Squishtalks Blog

Fresh Thinking to Talk About
Do You Care?

Do You Care?

In January, I facilitated an online wellness session for healthcare workers in the Methodist Health System, Texas. As my client and I discussed plans for the event, it became clear that it should be less a learning and more a listening opportunity. Rather than hear me talk about the value of conversation for human connection, we structured the event so that I could moderate a discussion with two primary healthcare staff and the attendees.

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Loneliness and the Attention Economy

I am struck by some overlaps between the “attention economy” and loneliness. In the New York Times Opinion piece “I Talked to the Cassandra of the Internet Age,” Charlie Warzel interviews Michael Goldhaber, describing him as “the internet prophet you’ve never heard of.” Over two decades ago, Goldhaber saw that the internet would demand all the attention we could pay to our world while offering us only a tiny amount of attention in return.

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Being Alone

Being Alone

Many of us already felt lonely before the social isolation required by the coronavirus pandemic and many others are now encountering loneliness as we socially remove ourselves. Adjustment to this new experience will be uncomfortable if not painful. In “The Origins of Totalitarianism,” Hannah Arendt described loneliness as

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Dehumanizing Life

Dehumanizing Life

Ride-hailing company Uber has launched a feature enabling users to choose a quiet, non-talkative ride. Since when did people become so socially inept that we are unable to navigate even the most basic of human interactions or – horror – to endure a few minutes in the company of someone else?

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Are you being ethical?

Are you being ethical?

What are ethics? Why should we be mindful of them, professionally and personally? I have written before in this blog on the connection between conversational practice and increased ethical behaviors. We need to be diligent in our quest to live a good life. What follows are a few observations on recent areas of leadership, technology, and trust where more diligent focus on ethics is needed.

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Failure to Listen

Failure to Listen

It has been a deeply disturbing week witnessing Dr. Christine Blasey Ford give voice courageously to her sexual assault. We have observed listening at its most wrenchingly empathetic. And we have observed its utter absence. Listening is an act of love, says StoryCorps founder David Isay.

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