by Mark O'Brien | Jun 28, 2021
The title of this post is the first rule of communication. It’s also sometimes the hardest to remember, especially if you’re an inveterate practical joker. When my sons were growing up, I played innumerable jokes on them, concocted stories, said crazy...
by Mark O'Brien | Jun 1, 2021
I haven’t seen any official announcements yet. But recent evidence indicates Harvard Business Review (HBR) and The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) may be joining forces. At the very least, WSJ seems to have caught whatever inanity has been plaguing HBR for years,...
by Mark O'Brien | May 24, 2021
It takes quite a bit to scare me. It really does. But this article from Harvard Business Review (HBR) — “Slow Down and Write Better Emails” — scared the shit out of me. I feel as if I’m clinging ever-more desperately to rationality, self-awareness,...
by Mark O'Brien | Jan 11, 2021
Working, as we do, with so many providers of software and services to the insurance industry (among others), we take particular delight and morbid interest in seeing the various … uh … research reports and their supporting graphics that come from the...
by Mark O'Brien | Jan 4, 2021
The phrase, I feel like, has become another blight on the language. It’s the equivalent of a synaptic knee-jerk. It’s something to fill time and conversational space, without thinking, in the hope that the person or people with whom you’re speaking...
