When meeting Natasha, photographer Rick Smolan never imagined she’d be an emotional thread of continuity for his life. Human stories take unexpected turns, especially next year. 

I’ve got your back and you’ve got mine. That’s a mighty welcome feeling as we enter 2009.  Why?  Because, more than any of the last 25 years, 2009 will crackle with change, unexpected loss and fresh opportunities to [...]

I was born lucky. At the “up” end of Marty Seligman’s  pessimistic/ optimistic  temperament continuum. Yet this is my dire prediction for 2009 plus a bit of advice. In this volatile time, the Law of Unintended Consequences will strike repeatedly – in unexpected places.  Organizations will need to act quickly but most – large and small – will be unprepared. Unfortunately, most will react. 

That’s inevitable as your local and our global economy continues [...]

The sweet scent of the narcissus plant wafts upstairs to me just like the lingering memory of my uphill neighbors, an always upbeat Irish couple in their early eighties.  Stopping off on their daily walk, they knocked on my door early this morning to deliver the plant, their holiday gift, knowing I would be up [...]

Motorists in St. Louis helped each other in a novel way when road construction made driving difficult. Other drivers found their street was in the wrong place on their personal navigation devices? If you use

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More than we are consciously aware, we instinctively imitate one another. When around each other we synchronize our body movements, speaking styles and facial expressions.  There’s an automaticity to our reactions. But why? Many scientists believe it’s because of our desire to be liked, included in the group.  And, at a more primitive level, to survive.  

Thus our ability to mimic is

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Rather than a fake-friendly question to highlight his ignorance, a sarcastic retort, shouting or silently seething – try alleviating the friction that’s at the core of the conflict. I’m not saying it’s easy. Yet unsettled resentments usually cause two-way sabotage, in the moment and in the future, so it is worth trying something different to save [...]

What kind are they? How important? As pundits discuss Obama’s frenemies, these questions probe the other side of our psyche. UK sociologists Ray Pahl and Liz Spencer asked them in a study that led to a book, Re-Thinking Friendship. Updating a theme in Bowling Alone, they discovered:

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“Even people who are antisocial feel a need to be around other people for at least part of the day while they’re working,” says researcher Laura Forlano. That’s why soloists bootstrapped into being a co-working space in Austin called Conjunctured. Working elbow to elbow around a table or in separate offices often means you are more likely to help each other than those who work alone, they found. [...]

Some people duct-tape small cameras to their dogs’ collars to see life from another perspective. (Dog is their co-pilot) Yet you can enlist human friends to co-cover the scenes of your lives.  AmericanWinery, for example, sent Flip video cameras to their winery partners, inviting them to record “daily operations, tastings, harvest footage” and other glimpses at the back stories behind wine lovers’ favorite [...]

Attract a crowd to your event or brand by giving them bragging rights. Vicki Smith creates a post-event storyboarding experience where enthusiasts see almost moment-by-moment coverage of motorcycle events featuring the elegant Ducatis -  in a captioned sequence of photos. In short, what she dubs a “photo web story” is designed to tell the story of the event or weekend. More importantly it lets people that didn’t attend feel [...]