Blog Archives
How to Give Tough Feedback That Helps People Grow
September 1, 2015
The difference in the two feedback sessions illustrated above boils down to coaching, which deepens self-awareness and catalyzes growth, versus reprimanding, which sparks self-protection and avoidance of responsibility. To summarize, powerful, high-impact feedback conversations share the following elements: An intention to help the employee grow, rather than to show him he was wrong. The feedback should increase, not drain, the employee’s motivation and resources for change. When preparing...
September 1, 2015
The difference in the two feedback sessions illustrated above boils down to coaching, which deepens self-awareness and catalyzes growth, versus reprimanding, which sparks self-protection and avoidance of responsibility. To summarize, powerful, high-impact feedback conversations share the following elements: An intention to help the employee grow, rather than to show him he was wrong. The feedback should increase, not drain, the employee’s motivation and resources for change. When preparing...
Can Economic Pressure Alone Give Rise to a Tortious Interference Claim?
September 1, 2015
Competition and free enterprise are fundamental tenets of the American business model. From a very young age, American children are taught the mantra that hard work and competition make everyone better. Oftentimes, these lessons are learned through the lens of titanic business figures like Ford, Vanderbilt, and Carnegie. At some point, however, it becomes apparent that competition is only as good as the virtues of those who compete. Thus, each chapter in the story of American competition includes...
September 1, 2015
Competition and free enterprise are fundamental tenets of the American business model. From a very young age, American children are taught the mantra that hard work and competition make everyone better. Oftentimes, these lessons are learned through the lens of titanic business figures like Ford, Vanderbilt, and Carnegie. At some point, however, it becomes apparent that competition is only as good as the virtues of those who compete. Thus, each chapter in the story of American competition includes...
Does Watching a Film Cliffhanger Help Us Understand the Brain?
September 1, 2015
"Narratives exert a powerful influence on human thoughts, emotions and behavior and can be particularly important in security contexts," DARPA researchers explained in a paper published in the Journal of Neuroscience Methods earlier this year. They added that "in conflict resolution and counterterrorism scenarios, detecting the neural response underlying empathy induced by stories is of critical importance." This is where the work on the Hitchcock movies comes in. Researchers at the Georgia...
September 1, 2015
"Narratives exert a powerful influence on human thoughts, emotions and behavior and can be particularly important in security contexts," DARPA researchers explained in a paper published in the Journal of Neuroscience Methods earlier this year. They added that "in conflict resolution and counterterrorism scenarios, detecting the neural response underlying empathy induced by stories is of critical importance." This is where the work on the Hitchcock movies comes in. Researchers at the Georgia...
Don’t Forget
August 31, 2015
Sleep can facilitate memory retention; however, whether it does so by promoting memory consolidation or by suppressing the mechanisms that drive forgetting is unclear. Davis and colleagues now show that, in Drosophila melanogaster, sleep reduces the activity of particular sets of dopamine neurons that drive forgetting. Hat tip to ABA Behavioral & Neuroscience Law Committee
August 31, 2015
Sleep can facilitate memory retention; however, whether it does so by promoting memory consolidation or by suppressing the mechanisms that drive forgetting is unclear. Davis and colleagues now show that, in Drosophila melanogaster, sleep reduces the activity of particular sets of dopamine neurons that drive forgetting. Hat tip to ABA Behavioral & Neuroscience Law Committee
Fourth Court OKs Drilling Through Rival’s Mineral Estate
August 31, 2015
Conflicts over oil and gas drilling rights in situations with ambiguous boundaries can often lead to heated allegations about stealthy subsurface poaching. The Fourth Court of Appeals, based in San Antonio, recently dealt with a confrontation between two energy companies involving complaints about underhanded underground trespass related to adjacent mineral estates in Dimmit Count, Texas. According to the Fourth Court of Appeals' opinion, the lawsuit is a subsurface trespass case between lessees...
August 31, 2015
Conflicts over oil and gas drilling rights in situations with ambiguous boundaries can often lead to heated allegations about stealthy subsurface poaching. The Fourth Court of Appeals, based in San Antonio, recently dealt with a confrontation between two energy companies involving complaints about underhanded underground trespass related to adjacent mineral estates in Dimmit Count, Texas. According to the Fourth Court of Appeals' opinion, the lawsuit is a subsurface trespass case between lessees...
BATNA: Examples of 10 Hard Bargaining Negotiating Skills and Negotiation Strategies
August 31, 2015
Here is their Top 10 list of hardball tactics in negotiation to watch out for: 1. Extreme demands followed up by small, slow concessions. 2. Commitment tactics. 3. Take-it-or-leave-it offers. 4. Inviting unreciprocated offers. 5. Trying to make you flinch. 6. Personal insults and feather ruffling. 7. Bluffing, puffing, and lying. 8. Threats and warnings. 9. Belittling your alternatives. 10. Good cop, bad cop.
August 31, 2015
Here is their Top 10 list of hardball tactics in negotiation to watch out for: 1. Extreme demands followed up by small, slow concessions. 2. Commitment tactics. 3. Take-it-or-leave-it offers. 4. Inviting unreciprocated offers. 5. Trying to make you flinch. 6. Personal insults and feather ruffling. 7. Bluffing, puffing, and lying. 8. Threats and warnings. 9. Belittling your alternatives. 10. Good cop, bad cop.
Cruel Summer: How Hot Weather Makes People Angrier
August 30, 2015
Many reports and analyses noticed that crimes, particularly violent crimes, increase in occurrence during the summer, especially if it is hotter than average. Some argue that the physiological reactions to heat are responsible. Raised temperatures cause an increase in heart rate, testosterone, and other metabolic reactions that trigger the sympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for the fight-or-flight response, so people are more inclined to fight. There are also numerous psychological...
August 30, 2015
Many reports and analyses noticed that crimes, particularly violent crimes, increase in occurrence during the summer, especially if it is hotter than average. Some argue that the physiological reactions to heat are responsible. Raised temperatures cause an increase in heart rate, testosterone, and other metabolic reactions that trigger the sympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for the fight-or-flight response, so people are more inclined to fight. There are also numerous psychological...
Trial by Combat: Truly An Alternative Dispute Resolution
August 30, 2015
When dealing with another round of boorish behavior by opposing counsel, who hasn't quietly wondered: "If only we could settle this the old-fashioned way." Even though modern trials evolved from the trial by combat of the Middle Ages, today our chosen champions wear suits instead of armor, wield laptops instead of swords, and face off in courtrooms rather than courtyards. Recently, however, a "Game of Thrones"-inspired lawyer from New York actually filed a motion in court seeking trial by combat. Staten...
August 30, 2015
When dealing with another round of boorish behavior by opposing counsel, who hasn't quietly wondered: "If only we could settle this the old-fashioned way." Even though modern trials evolved from the trial by combat of the Middle Ages, today our chosen champions wear suits instead of armor, wield laptops instead of swords, and face off in courtrooms rather than courtyards. Recently, however, a "Game of Thrones"-inspired lawyer from New York actually filed a motion in court seeking trial by combat. Staten...
Can Neuroscience Solve the Mystery of How Students Learn?
August 30, 2015
Educational neuroscience burst onto the scene with the hope of explaining how we learn. But the jury is still out on whether it’s useful for classroom practice. Neuroscientists, while investigating memory, stumbled across the spaced learning effect by examining simple reflexes in sea slugs, crayfish and cats—and by probing and stimulating the neurons in thin slices of rat brain. The neuroscientists discovered that repeated stimuli, with precisely timed gaps, are one of the most reliable ways...
August 30, 2015
Educational neuroscience burst onto the scene with the hope of explaining how we learn. But the jury is still out on whether it’s useful for classroom practice. Neuroscientists, while investigating memory, stumbled across the spaced learning effect by examining simple reflexes in sea slugs, crayfish and cats—and by probing and stimulating the neurons in thin slices of rat brain. The neuroscientists discovered that repeated stimuli, with precisely timed gaps, are one of the most reliable ways...
Bestlaw: the Toolbar Westlaw and LexisNexis Forgot
August 29, 2015
Once you install the extension, then whenever you view a document (such as a case or statute) in Westlaw or Lexis, you see an extra toolbar across the top of the page. The toolbar adds handy features that both Westlaw and Lexis lack. Among them: Copy a perfect Bluebook citation with one click (federal cases only). Read documents in a clean, readable view with enhanced typography. Prevent getting automatically signed off. Collapse and expand statutory sections. Automatically generate a clickable...
August 29, 2015
Once you install the extension, then whenever you view a document (such as a case or statute) in Westlaw or Lexis, you see an extra toolbar across the top of the page. The toolbar adds handy features that both Westlaw and Lexis lack. Among them: Copy a perfect Bluebook citation with one click (federal cases only). Read documents in a clean, readable view with enhanced typography. Prevent getting automatically signed off. Collapse and expand statutory sections. Automatically generate a clickable...
