"Your actions speak so loudly, I cannot hear what you are saying." — Ralph Waldo Emerson Quote Don't tell me where your priorities are. Show…

Wittgenstein's language games: Words don't have fixed meanings tied to things or ideas but derive their meaning from how we use them in…

Stripe's Operating principle: Be politely relentless. Book: Scaling People: Tactics for Management and Company Building I was reading the…

To achieve learning goals, we should identify and address not just knowledge gaps but also skills, motivation, habits, environment, and…

Conway's Law: The structure of a system reflects the structure of the organization that built it. Article: Conway's Law Imagine that simply…

The skill of writing is to create a context in which other people can think. — Edwin Schlossberg Quote The writer's role is to craft…

Different cultures communicate differently. High-context cultures rely on implicit communication and relationships, while low-context…

Stress can be contagious through sweat and trigger physiological stress responses in people nearby via cortisol transmission as secondhand…

Praise publicly, criticize privately. Praise specifically, criticize generally. Praise by name, criticize by category. Thought When we want…

To foster a creative culture of open communication, encourage candor rather than honesty. It's easier to be candid because it removes the…

We make better decisions when we know we are making decisions. Therefore, the first step to improving decision-making is to be aware of the…

Great scientists work with their door open. Though keeping the door closed enhances short-term productivity, an open door invites…

Mentors offer directive instruction and answers, whereas coaches provide non-directive feedback through questions. Whether seeking or giving…

The XY problem: Avoid focusing on the attempted solution rather than the actual problem. People don't want a faster horse. They want to get…

No amount of technology will make a bad story good. Article: Presentation Zen: No amount of technology will make a bad story good In the…

If you want to use an exclamation mark while writing, it means your words aren't strong enough on their own. Strengthen your sentences…

How to express your thoughts clearly? The 3x3 rules: make less than 3 points, explain in 3 ways, and repeat 3 times. Article: 3 rules to…

Anger is a cover of pain. When people cross our boundaries, we should focus on expressing our pain instead of anger. Podcast: CEO Coach Matt…

“It is a fault to wish to be understood before we have made ourselves clear to ourselves." — Simone Weil Quote

Write 5x more but write 5x less. Article: Write 5x more but write 5x less Mike Crittenden says there are two things he has come to believe…

Jonny Harris's storytelling formula: Visual anchor before contextual bridge. Experience it and then understand it. YouTube: Why every Johnny…

“Language can become a screen which stands between the thinker and reality. This is the reason why true creativity often starts where…

State your conjecture in a way that sounds like the laws of physics. Avoid mealy-mouthed allusions because ChatGPT can do all the hedged…

How to make sure someone knows what they are doing? Ask them to change the medium of communication. Can they pitch in a different language…

When meeting people for the first time, we often exchange questions about what we do. However, the more profound and interesting question…

How to say no? Prioritize and communicate. Podcast: Persuasive communication and managing up | Wes Kao (Maven, Seth Godin, Section4) Saying…

Good upper management avoids surprises and keeps managers in the loop on what we are doing. The amount of context we think we are over…

Punctuate our monologue with stage changes in any presentation and meetings. Think about how long the average attention span is for the…

When you are stuck, explain your problem to others. Often simply laying out a problem will present a solution. Make “explaining the problem…

Listen and Opinion Razors: Listen twice as much as we speak when encountering different perspectives and have opinions only after we can…

Ask for advice, not permission. Article: Ask for Advice, Not Permission I always believe we should ask for forgiveness, not permission. I…

Orangutan Effect: If you explain your ideas to an orangutan, the primate might be confused, but you will think more clearly in the process…

Why does Amazon ban PowerPoint in meetings? First Principles and writing to think. Podcast: Eugene Wei: Compress to Impress In Amazon's 201…

Kids today are much more visually literate and prefer to communicate with images over text. Podcast: Eugene Wei: Compress to Impress Visual…

We use language to think, and we cannot think through those we cannot express in language. Language is both the tool that helps us think and…

"When you counsel someone, you should appear to be reminding him of something he had forgotten, not of the light he was unable to see…

A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment. Book: Coach Wooden and Me: Our 50-Year Friendship On and Off the…

When things aren’t working, be smarter, not louder. Book: Your Music and People It is an observation from Derek Sivers. When he's in New…

When someone tells you something is wrong, they’re usually right. When someone tells you how to fix it, they’re usually wrong Article: 9…

Rule of 3 in conversation. To get to the real reason, ask a person to go deeper than what they just said. Then again, and once more. The…

Be careful with the F word in negotiation: Fair. Online Course: MasterClass | Chris Voss Teaches the Art of Negotiation Fairness comes up in…

When looking for honest feedback, ask for a 0-10 score and then ask how to get closer to a 10. Tweet This tweet is from Adam Grant, an…

Researcher should spend the same time on selling their work as doing their research. Book: The Art of Doing Science and Engineering "Selling…

The value of being answered with "No". Online Course: MasterClass | Chris Voss Teaches the Art of Negotiation Most people think the most…

"I will never feel bad for things I said, but I feel bad that people get upset." Quote I can't find the exact original source but this quote…

When we want to be helpful in response to other's feeling bad, first figure out what they want is empathy or solution. Podcast: Lisa Feldman…

Ask what/how questions instead of why. Online Course: MasterClass | Chris Voss Teaches the Art of Negotiation Why-questions tend to trigger…