Look behind you for the frying pan

Companies spend millions of dollars every year on customer service education. And it really works. When I was in the corporate training business, many of those organizations hired me to conduct workshops for their staff, and customer service scores almost always increased within a few weeks of the programs. But what amazes me is how little time and energy is focused on the reverse. Nobody really teaches us how to become better customers ourselves, which is an underrated life skill....

Travel is humbling, as it reminds us the world is full of things that have nothing to do with us. Traveling gives us perspective, as it allows us to look at our own life from a far. And travel ignites imagination, as it disrupts our routine, introduces novelty to our brain and reactivates reward circuits. But let's be clear. There is nothing in this world that we can’t turn into heroin. There are as many addictions as there are people...

There are no black and white personality traits. Most of us all fall somewhere on some kind of spectrum. And that's a good thing. Being a healthy and integrated person means embracing all elements of our identity, not just the specific categories we think best describe who we are. I've been an extrovert my whole life. Being around other people gives me energy. Interaction is perhaps my greatest source of fuel. However, if I don't have enough time to myself...

In economics, a doom loop is the phenomenon where weak banks destabilize governments that support them, and over indebted governments push banks that hold their bonds over the edge. It's a negative spiral. A virtueless circle that keeps inflicting crises on the public unless arrested. This term was first introduced in the eighties, and has since been researched and in numerous fields including psychology, systems thinking and organizational management. But the original idea actually dates back thousands of years. Hindu...

Startups exist in a fast paced, fast changing world of extreme uncertainty. This means that an employee’s ability to do things like handle stress, wear multiple hats, solve problems and energize coworkers is far more valuable than executing formulas on spreadsheets. And don’t get me wrong. Excel is a wonderful program. But using it is also a technical skill that you can train a drunk monkey to do. Whereas hiring people who have certain natural talents is what gives your...