Remembering more of what you read

3 ways to remember more of what you read: Know what you’re looking for (What do you want to get or achieve by reading this?) Take notes, paraphrase, reflect (active reading) Teach it / share the takeaways (forces you to externalise what you have read in your own words) And a bonus trick: Read it…

Inefficient communication: yes please!

I am learning to be less efficient in my communication. Lately I realised I am too obsessed about communicating efficiently that it hurts the effectiveness. I am not getting my message across as well as I could. My tendency is to distill what I want to say into the most precise and succinct set of…

Sins of Modern Communication: Knowledge Worker’s Communication Guide (part 6)

Let’s now take one extra step and attempt to distil everything we’ve learned so far into 16 sins of Modern Communication. 1. Not aware of your Intent (change behavior, change mental state, change emotional state) 2. Not documenting before conversing (missing Context) 3. Not documenting after conversing (vaporising Content) 4. Diverging aimlessly (false Maturity, likely…

Managing Down: Sharing feedback and having difficult conversations

What comes into your mind by the time someone says “I’d like share some feedback with you”? Feedback gets so much negative connotation but we often forget that it can really mean both positive (appreciation) and negative (identification of issues). Phrases Hi Folks. X smashed a call with [client] outta the park today. Massive High…

Managing up. Scripts and mindset to work well with your boss.

What does “managing up” mean? It means managing your manager. It means developing a healthy and productive relationship with your boss. When we talk about management, we usually refer to managing down. In reality, not everyone manages a team but everyone reports to someone. Even the CEO reports to customers and shareholders. This means managing…

Radical Listening

Stumbled upon the idea of “radical listening” on Twitter. It complements the Three Types of Listening I learned the other day, so I decided to share it here today. First, what is this “radical listening” thing? Dr. Jason Purnell, an esteemed community leader, professor, and researcher at Washington University, said this: “[Radical listening is…] listening…

Why Are We Yelling: The Art of Productive Disagreement

https://twitter.com/buster/status/1182390032671203328 Buster Benson’s book “Why Are We Yelling“ was one of my favorite books last year. I personally believe that everyone in this digital era of information torrent and opinion floodgate could benefit from learning and practicing the skill of arguing productively. It’s a light read filled with real stories and 100 of Buster’s illustrations.…