"I think she likes me." A former colleague, cup of coffee in hand, had just returned from the Pret A Manger on the ground floor of our office building. "Who?" I asked. "The girl down at Pret," he said. "One of the cashiers." He held up the coffee. "She just gave me this for free! … Continue reading Did the Pret A Manger cashier actually like my coworker?
Author: T Coe
Evidence-based ways to make our meetings better
You want to make your meetings better? First, stop reading those repetitive Business Insider listicles by anonymous, uncredentialed writers, and pick up a book by Steven G. Rogelberg. The book—excuse its over-excited title—is The Surprising Science of Meetings: How You Can Lead Your Team to Peak Performance. A nifty overview of Rogelberg's work, this book … Continue reading Evidence-based ways to make our meetings better
The (once) mortal threat of the deadline
I know that they can be a big deal, but do we really need to be calling them deadlines? Must we invoke our own mortality when we're talking about an RFP? Can't we just call it a due date?! Strangely enough, it turns out that deadline has a long, strange history and, sure enough, was … Continue reading The (once) mortal threat of the deadline
Sleep pressure and its discontents
When you have an infant, you think a lot about sleep, mainly about how much you're not getting. Over the past four months, I've carped endlessly about my lack of sleep—to family, to friends, to colleagues, to dental hygienists, to really anyone who will listen. Sleep is something you don't miss until it's gone. To … Continue reading Sleep pressure and its discontents
Holding infants and the left-handed cradling bias
At some point in the past four months of having an infant, I took note of my preference for picking him up with his head on the left side of my body, but didn't think too much of it. I figured the preference was just one of those left-hand-bias oddities in my life, despite being … Continue reading Holding infants and the left-handed cradling bias
Playing the “gaze game”
In his excellent book Subliminal, Leonard Mlodinow discusses a common and not-often-commented-upon element of all in-person social interactions—what he refers to as the "gaze game." We automatically adjust the amount of time we spend looking into another's eyes as a function of our relative social position, and we typically do it without being aware that … Continue reading Playing the “gaze game”
7 pieces of writing advice from Roman & Raphaelson
One of my favorite books about writing—and I mean the real nitty-gritty of writing—is Kenneth Roman and Joel Raphaelson's Writing That Works: How to Communicate Effectively in Business. The thesis put forward by Roman & Raphaelson ("R&R" from here on out) is that most of the writing we encounter in the office workplace is just … Continue reading 7 pieces of writing advice from Roman & Raphaelson
Did I receive the “fatherhood bonus”? (Um, yes.)
Recently, in researching parental/family leave, I came across a worrying concept: the fatherhood bonus. In an article published in the Third Way, sociologist Michelle Budig looks at the fatherhood bonus alongside and its partner concept, the motherhood penalty, and explores some of the reasons that they occur in workplaces across the US. Of course, the … Continue reading Did I receive the “fatherhood bonus”? (Um, yes.)
Should we stop using shoot to talk about photography?
Sometimes, certain words just don't feel right. Around a year ago, I was writing an email to the principal of a school my firm had designed, which had recently been completed. My email began something like this: Hi [Principal],I am reaching out to discuss when we might be able to come and shoot your school. … Continue reading Should we stop using shoot to talk about photography?
Has remote work killed the hard copy?
The past year of remote work poured accelerant on many workplace trends, including flexible work, collaborative platforms like Microsoft Teams, and fully remote meetings. Less remarked upon is another trend, which has been quietly creeping along for years now: the death of the hard copy. When I started in the A/E/C industry five years ago, … Continue reading Has remote work killed the hard copy?
Taylor Coe 