perform in unison. This means what you say important, and how you say it is importanter 🙂 So,…
Impossible: In theory
A symptom of the revolution: When we state something is impossible in theory, but then change our minds when we discover that it is possible in practice.
Impossible: The 2 hour marathon
The 4 minute mile was considered impossible until Roger Bannister ran it. Up until he did it in 1954, most people thought the four-minute mark was impossible to break. They thought the human body couldn’t physically go that fast, that it would collapse under the pressure. No-one could run a mile in less than four…
Book Review: Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts by Brené Brown
Brené has gone corporate. Dare To Lead continues her conquest of shame, dysfunction, ego, hate, indifference, and everything else that tries to dehumanise and destroy us every day but now, she focuses her energy on vulnerability in the workplace, a place where most people spend a significant amount of our lives navigating. Dare to Lead’s themes…
The Three Bricklayers
The three bricklayers were asked what are you doing? The first says: "I'm laying bricks." The second says: "I'm building a church." And the third says: "I'm building The House of God." The first bricklayer has a job. The second has a career. The third has a calling. And, so the question is this, which…
Sawubona: We See You
Sawubona, Sawubona, is an ancient isiZulu greeting which means: We see you. It is equivalent to Hello or Namaste. So when we meet and greet each other, I would humbly say: “sawubona” [we see you], and you will respond by saying “yebo, sawubona” [yes, we see you too]. Why do we say “we see you”…
Book Review: Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth
After watching her TED talk on The Power of Passion and Perseverance, I knew it was a matter of time before reading her book on the same topic. Angela Duckworth defines grit not as “genius” but rather a combination of passion & long-term perseverance. She uses study after study to show how grit leads to…
The Making of a Genius: Re-match with Kasparov [3 of 5]
8 years after her controversial defeat by Kasparov, Judit had another opportunity for a face-off with the legendary Grandmaster. In the 2002 Russia vs. The Rest of the World match in Moscow, Judit faced-off against Kasparov. The tournament was played under rapid rules with 25 minutes per game and a 10-second bonus per move. Kasparov…