A couple of months ago, I wrote about how the initial steps in negotiating are listening and empathy. You don’t have to change your beliefs or convictions when listening to people with opposing views but, until they get the impression that you’re listening to them, they aren’t going to hear a thing you say. So, […]

In 1844, the first telegraph between Washington and Baltimore read, “What has God wrought?” Seems like an overly apprehensive message in the days of broadband, yet clairvoyant. The telegraph marked the first time that information could travel instantaneously, and it had a profound impact on the way of life at that time. It also spawned […]

Patriotism has been in the news lately or, more specifically, the NFL and the national anthem. The point of this article is not to fan the flames of this debate or pick a side. Rather, I want to share an observation from another topic in the media that gives us valuable insight into what would […]

Ran across a term that identifies the feeling of helplessness that I have been feeling: negative partisanship. As such, the main unifying force for a political party is hatred for the other party. And, no doubt, if your main priority is sticking it to the other party then you will gladly take actions that are […]

I remember attending an energy conference with a keynote address from Vinod Khosla. He was in the news recently. Khosla is a technology venture capitalist/entrepreneur. He bought some obnoxiously expensive California beachfront property and was sued for closing access to the beach. Regardless, his lecture didn’t have anything to do with beach access; rather, he […]