Do you click through to see the underlying data?

Are you aware of both the status quo and the argument against it?

Have you done the reading?

Are you comfortable asking, “why?”

Do you know how it works?

When someone knows more about something than you do, are you willing to catch up?

If the data makes it clear that you’ve taken the wrong position, are you eager to change your mind?

Are you interested in having a spirited conversation about the way things are, the way they were, they way they might become?

Can you set aside your worldview, at least for a few minutes, to consider an alternative way to look at the situation?

Along the way, Intellectual with a capital “I” got a bad reputation, the kind of person you want nothing to do with. But the small “i” kind, the person who cares enough to do the work… we need that, badly.

It’s never been easier, but sometimes, it seems as if it’s never been less popular.
– Seth Godin

The most noble human relationships are those that have been formed in a spirit of cooperation and harmony. Cooperation, in many ways, is the physical manifestation of your care and concern for your fellow man. When you work with others in a spirit of friendly cooperation, you are conducting yourself according to the founding principles of most religions and all successful societies. Everyone occasionally feels pangs of jealousy or envy, usually accompanied by the urge to cause problems or difficulty for those we dislike. Truly successful people have learned to restrain such urges. They know that if they concentrate upon their own objectives and help others along the way, they will eventually reach their goals. It isn’t easy to always be a friendly, cooperative person, but in the end you will find that it is worth the effort.
– Napoleon Hill

“Until a person can say deeply and honestly, ‘I am what I am today because of the choices I made yesterday,’ that person cannot say, ‘I choose otherwise.’”
– Stephen R. Covey

“Consider a race to the top.

How can Lyft possibly compete with Uber? Scale is often the secret to a commodity business, and if Lyft races to be ever cheaper than Uber, the only possible outcome doesn’t look good. It’s a cutthroat corner-cutting race.

But what happens if Lyft (or your project) decides to race to the top instead?

What if they say, ‘We’re always a dollar more than Ube’”?

And then they spend that dollar, all of it, on the drivers…

What kind of person buys the cheap ride, the ride with the stressed-out angry drivers?

So instead of drivers abandoning fares they accept (they’re under so much pressure to make ends meet, Uber drivers do this all the time–it happened to me four times in one weekend), you end up with drivers that were good enough to be able to charge an extra dollar…

Uber becomes the bottom fisher, and Lyft (or whatever it is you do) is the place you go once you’ve proven yourself…

And what would happen if your fast food place said, “we’re the place that charges you a dollar extra at lunch,” and they spent all that dollar in paying their employees and their suppliers a living wage?

Some people will always want the cheapest, regardless of what it actually ends up costing them. But in market after market, the list goes on. Projects and organizations that proudly charge a dollar more.

Not merely a dollar more.

A dollar more, and worth it.”
– Seth Godin

“Doubt is corrosive.

Someone faced with doubt rarely brings her best self to the table. Doubt undermines confidence, it casts aspersions, it assumes untruths.

Yes, of course you need to qualify your leads. And yes, we know that you need to protect against risk and to not waste your time.

But… if you’re going to spend five minutes or five hours with someone, what happens if you begin with, “the benefit of confidence” instead? What if you begin by believing, by seeking to understand, by rooting for the other person to share their best stories, their vision and their hopes?

Perhaps you can manipulate someone by scowling, by negging, by putting on airs. But if you do that, you end up with people who have been manipulated, who are wounded and not ready to soar.

The problem with qualifying leads is that all the obvious ones are already taken.

The challenge with assuming that someone is completely imperfect is that you’ll almost certainly be right.

There’s plenty of room for doubt later, isn’t there?”
– Seth Godin

“One way to determine which circle our concern is in, and therefore how proactive we are, is to distinguish between the have’s and the be’s. The Circle of Concern (those things that concern us but over which we have no real control) is filled with the have’s:
‘I’ll be happy when I have my house paid off.’
‘If only I had a more patient husband …’
‘If I had more obedient kids …’
‘If I had my degree …’
“If I could just have more time to myself. …’

The Circle of Influence (those things that we can do something about) is filled with the be’s – I can be more patient, be wise, be loving. It’s the character focus.”
– Stephen R. Covey

In most large organizations, the amount of time and energy that is squandered in interdepartmental rivalry is enormous. Managers who compete with others inside the company waste valuable resources that should be directed at fulfilling the company’s mission to serve its customers better. Worse, a negative, internal focus can cause the company to miss opportunities, the full effect of which may not be realized for months or even years. Whether you are the head of the department or the newest worker on the staff, you can help your company immeasurably by refusing to become embroiled in internal strife. Compete with yourself to do the best job you can do instead of competing with others.
– Napoleon Hill

“In today’s interdependent society, it is virtually impossible in any business, profession, or occupation for an individual to achieve great heights of success without the help of other. The best way to get friendly cooperation is to give it. When you make it a practice to encourage others and to help them advance in their careers whenever possible, most will reciprocate when you need their help. Give generously, and you will benefit in kind.”
– Napoleon Hill

“The ability to subordinate an impulse to a vale us the essence of the proactive person. Reactive people are driven by feelings, by circumstances, by conditions, by their environment. Proactive people are driven by values – carefully thought about, selected, and internalized values.”
– Stephen R. Covey

“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.”
– John Lubbock