Anger is a powerful emotion. On the one hand, we are told to express it because bottling it up may cause us harm. On the other hand, the way we choose to express it often causes unnecessary harm to others. This is particularly true in workplace relationships between leaders or managers and staff. The implicit… Continue reading Anger

Have you ever read a press article that’s a little too long? Or listened to a speaker who makes one point too many. Or lost interest in an ad before it ends? Effective communication is not about what you want to say, it’s about what you want people to hear. In a world where algorithms… Continue reading Magic number

Vanilla or strawberry? Resign or stay? Toyota or Nissan? We make some choices quickly, relying on mental shortcuts our brains have developed over the years. Other decisions take time and effort – we agonise, we procrastinate. Often those decisions are no better than the automatic choices we make. When we make a decision, we are… Continue reading Decisions, decisions

How many times have you heard a situation attributed to a ‘communications breakdown’? It’s often cited in customer relationships when the complainant believes something promised was not delivered and the apologist cannot or will not account for it.