1: Things aren’t going well between Oba and Mari.

They’re about to have a crucial conversation, one where the stakes are high, opinions differ, and emotions run strong.

Oba: “Mari, I was wondering if we could talk about what happened on Friday night—you know, when you got home late from work and went straight to our room?”

Mari: “Oh, you mean Friday night when you were sitting on the couch … continue reading

1: “How can I respect someone who behaves in ways I deplore?” Joseph Grenny, Kerry Patterson, and their co-authors ask in their classic book Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High.

“What do you do if you’re upset because another person has let you down?” they ask.

What if this behavior has happened repeatedly?

“How can you respect a person who is so poorly motivated … continue reading

1: “Why does this matter to you?”

That’s the question author, consultant, and facilitator Peter Block asked Daniel Coyle

They had just met. Daniel, a writer, had set up an interview with Peter. They met at a coffee shop in Cincinnati, which is where Peter now calls home.

“A rangy eighty-five-year-old, Peter had settled into his chair and gave me a fond, knowing smile, as if we’d met each other … continue reading

1: Back in the early 2000s, a fatal shooting occurred in the Clifton Heights neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio.

“The community was disturbed and anxious, looking for answers,” Daniel Coyle writes in Flourish: The Art of Building Meaning, Joy, and Fulfillment.

A few days later, a local civic organization asked Peter Block, a neighborhood resident, to lead a public gathering. Peter is an author, consultant, and facilitator. For more … continue reading

1: Darlene worked as a nurse in a neonatal intensive care unit, or NICU, near Dayton, Ohio.

One day as she walked past an incubator, she sensed something was wrong.

“All of the machines hooked up to the child showed that her vitals were within normal ranges,” Charles Duhigg writes in Smarter Faster Better.

The nurse caring for the baby didn’t seem worried.

But to Darlene, something seemed off.… continue reading

1: “It’s a shame that everyone else is an idiot,” Tynan writes in Superhuman by Habit.

Pause.

“Of course, it’s important to remember that to everyone else, you are the idiot.”

It all begins when we realize that being positive toward others is a habit we can develop.

Tynan tells a story about a disagreement he had with a cruise ship staff member after he felt he was charged … continue reading

1: Say you’re faced with a difficult challenge.

Or a big opportunity.

What if you approached it like a game?

This is the main idea behind Jane McGonigal’s SuperBetter framework, described in her book. It uses allies, quests, power-ups, bad guys, and epic wins to help you become more resilient and make real progress.

Yesterday, we looked at how radio producer Alex Goldman used SuperBetter to recover after … continue reading

1: Each day when he’s not traveling, Kevin Deshazo, CEO of Fieldhouse Media, drives his son Gabe to and from school.

“While in transit I normally check my phone at red lights for emails and posts, trying to see what the world is up to,” he explains.

“Everything changed,” he says after learning about the 5 Gears framework.

The 5 Gears is both the title and the central metaphor … continue reading

1: “I love professional wrestling!” the man said.

Jeremie Kubicek raised his eyebrows.  “Alright then,” he thought.

“The funny part,” he writes in The 5 Gears, the book he co-authored with Steve Cockram, “was that his answer was the last thing I thought he would have said.

“If he had stated, ‘I like to collect stamps,’ that would have matched up to my expectations based on what he … continue reading

1: Jennifer’s father was ill.
“The two things that he could do to improve his physical condition most significantly are to eat better and exercise,” she tells Jeremie Kubicek and Steve Cockram, who write in their book The 5 Gears: How to Be Present and Productive When There is Never Enough Time.
And, “the two things he refuses to do are eat better and exercise,” she says.
Jennifer … continue reading