Tag: insight

How to Share Insight

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“We teach each other things. People take this for granted, but it’s actually unbelievable.” – Nicholas Christakis

Last weekend, my five-year-old son got two moon balls. They are cratered like the moon and bounce like they are going to leave this atmosphere. That bounce combined with my son’s determination to hit as if he’s aiming for the Green Monster at Fenway Park meant we lost both balls in pretty short order.

He was bummed when we lost the first… and really sad when we lost the second. I sat next to him on the steps and asked, “Do you want to know what I know about being sad.”

“No,” he replied.

It’s all about timing, isn’t it? 🙂 It is one of the keys about sharing insight that I talk with customer experience strategist Karl Baisch about on the How to Share Podcast.

Nicholas Christakis, sociologist from Yale, has this really hopeful view of humans based on our ability to interact and cooperate with others. He says, “We teach each other things. People take this for granted, but it’s actually unbelievable.”

In this episode of ‘How to Share’, Karl and I explore the nuances of how we teach each other things and share insights effectively. We discuss the importance of asking the right questions, the challenges of navigating data, and the significance of context in delivering actionable insights. Our conversation also touches on parenting and how to instill curiosity and critical thinking in children, drawing parallels between data synthesis and everyday experiences.

Here are some takeaways from our conversation:

  • We teach each other things.
  • Real change happens when there’s enough curiosity.
  • Groups have to want an answer to hear it.
  • You gotta share your work product somewhere.
  • You want to avoid analysis paralysis.
  • How do you synthesize it into a story?
  • Insights should breathe new energy and life into anything.
  • You have to contextualize it.
  • You have to ask the right questions.

This is a great episode about the practice of creating insight. Join us as we dig into the who, what, when, where, how and of creating and sharing a-ha moments!

Here’s a short clip from our episode to give you a taste of the great conversation with the bright and engaging Karl Baisch:

Here are some ways you can listen and watch to the full episode:

Please listen, watch, provide feedback and subscribe.

How to Share Our Luck with Gil Gillenwater – How To Share

In this enlightening conversation, Gil Gillenwater is with host Wynne Leon and shares his experiences and insights from over 35 years of philanthropic work along the US-Mexico border. He discusses his book, 'Hope on the Border,' which highlights the transformative power of education and community service. Gil emphasizes the importance of enlightened self-interest over traditional charity, advocating for a model that empowers individuals and fosters dignity. He explores the duality of poverty, the need for sustainable opportunities, and the joy found in serving others, ultimately presenting a vision for a more connected and compassionate world.TakeawaysEducation is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty.Enlightened self-interest can lead to personal and communal growth.Charity should not be viewed as a sacrifice but as a mutual benefit.Volunteering provides a sense of purpose and fulfillment.Welfare can disempower individuals and communities.Community service fosters connections and shared humanity.The disparity in wealth is a significant issue that needs addressing.Experiencing poverty firsthand can change perspectives.Creating opportunities in one's home country can reduce migration.The joy of service is a pathway to personal happiness.Links for this episode:How to Share homeHope on the Border at AmazonGil's organization: Rancho FelizGil Gillenwater on FacebookWynne’s book about her beloved father: Finding My Father’s Faith; Blog: https://wynneleon.com/; Substack: https://wynneleon930758.substack.com/
  1. How to Share Our Luck with Gil Gillenwater
  2. How to Share 1970's Chicago with Doug. E. Jones
  3. How to Share Feedback with Dr. Vicki Atkinson
  4. How to Share the Next Generation with Mari Sarkisian Wyatt
  5. How to Share Impactfully with Social Media Friends with Amy Weinland Daughters

Links for this episode:

Karl Baisch on LinkedIn

Dreams, Writing and Creativity

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“Without leaps of imagination or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.” – Gloria Steinhem

I had a friend who once told me that when his wife woke up from dreams in which he was behaving badly, he’d pay for it all day. He didn’t actually have to be dismissive or philandering – because on those days, she’d treat him as if he already done it.

I can attest to the lingering effect of dreams. Even if I don’t remember exactly what happened, I can awaken powerfully emboldened or ambiguously scared. So I love this podcast episode in which Vicki Atkinson and I are talking with author, blogger, and former newspaper writer, Melanie McGauran about decoding our dreams. We love our conversations with Melanie – she is so engaging and insightful.

This is such a fascinating episode. The interior of our minds is an interesting, and sometimes scary, place. But it is so fun how Melanie brings her love of mysteries to this practice of sifting through the clues.

Melanie talks about her fascination with dreams and how she both remembers hers and extends them. It’s a wonderful practice to not only appreciate the dreamscape but also focus the mind in the middle of the night.

She introduces us to the work of Matthew Walker, author of Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams and his insight that in dreaming, we access our memory tree but without the guardrails of logic.

Melanie combines that memory mixology with her unstoppable creativity, joy and problem-solving to decode dreams.

This episode is such a fun take on dreaming, writing and creativity. We love Melanie’s passion and interest and get to see that in action as she helps us make stories from our dreams.

I’m confident you’ll love the scenic and beautiful places we explore as we share the power of storytelling – in podcasts, in conversation, and in dreams.

We know you’ll love it!

Search (and subscribe!) for Sharing the Heart of the Matter on Apple, Amazon, Spotify or Pocket Casts OR Listen to it from your computer on Anchor: Episode 94: Decoding Our Dreams with Melanie McGauran

Episode 94 transcript

AND subscribe to our YouTube channel to see a video clip of each story: @SharingtheHeartoftheMatter.

Links for this episode:

Late and Lost by Vicki Atkinson

Melanie’s blog: https://leavingthedooropen.com/

“Why We Sleep” – Matthew Walker, Ph.D

From the hosts:

Vicki’s book about resilience and love: Surviving Sue; Blog: https://victoriaponders.com/

My book about my beloved father: Finding My Father’s Faith

(featured photo from Pexels)

Step 9: Five Stars

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“The idea is to write it so that people hear it and it slides through the brain and goes directly to the heart.” – Maya Angelou

I just finished listening to Step 9, a theatrical podcast based on a play written by Jack Canfora and produced by New Normal Rep. The description of the play includes these details,

“STEP 9 tells the story of Emily, a woman wrestling with the implications of prosecuting the man who raped her in college 30 years ago. Is she willing to relive the horror of that night in the pursuit of justice?”

I don’t think I’d normally select a drama where the description includes rape and prosecution but Step 9 is written by my friend Jack and I know from his other work that he deftly handles any topic with humor and insight.

And that is true with this theatrical drama, performed by an incredible group of actors. I’d say the two words I’d pick for this play (other than terrific and worthwhile) are resonant and healing. It speaks to our woundedness and with amazing dialogue walks us towards wholeness. A must listen.

 You can find Step 9 by searching New Normal Rep Step 9 wherever you podcast or go to: https://tinyurl.com/Step-9-NNR

Witty Remark

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“Against the assault of laughter, nothing can stand.” – Mark Twain

My kids and I were driving in the car up a long, gently rising hill when my son noticed a jogger on the sidewalk beside us. Here’s the conversation that ensued:

[My toddler]: What man doing?

[Me]: He’s jogging.

[My 6-year-old daughter]: Jogging is what you call it when grown-ups run because they are really slow.

Of course, I immediately burst into laughter and my daughter was delighted to have said something so witty that she has been trying to recreate the humor of it ever sense. Which is hard to do without the setup.

One of the things that fascinates me about witnessing my kids and their friends grow up is the development of their story-telling capabilities. Knowing that narrative shapes our inner lives as well as our interaction with others, I love talking with my daughter about the stories we read and see.

So when Mitch Teemley published this great post Hitting the Creative Bullseye, I thought about my daughter’s witty remark to see if his breakdown of the hallmarks of creativity helped analyzed why we laughed: is unexpected, feels right and surprises them.

Ticking through the points:

  • Was it unexpected? We were just chit chatting in the car so no one was primed for a joke and so yes, it was unexpected.
  • Did it feel right? Yes. There is so much undeniable truth to the remark “jogging is what you call it when grown-ups run because they are really slow.”
  • Did it surprise us? I think the benefit of being 6-years-old is that no one expects you to come up with observations that hit the mark so when you do, it’s both surprising and memorable.

Of course the problem is in repeating it. But that’s why we practice — so that we can access both wit and wisdom, the “Feels right” insight in the moments that are both unexpected and surprise us. Because after all, wit is often how grown-ups deliver wisdom so that others will remember it.