fastcodesign You know when a meeting turns into a complete waste of time? Maybe you’re trying to come up with ideas, or make a decision. Before anyone realizes it, the meeting starts to suck. Meetings want to suck. Two of their favorite suckiness tactics are group brainstorming and group negotiation. Give them half a chance, and they’ll waste your time, sap your energy, and leave you with poor ideas and a watered-down decision. On the Google Ventures design team, we dislike sucky meetings as much as anyone. The next time you need to make a decision or come up with a new idea in a group, call timeout and give the note-and-vote a try. How it works 1. Distribute paper and pens to each person. 2. Set the timer for two minutes. 3. One at a time, each person shares his or her top idea(s). 4. Set the timer for five minutes. 5. One at a time, each person says their vote. 6. Who is the decider? 7. The note-and-vote isn’t perfect (remember, I said "pretty good decisions"). Why it works Quiet time to think
How Technology Hijacks People’s Minds — from a Magician and Google’s Design Ethicist — The Startup How Technology Hijacks People’s Minds — from a Magician and Google’s Design Ethicist Estimated reading time: 12 minutes. I’m an expert on how technology hijacks our psychological vulnerabilities. That’s why I spent the last three years as a Design Ethicist at Google caring about how to design things in a way that defends a billion people’s minds from getting hijacked. When using technology, we often focus optimistically on all the things it does for us. Where does technology exploit our minds’ weaknesses? I learned to think this way when I was a magician. And this is exactly what product designers do to your mind. I want to show you how they do it. Hijack #1: If You Control the Menu, You Control the Choices Western Culture is built around ideals of individual choice and freedom. This is exactly what magicians do. When people are given a menu of choices, they rarely ask: “what’s not on the menu?” The “most empowering” menu is different than the menu that has the most choices. How?
Rick Hanson: The Curious Brain Hack to Build Inner Strength Do you ever find yourself stuck in a negative thought loop? Do bad work, relationship, or life experiences sometimes play on repeat in your head? It’s not your fault. Human brains are wired pay more attention to the negative. As you grow more, you give more. But there is hope. It all starts with understanding your brain and adopting a few key practices that help you cultivate lasting inner strength. Today’s guest is Dr. Rick’s latest book, Resilient, takes it even further. Turn fleeting feelings of confidence and calm into your permanent character makeup.Stop treating past trauma like it’s your destiny.Give your brain the ultimate multivitamin.Combat your brain’s natural negativity bias.Transform every experience into a learning opportunity. Check out this episode on The Marie Forleo Podcast Listen Now Once you’ve watched, Rick and I would love to hear from you. Which part of our conversation most resonated with you and why? Leave a comment below and let me know. Never forget.