Better Questions, Better Results

What’s a Question That Can Turn a Stranger into a Friend? Ask: “What’s something you’re excited about these days?” It invites a story, signals care, and opens a path to real connection. Scope & Definition We meet strangers every day—on trains, in lines, at conferences. Most encounters stay shallow because our openers are shallow. “What do you do?” sorts people into bins. “Where are you from?” yields geography, not meaning. A better first move is a question that spotlights energy rather than status:  “What’s something you’re excited about these days?” This question works because it’s present-tense (not a résumé), permission-giving (answer can be big or small), and identity-adjacent (values live where excitement lives). Think of it as a social tuning fork. Hit it, and resonance spreads through the conversation. What Can Be Proven / What Cannot Be Proven What we can say with confidence:  open-ended questions that invite self-disclosure increase liking and rapport. Asking some...

What habits and systems make it easier to stay committed to your long-term goals? Build identity-anchored habits inside simple, reviewable systems Framing the Question: Staying committed to long-term goals isn’t about iron willpower—it’s about smart scaffolding. The secret isn’t white-knuckling your way forward; it’s designing your days so the “right” choice is the easy one. Small, identity-driven habits, stacked inside lightweight systems, remove friction and make progress visible. If you want to do more than just set goals—if you want to  stick  to them—this is where to start. The Role of Habits and Systems Habits are the tiny, repeatable actions that eventually run on autopilot: opening your doc before you write, stretching for two minutes before a workout, reviewing your calendar before bed. Systems are the scaffolds that make those habits stick: calendar blocks, environment tweaks, and weekly reviews. You  can  achieve goals without them. But consistency becomes...

What Strategies Can You Use To Effectively Delegate Tasks and Responsibilities? From Control to Catalysis: The Art of Empowered Delegation Delegation is more than passing the baton; it’s about choosing the right runner for the right leg of the race. Yet 73% of managers admit they struggle with letting go, not from lack of willingness, but from deeper psychological barriers: the fear of becoming irrelevant, losing quality control, or appearing lazy to superiors. Effective delegation isn’t just downward—it’s multidirectional. It includes: Delegating up : Asking your boss to handle certain stakeholder communications Laterally : Partnering with peers on cross-functional initiatives Externally : Strategic outsourcing Why Delegation Creates Measurable Impact Research shows that leaders who delegate effectively see 33% faster revenue growth and 1.9x higher employee engagement scores. The ripple effects extend beyond immediate productivity: Trust compounds : Each successful delegation builds o...

How Are Causation and Correlation Related? Untangling the Knot: Why One Doesn’t Always Lead to the Other Frame the Question Causation and correlation are often confused in both casual conversations and professional analyses. Understanding how they’re related—and where they diverge—is foundational for clear thinking in business, science, and everyday life. While both describe relationships between variables, only causation implies a direct link of cause and effect. Confusing the two can lead to flawed conclusions, wasted resources, and missed opportunities. In this post, we’ll unpack their connection, highlight key differences, and show how to apply this insight across disciplines. Correlation: A Pattern Without a Cause Definition : Correlation is when two variables appear to move together—either in the same direction (positive) or opposite directions (negative). But that’s it. It tells you nothing about why that relationship exists. Examples : Shoe size and reading level (in children):...

What Makes a Person Perceptive? The Quiet Skill That Sees What Others Miss My mother turns 84 today, and there’s no one I consider more perceptive. At countless family gatherings I’ve seen her quietly observing before speaking. While others rush to fill the air with chatter, she notices the cousin who’s unusually quiet or the sibling whose laugh feels a little forced. Later, she’ll pull them aside with a gentle,  “How are you really doing?”  Almost without fail, they open up. Her gift was never about saying the perfect thing. It was about noticing the thing everyone else overlooked. The Perceptive Advantage Perceptive people walk into rooms and instantly sense the mood, the unspoken tensions, the joy tucked behind shy smiles. They seem to have emotional sonar, detecting vibrations others miss entirely. Research in social psychology shows this skill—called  interpersonal accuracy —is strongly linked to leadership effectiveness, relationship satisfaction, and even career su...