Our Desire to Fit In and the Problems That Creates & How Language Lets Us Down

If you spend much time in meetings, you have probably noticed that often, it is just a few people who tend to dominate and take up most of the time. In fact, the larger the number of people in a meeting, the fewer of them actually speak up and participate. This episode begins with an explanation as to why so many people don’t speak up and how to get more people to participate in important meetings. Source: Kevin Coyne author of Brainsteering (https://amzn.to/36pCqc1). It is human nature to conform to the group. We want to get along with our tribe - that’s what people do. However, the result of conforming even when we disagree can spell trouble according to Dr. Todd Rose, Professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and author of the book Collective Illusions: Conformity, Complicity, and the Science of Why We Make Bad Decisions (https://amzn.to/3CZz6AF). Today, just because a few people speak up loudly on social media, doesn’t mean they represent the majority opinion. In fact, often they do not. Yet we are wired to believe that the loudest voices represent what most people believe. And that is where the trouble begins. This fascinating conversation will get you thinking…  There are thousands of languages spoken around the world. Have you ever wondered what they have in common? Or how they differ - or why the differ? Do languages really do an adequate job in communicating what we want to say? Joining me to explore this and to help you understand how language has helped humans thrive is N.J. Enfield, a professor of Linguistics at the University of Sydney and author of the book, Language vs. Reality: Why Language Is Good for Lawyers and Bad for Scientists (https://amzn.to/3way7vK). When you write a cover letter in hopes of getting a job, you’ve probably wondered if anyone actually reads it. Well, there is a little trick that can help increase the chances of that letter being ready by as much as 75%! Listen as I explain this simple strategy. Source: Skip Freeman, author of Headhunter Hiring Secrets (https://a