by Christi Barrett | Communication
You’re in a heated discussion with your colleagues. You need to make a decision and move forward collectively. What one word will help you reach alignment? And. When I strongly believe in my position, it is all too easy to counter the other person’s view...
by Christi Barrett | Coaching, Leadership
Experience is a wonderful teacher. If you’ve ever tried to convince someone of something by using your gift of gab, you know what I mean. It’s hard to talk people into changing their minds. Once people have experienced something for themselves, they...
by Christi Barrett | Communication, Conflict, Crisis
Sheila and Sam have never gotten along well, and when they are assigned to a key project together, neither person is pleased. Minor tensions slowly grow into full-scale battle, and the rest of the team is uncertain about what to do. They encourage Sheila and Sam to...
by Christi Barrett | Creativity
You have a problem to solve or a new idea to cook up. What do you do? Pile lots of people in a room and brainstorm, right? Wrong. It turns out that free association in a group uncovers predictable options, not innovative, creative ones. In the presence of others, we...
by Christi Barrett | Leadership, Teamwork
I am a card-carrying member of ASDT (Adult Survivors of a Dysfunctional Team). I am sure that it is just a coincidence (or the fact that I have been working for many, many years), but I’ve served on a few teams that were not productive. Dysfunctional teams do...
