Condemned

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

― George Santayana

After the Revolution of 1949, Chairman Mao erased nearly all public traces of China's past, tearing down thousands of ancient palaces, temples and monuments, even bulldozing Confucius' tomb.

As a result, Chinese Millennials know practically nothing of their nation's history.

Like their Chinese counterparts, the 1,500 Confederate memorials that pepper the American South today are fast disappearing.

Twenty-first century Puritans in places like Birmingham, Charlottesville, Louisville, New Orleans and Richmond are toppling Confederate memorials as we speak.

It's pure, unadorned desecration.

Yes, I get it: The desecrators feel like they're practicing a form of denazification.

But they're merely mollycoddling.

Yes, the memorials make you uncomfortable.

But, get this: the past was uncomfortable.

And the Mollycoddlers' desecration will backfire.

One day, Ben Carson will label African-American slaves "immigrants" and no one will know any better.

NOTE TO RACISTS AND OTHER CRAVEN HOMINIDS: Do not for a New York minute think you can justify your views based on my argument in favor of the historic preservation of our cityscapes. Nothing justifies your despicable views.

NOTE TO FOLLOWERS: Punch a Nazi today!

Want More Business? Activate Availability Bias.

Today, my business partner and I will send 43,000 prospects an email, something we plan to do every month.

We hope to land new business right away as a result.

But we're really counting on our monthly email, one day, to activate prospects' availability bias.

Availability bias is a flaw in thinking. We all have it. It's activated by a recent event that grabs our attention.

For example, we're much more likely to fear our kid will be groped by a teacher after learning about such an incident from the news. We overreact by overestimating a groping incident's probability. We remove our kid from school for a week.

Availability bias savaged air travel after September 11, even though the probability of a terrorist attack was miniscule. Availability bias is also the reason people believe vaccines cause autism, which of course is nonsense.

As a rule, we overweigh evidence that readily comes―that's easily available―and that has grabbed our attention recently. That's because the evidence is easily retrieved from our memory.

Essentially, we're all lazy thinkers.

In sending our email, my partner and I assume at least a few of those 43,000 prospects will need our magic in the next several months.

And when that thought crosses their minds, there our names will be―at the top of the memory stack.

10 Must-Try Meeting Innovations

If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race
has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential,
that word would be "meetings."

― Dave Barry

Why must attendees―and the rest of our species―stultify, when great meeting designs abound?

In Meeting Design, Adrian Segar outlines 10:

Elementary

An "elementary" meeting maps a familiar event onto the meeting. The familiar event―for example, a holiday dinner, a wedding, a court trial, an autopsy, a science experiment, or a club outing―functions like a metaphor.

Participation-rich

A participant-rich meeting substitutes experiential learning for the "expert broadcast." Attendees interact with each other, rather than listen to a speaker. Popular variations include the affinity group, roundtable, fishbowl, pair share, seat swap, guided discussion, and World Café.

Participant-driven

A participant-driven meeting lets attendees pick topics. Post-Its are distributed during breakfast that let attendees "crowdsource" topics. The impromptu approach may feel chaotic, but 25 years of research has shown over half the topics offered at conferences are irrelevant to attendees.

Small niche

The small niche meeting―the opposite of the industry convention―connects 100 people or fewer through a "micro event" where they don't waste a moment's time navigating crowds of strangers, or listening to motivational lectures they won’t remember in a week.

Short plenary

The short plenary is a TED-style or "lightning” talk. The format is doubly effective when paired with a follow-on breakout (or breakouts) with the speaker.

Learning and action

Adding a facilitated, end-of-day roundup to a meeting improves outcomes. It lets attendees recap what they learned, deepen connections with others, and find out what they missed. Popular formats include the "personal introspective" (attendees reflect on the changes they want to make as a result of what they learned) and the "group-spective" (attendees publicly evaluate the event's content and discuss next steps).

Sensitive topic

While a large meeting isn't a safe place for confidential discussions, small peer-groups can be convened to explore sensitive professional topics. Everyone must commit up front to the statement, “What we share here stays here,” and agree others have the freedom to ask questions and speak their minds.

Movement

Ten minutes of sitting slows blood-flow to the brain. Letting attendees move around mitigates the bad effects. Meeting facilitators can lead attendees in fast, frequent stand-in-place exercises; or conduct entire sessions standing up; or lead strolls around the room―or, better yet, through a beautiful spot outdoors (provided it's ADA-compliant).

Surprise

A meeting where significant parts of the program surprise attendees will have better outcomes. That's because they're instinctively wary of new formats and may opt out of experiential learning. By surprising them, they'll discover rewarding new ways to learn and connect.

Solution room

A "Solution Room" runs 90 to 120 minutes. After an intro, attendees are asked to describe a personal challenge for which they'd like peer advice. They then gather at small roundtables and mind-map the challenges on paper. Seat swaps allow each attendee to get―and give―advice. At the start of a meeting, Solution Rooms help groups of six to eight people connect, and are good for introducing new attendees into a community.

Meeting Design is free―and well worth a look.

Self Aggrandizement and Puffery

You've heard of Catch-22. But Public Law 134?

The 1951 law says federal government officials can't engage in covert propaganda or spend public funds on it.

In the nearly seven decades since Public Law 134 was passed, government attorneys have vigilantly called for the law's enforcement, particularly its ban on self-glorification, which Congress calls "self-aggrandizement and puffery."

Those attorneys must be awfully busy.

Superman was a Content Creator

We often forget a significant fact.

When disguised as mild-mannered Clark Kent, the Man of Steel worked as a reporter for the Daily Planet.

HAT TIP: Thanks go to content creator Matthew Grocki for reminding me Superman was a content creator.