Make your “Open Door Policy” a two-way street

“When the boss says “my door is always open” – it’s a cop-out, not an invitation. ” So says the authors of It Doesn’t Have To Be Crazy At Work, Jason fried and David Heinemeier Hansson. The authors are partners (Fried is CEO) in Basecamp, a leading project management and team communications software product. It Doesn’t […]

Ear Hustle – A podcast about prison life that builds bridges between us and them

You can’t hate someone whose story you know. I recently discovered the Ear Hustle podcast. “Ear Hustle brings you the stories of life inside prison, shared and produced by those living it. The podcast is a partnership between Nigel Poor, a Bay Area visual artist and Earlonne Woods, formerly incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison, and was co-founded with […]

3 Mutual-benefit strategies to reduce conflict and improve the land-use application process

Land-use applications are a rich source of conflict, almost everywhere. That’s certainly my experience, here in Victoria. Too often, the interests of developers, public administrators and community members are in conflict, especially when a rezoning, or amendment to the Official Community Plan, is required. It’s not uncommon for changes proposed by a developer to be […]

Summer before Fall: A technique to cool things down when team conflict gets too hot

How often have you been in a team or group meeting of some sort, conflict flares, and before you know it, there’s too much talking and not enough listening? Summer before Fall   Summer before Fall is a (non-gender-specific) technique to cool things down when tensions rise in your group. The technique promotes active listening […]

Cultivate a ‘critical thinking’ mindset to improve the quality of your work and life

In the 2018 RBC Royal Bank report, Humans Wanted: How Canadian youth can thrive in the age of disruption, active listening, speaking, critical thinking, and reading comprehension are at the top of the list of “projected skills demands, for all occupations”.  IMHO, of those top four “most important” skills, critical thinking doesn’t get enough attention, […]