Webmind: Data mining 24,000 TEDx talks

Ecologist Eric Berlow, founder of Vibrant Data Labs (“Data for Social Good”), and physicist Sean Gourley collaborated to map the spread of ideas using TEDx talks and YouTube data. They mined the data associated with 24,000 TEDx talks, from 147 countries, in 50 different languages, and share their findings in their own 7 minute TED talk.  (hat […]

Cultural diversity in virtual conversations?

Last month, I did a cross-cultural conflict management workshop for the Inter-Cultural Association of Greater Victoria.  The participants were all immigrants.  Their time in Canada ranged from weeks to years.  The content focus was the workplace and employment. Culture and conversation patterns One of the concepts I touched on dealt on was cultural differences in […]

The challenge of delivering client services when the conversation is everywhere

I currently own, and regularly use, a Samsung smartphone, Apple iPad, and Asus laptop computer.   I use more social media channels than are good for me.  I’ll start a conversation on one channel, finish it on another, and do this from any device.   Apparently, I’m far from the only one who works this […]

Virtual Communities of Practice

If you asked Generation Y’ers how they like to learn, odds are it will be “socially”.   And, most of us aren’t all that different.  We do like to get together, at least sometimes, for learning. Getting together to learn.  That’s what ‘communities of practice’ are all about.  A community of practice is a “group of […]

Oh Canada: Diversity in the workplace?

Yesterday, July 1, was Canada’s birthday.  “Officially”, we’re 146 years old.   O Canada is our national anthem. Canada has two official languages.  Most of us feel good about the diverse and multi-cultural nature of our country.  Yet, welcoming diversity, and people who are different from us, can be a challenge, in small and big ways. […]

The Client Service Relationship Ladder

If there is only one maxim to live by, when it comes to relationships, it must be “see it from their side”. In business, If I know what the other side sees, feels, wants…  then I’ve given myself a direction, a goal to work towards.   I can focus my service towards that goal.  And when […]

The Journey to "Less is More" Communications

The rise of the mobile-only user (Harvard Biz article) alludes to how the small screen is changing the way we communicate.  The small screen begs for clarity, brevity, interactivity, smart design…  The medium and the message, intertwined.  Thinking of how we got to this “less is more” place, I crafted this short story (poem?): When I was […]

Focus on Relationships to Increase Collaboration

Even in a short time-frame mediation, like those that I do in Small Claims Court, an initial focus on relationships  and process pays off.  If people are ok with what’s going down, process-wise, and nobody is getting bullied, then what flows after, e.g., the “facts”, seems to have more traction. I believe this same philosophy […]

Shopping for Dispute Resolution Services in the Year 2025

We’re amok in information.  We know it.  We feel it.   “90% of data in the world today has been created in the last two years.” (source: IBM)  Yet, with intention and considerable effort, you can curate and make sense of information, connect conversations in the data “stream”, and get a feel for what lies ahead. […]