listening

To PIP or Not to PIP? A Two-Step Alternative That Might Make Everyone Happy

A recent Wall Street Journal article explored several downsides of the Performance Improvement Plan (PIP), a common management tool that can be a guide for better work or a prelude to termination. The headline makes it clear that the PIP is something to be feared and avoided: “The Most Hated Way of Firing Someone Is […]

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informed informality

When You Don’t Know What Your Elbow Is Doing, But You Know Exactly Why

Let me share something that recently happened to me.  I was demonstrating a variant of a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu position known as side control. It is a fundamental posture that I have been doing, at this point, for years; I have also been on the receiving end more than I would care to remember. I

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informed informality

Seeing from Above and Below by Listening

Have you ever read something that just pops? Like, you are amazed that you’ve never seen this concept explained in this way, and you’re a little miffed that you haven’t done it yourself? Or is that just me? I’m asking because I recently had an experience like that, and I’d like to share it with

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informed informality

The Oracle, the Prophet, and Wishful Hearing

The Pythia, or Oracle at Delphi, was sought out for her predictions. The high priestess of Apollo, the Greek god of music, prophecy, medicine, the sun, and assorted other odds and ends, she shared, on demand, prophecies divined from the god himself. The stories of her forecasts reveal a nearly universal human truth: we often

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informed informality