Ruminant said:

I’m personally not so convinced with the binary thinking that everything that we say or do is either positive or negative. Facts are facts, and they are neutral. I’m not sure why people are so scared of stating facts and being straightforward about them (people in general, that is). There is a difference though in how one delivers the information, and that can require some skillful maneuvering 🙂

Hi Ruminant,

I know you are right on this. The funny thing is, I’ve had a reputation in this company for “skillful delivery” for a couple of decades. I think I’m losing my touch, or age is setting in, or something, lol!

The issues cropping up recently are pushing my territorial button, and I’m working with a number of people who are very new to this type of project, but full of ideas that they assume no one has ever thought of before. That’s a trigger for me. I’ve never understood why new people don’t ask what has been tried before, *then* suggest other methods.

Dain Supero said:

Silence is more than fine as long as silence is in fact your intention and your body language is comfortable with it. It’s not the silence that’s awkward, it’s the awkward body language that almost always accompanies it. Some of the best salespersons, leaders, thinkers, orators, and politicians have used silence quite well as a tool, and to great effect.

Hi Dain:

Thank you for that, and you are also right. I suspect my body language was all over the place the other day. In the end, I probably held my opinion more than necessary. . . and while doing so, a newcomer swooped in when talk of grant applications came up, and volunteered to take on the job of writing them that I’ve been doing for years. Everyone is jostling for position. 🙂 I’m trying to hold my judgement on the fact that she has no experience whatsoever writing grant requests. And to appreciate that I don’t have to worry about them–but I’m not at that appreciation point, yet.

I wish I could fast-forward through about a year of meditation experience right now!

Thank you both for the insights.