Ambrose Bierce

Working Remotely, Feeling Likewise

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In The Devil’s Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce, there’s the entry: “ALONE, adj. In bad company.” On the packaging of this mock Fisher-Price product offering, the despair of a crying baby is a burden wine promises to relieve. While “Covid-19” will win hands-down as 2020’s Word of the Year, being “remote” from colleagues, from happiness, and from one’s other numbed feelings, should be on the runners-up list. Look at the upside: at least this parody product isn’t cross-branded with Clorox to include ingesting some bleach to solve your woes!

A World of Zooming and Zapping

Another runner-up for Word of the Year in 2020: Zoom, in all its manifestations. For everything from conference calls to being fired.

Communicating Virtually Is Like Eating Pringles Forever

Released today: episode 16 of “Dan Hill’s EQ Spotlight” podcast series, featuring Nick Morgan, the author of Can You Hear Me? Listen to the clip below and click on the image to get to the new episode.

Image of Author Nick Morgan and his book cover "Can you Hear Me? How to Connect with People in a Virtual World. The Book cover is blue with yellow and green communication doodles. The title of the podcast episode is Communicating Virtually is Like Eating Pringles Forever.

How can we protect ourselves amid the emptiness and treachery of virtual communication?

Morgan is one of America’s top communication theorists and coaches. He’s written for Fortune 50 CEOs as well as for political and educational leaders, and coached people for events ranging from TED talks to giving testimony to Congress.

Topics covered in this episode include:

  • What’s the likeliest way to lose the trust of others during a conference call, and how can you best hope to restore it? 
  • Why are most online webinars a disaster and what kind of format improves them best?
  • If powerpoint presentations are no longer the way to go in selling to prospects in online calls, what’s the alternative?

Dan Hill, PhD, is the president of Sensory Logic, Inc.

Crowdsourcing The Devil’s Dictionary of Work Life

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Images of three Devil's Dictionary books, and how to submit an entry for Dan Hill's crowdsourcing book

What an exposé is to journalism, satire is to literature: the use of humor to address and (possibly) right a wrong. One of my favorite examples is The Devil’s Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce, a contemporary of Mark Twain. For example, BORE, n. A person who talks when you wish him to listen. A few years back, Jason Zweig, a personal-investing columnist for the Wall Street Journal, tried his hand at this approach, too, with The Devil’s Financial Dictionary, including for example: IRRATIONAL, adj. A word used to describe any investor other than yourself.

Now here’s your opportunity to join the fun! I’m crowdsourcing The Devil’s Dictionary of Work Life. To submit entries for any of the terms listed on my web site – or terms you want to suggest – go to my web site and add your contribution. Illustrations are welcome, too! 

This is my first entry: DIVERSITY, n. In senior management, a short white guy. And the guest on this week’s episode of my podcast, Cary Cooper, wrote this entry: APOLOGY LAUNDERING, v. The laundering of bland corporate boilerplate faux apologies like “It’s never our intention to cause offence” so that it comes out smelling like ‘sorry’, thereby allowing the media to assume the role of judge as well as jury.

What Inspired Me to Create The Devil’s Dictionary of Work Life?

From discovering Bierce’s classic to my first forays into the business world, here’s my journey and the opportunity to reflect on your own. As to other instances of corporate b.s. and the very real and often highly emotional stakes of work life, Cary Cooper offer plenty of insights.

Why Managers Should Say: “Sorry, I Wasn’t Feeling”

Released today: episode 13 of “Dan Hill’s EQ Spotlight,” featuring Cary Cooper, the author of most recently The Apology Impulse and Wellbeing at Work. Listen to the clip below and click on the image to get to the new episode.

Image of the book "The Apology Impulse" by knighted author, Cary Cooper, This book explains why companies are apologizing like crazy

What are best-practices for alleviating stress in the workplace?

Cooper is the author/editor of over 250 books, and the president of the British Academy of Management. An advisor to the World Health Organization and the EU, he’s received both a knighthood and the CBE award from the Queen of England for “extraordinary contributions” to society.

Topics covered in this episode include:

  • The difference between operational and cultural failures, and why CEOs find it easier to apologize for the latter by pretending the problem has to do with the former.
  • The percentage of workers who feel bullied by a boss at work on a constant basis, and Cooper’s estimation of the percentage of bosses who won’t be able to benefit from EQ-training and, therefore, should be given roles that don’t involve managing people.
  • What the implications and solutions for huge CEO pay amid what could now prove to be the single most significant economic downturn in our lives (due to Covid-19).

Dan Hill, PhD, is the President of Sensory Logic, Inc.