Monthly Archives: January 2013

Feedback

When interviewing candidates for teaching positions at my university, I often ask them how they provide and receive feedback in the workplace, to get a quick, vivid picture of their character and initiative. When you give clear and useful feedback … Continue reading

Posted in Robert's posts | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Good Information

During a classroom discussion about program evaluation and research last night,  I recommended to my entrepreneurial leadership students that they bookmark The Free Management Library. It’s a wonderful community-composed resource. “The Library provides free, easy-to-access, online articles to develop yourself, … Continue reading

Posted in Robert's posts | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Language Log » Tiny grass is dreaming

  Language Log » Tiny grass is dreaming. When I found this gem through @stevesilberman‘s Twitter feed, I knew I had to blog it. I could talk about this as a product of a higher context culture than ours, but … Continue reading

Posted in Tierney's posts | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Keep Your Promises, Keep Your Confidences, and Keep Your Appointments

The prefix para means “beside” or “beyond.” Paralinguistic or paraverbal communication usually refers to *how* one’s words are conveyed: through tone, body language, speaking speed, or even through one’s wardrobe. In both workplace and social environments, though, beside and beyond … Continue reading

Posted in Robert's posts | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The Plain Style

One of our resources over on the right-hand side of the page is “The Plain Language Style Guide,” published by the BC Securities Commission to help securities professionals in the composition of correspondence and public documents. Drafted with the assistance … Continue reading

Posted in Robert's posts | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

“We Agree”

“We agree much more than you think.” This was Niels Bohr‘s kind way of indicating profound disagreement with a colleague’s point of view.  The genial physicist knew that the literal truth of that statement – after all, all scientists would … Continue reading

Posted in Robert's posts | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Playing to an Audience

Back when I frequented the Poets.org critique forums, I often found myself talking about the distinction between what I called “private poems” and “public poems.” Private poems were poems that existed for the author’s benefit – often to work through … Continue reading

Posted in Tierney's posts | Tagged , , | Leave a comment