Silence During Conflict

A pristine forest doesn’t count as anything for GDP, unless you chop it down and sell the wood for lumber at Home Depot. You can say the same thing about human attention.

Moments of quiet, pristine awareness, such as a walk in the woods or time with your kids making or appreciating art doe...

We as a society have used silence and honoured silence in ceremonies, milestones, and cultural events. We want to welcome that back into the foreground of our way of being together.

Ironically, finding comfort with silence in the workplace starts with more conversation.

Ma means empty, negative space.

Ma also means pure potentiality. On the job, that would mean having reverence for open spaces, honouring them and building them in.

Ma can be physical, such as having empty spaces in buildings that provide a sense of calm and clarity. And Ma can mean ad...

While brainstorming sessions are usually filled with noise, they also offer a perfect opportunity to introduce silence. We could add a minute or two of quiet during the meeting, allowing employees to think before sharing ideas.

Or create a silent brainstorming session with a Post-it note ga...

Silence may be golden, but it’s also awkward. In our noisy world, long quiet pauses prompt many of us to jump in and fill the void.

Awkward silence is a real issue for people.

When you’re face-to-face with another person or with a group of people, you face what Nietzsche called the ho...