Tips

Do you ever have someone not return your emails for a long time? Over the summer I had a two-person team not return several emails for a few months. The correspondence was low priority, but I didn't want to lose the project. They said they wanted to continue, and I believed them. Usually persisting politely without losing patience works. This time it didn't. It's easy to get angry, feel disrespected, or judge in such situations---responses I've never find effective. Finally I remembered a tactic that has worked for me each time I've used it: I ask if I've offended anyone. I wrote: Hi [person A] and [person B], Have I offended someone or unintentionally broken a rule? Josh Sometimes I write it slightly softer, like…

I wrote the following to someone who was looking for arguments on eating habits, wanting arguments not to eat meat but liking the taste and convenience. On one side you're looking for logical arguments but on the other side you have taste, pleasure, and convenience. No logical argument can counter your feelings of pleasure or convenience. Your issue is your own internal conflict: you have a gut feeling you're doing something you disagree with but you can't stop yourself, at least that's how I read what you wrote. Nobody else's morality or ethics changes that as long as you don't resolve this internal conflict, you'll feel uncomfortable with yourself. Asking others to tell you what you should or shouldn't do won't relieve that conflict. If…