Exploring Books, Life, and Writing
I was with a group of friends recently when another common myth of western civilization was trotted out as if it were gospel. “We all know religion has caused more violence and death than anything else.”
“Well, actually, that’s not true,” I ventured.
Heads turned. Mouths gaped. The planet itself seemed to wobble on its axis. “What facts do you have to support that?” said the historian in the group, eyebrow arched.
Continue reading “160 Million”
For a couple of months now, Newsweek has trotted out its new format–new print design and new organization of its content inside. From my reading of the comments, most (usually die-hard, lifelong Newsweek readers) unequivocally don’t like the new format. I’m not one of them.
Continue reading “The New Newsweek”
Planning is deciding what you will do. Yes? No, that’s only half right. In planning, whether personal or organizational, some of the most important decisions you can make are what you will say no to, what you decide ahead of time you will not do. It’s all too easy to simply respond to requests or ideas from others, to be reactive. The problem is that others then set your agenda, not you.
Continue reading “The Art of Saying No”
When I was a new manager, and one who avoided conflict like a cliché, I had a very hard time telling people when some aspect of their performance was poor. So I’d delay and delay until the annual review, and then disgorge all the problems at once to the unsuspecting reviewee. Needless to say, the conversations did not go well.
Continue reading “No Surprises”
John Locke is not just a character on Lost. He’s one of the most important philosophers of the last five hundred years on issues of the self and of political theory. When it comes to identifying how the United States came to be in the first place, Locke’s Two Treatises of Government written in a hundred years beforehand, is a good place to begin.
Continue reading “Behind Every Good Declaration of Independence”