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Author's 'before' picture is me very often. I'm nearly ego-less in pursuit of the truth--more than ready to be shown wrong myself--but that doesn't mean that co
by midnightmonster 11y ago
Author's 'before' picture is me very often. I'm nearly ego-less in pursuit of the truth--more than ready to be shown wrong myself--but that doesn't mean that coworkers and loved ones end up feeling good about the conversation.
I hope he will write a "how to" follow up, because I would like to change, but I don't see how to do it in a way that doesn't sound impossibly exhausting.
I'm hopeful that it actually is possible, though, because for 30+ years I had never been able to keep any space well-ordered for more than a few weeks, nor had any reason to think I ever would be able to. I read "the life changing magic of tidying up" and it turns out I can do it--I just needed to be taught how. This may not seem relevant, but it's been life-changing not so much to have a tidy office, but to learn that what I assumed was a fixed personal trait was changeable after all.
- fsniper 11y agoI think reading, "How To Win Friends and Influence People " from Dale Carnegie helps. Took me years to understand soft skills are as much or more important than technical skills. (Fixed book's name)
- spb 11y agoIt's "How to Win Friends and Influence People", and it's one of Paul Graham's recommended books (see http://www.paulgraham.com/startupfaq.html http://www.paulgraham.com/startupfaq.html ), along with the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. There's also "7 Habits of Highly Effective People", which is often recommended in the same breath.
- fsniper 11y agoShoot, I wrote it correctly at first, and after checking for the authors correct name with google, I screwed and put it wrongly. That search is still open and the text is correct there. Actually, I don't know how I managed this screw up.
- beat 11y agoI did a lightning talk a while back called "7 Habits of Highly Effective DevOps", adapting the habits and the organization of them to doing DevOps well.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- midnightmonster 11y agoThanks. Maybe I'll try it again. I've read it once, and my memory of what I read is a major contributor to the entire enterprise seeming beyond exhausting.
- dustincoates 11y agofsniper made a good recommendation with "How to Win Friends and Influence People." I'd also put in a recommendation for a book I stumbled upon when searching through Hacker News called "Difficult Conversations." http://www.amazon.com/Difficult-Conversations-Discuss-What-Matters/dp/0143118447 http://www.amazon.com/Difficult-Conversations-Discuss-What-M... I got the same feeling from reading the book as the original recommender ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7762266 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7762266 ): reading the book made me feel instantly better at being able to communicate when having difficult or tense conversations. I can't recommend it enough.