Empathy Lessons From Babies
It's just Nolan Winecka's second time teaching a class of fifth graders at Emerald Park Elementary School in this Seattle suburb, and it shows as he stares nervously at the two dozen kids surrounding him. Nolan is 6 months old and hasn't had any formal pedagogical training. But to the group that put him in the classroom, he has everything he needs to help teach children an unconventional subject. ... posted on Feb 14 2008, 3,663 reads

Don't Hate the Media, Make Media
A change is taking place in how we communicate. Just ten years ago we all learned about the world around us from newspapers, the television, and radio. Sometimes at dinner we talk about these stories with our friends and family. But ten years ago we rarely, if ever, communicated directly with the journalists themselves. Over the last few years everything has changed. Thanks to new tools like weblo... posted on Feb 03 2008, 2,119 reads

The 7 Keys To Joy at Work
Ask bosses what makes employees happy at work, and many are likely to think in terms of tangible rewards: a good salary, a pleasant office, generous benefits. Those play a role in job satisfaction, of course. But increasingly, workplace specialists are discovering that for many workers, the "happiness factor" depends heavily on intangibles, such as respect, trust, and fairness. "Study after study ... posted on Jan 30 2008, 9,447 reads

A $10 Assignment in Giving
A Professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison did a little experiment with his class, leaving each student $10 to explore giving. Stories unfolded. Katrina Kapetanovic, like everyone else, struggled mightily with what to do with her $10. "It suddenly dawned on me. This $10 serves as a reminder that I need to be doing something for a good cause. This is enough. I'm going to find a picture ... posted on Jan 23 2008, 3,043 reads

A New Way of Listening
Deaf percussionist Evelyn Glennie's music challenges the listener to ask where music comes from: Is it more than simply a translation from score to instrument to audience? How can a musician who has almost no hearing play with such sensitivity and compassion? The Grammy-winning percussionist and composer became almost completely deaf by the age of 12, but her hearing loss brought her a deeper unde... posted on Jan 20 2008, 3,488 reads

Storytelling That Moves People
Why is persuasion so difficult, and what can you do to truly inspire people? In search of answers to those questions, Harvard Business Review paid a visit to Robert McKee, the world's best-known and most respected screenwriting lecturer. McKee believes that executives can engage listeners on a whole new level if they toss their PowerPoint slides and learn to tell good stories instead. He argues th... posted on Jan 19 2008, 6,609 reads

Kindness In Full Bloom
"Everyone says the flowers smell good but I don't smell anything. Nothing. Do you smell them?" she asks, in her heavily accented voice. After walking around a busy street looking to do a random act of kindness, I had stumbled into this flower shop. Even though my mind was busy devising possible scenarios, I had a gut feeling that something was going to present itself." So begins this real-life sto... posted on Jan 16 2008, 3,551 reads

Competing for Change
Everybody loves a contest, from highbrow tests of knowledge like "Jeopardy," to rollicking displays of artistic ambition like "American Idol". Now, Ashoka's Changemakers.net is tapping into the same sporting instinct to inspire people to think, connect, and help, using one of the Internet's signature movements: open sourcing. The group hosts online competitions in which contestants offer solutions... posted on Jan 15 2008, 1,668 reads

100 Ideas For Peace
Creating world peace is no easy task and it continues to be one of the most significant challenges of our times. But there are several things each of us as individuals can do to help create a more peaceful world. "Be generous with your smiles." "Let someone else go first." These are just two examples from a list of 100 simple and inspiring ideas written by David Krieger, Founder President of the N... posted on Jan 12 2008, 5,183 reads

Life Lessons at Surf School
They would just sit there on the beach, every day, watching, says South African surfer Gary Kleynhans. Then, one day, he called them over. "I could see from their enthusiasm that they wanted to try," he says. "And I thought, 'Let me give these kids a go.'" And so he started free surfing classes for the street kids of this windswept beach town. Word spread fast, and six little students became 10, t... posted on Jan 08 2008, 2,129 reads