Sometimes you find those amazing signs of life just in your daily routines. While biking home, I stumbled upon this huge bill board giving me this sign…

Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never die, but long after we are gone will be a living thing, asserting itself with ever-growing insistency. Remember that our sons and grandsons are going to do things that would stagger us. Let your watchword be order and your beacon beauty. Think big.

Daniel Burnham, Chicago architect. (1846-1912)

This morning, I received a really nice article in a -in my opinion- highly regarded newsletter from Knowledge@W.P. Carey. It treats the measurement of success. It is not about profit and personal gain. It is about inspiration MBA! Helping others, giving them support, be yourself although it may hurt!

Below the text from the newsletter:

Recently a senior executive at a large financial services firm struggled to answer whether the client’s interests come first, reported Dean Robert Mittelstaedt of the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University in his remarks at the convocation on May 13, 2010. What has happened to respect for customers, commitment to organizational purpose and advancement, making the right decision even if it does not maximize short term profit, he asked. The global trend away from a focus on excellence and organizational success to a focus on personal success is “dangerous and destructive,” he said. He challenged the graduates to measure success by the progress made in society and their organizations. Make that your ultimate goal and personal success will follow, he said. “Your leadership will differentiate you, your ethics will save you, and continuous learning will make you successful.”

If a person touches his nose, or covers his mouth, is he lying? In some cases yes, this can be an indicator. It is all about calibration.

What is calibration?

When looking for a lie, you need to know what a person does when they are telling the truth. If a person uses their hands when they talk, or their eyes dart around when they are having a comfortable conversation, you can calibrate their mannerisms, voice, tempo and eyes for honesty. Notice their normal mannerisms when you know they are answering the easy questions and telling the truth. This is the most critical part. When you suspect that someone is lying, you will compare their dishonest response to the way they respond when telling the truth.

Hands, head position, voice level, eye positions, shoulders, everything will be a signal when you know what to look for.

You need to make note of the differences in behavior that shows that an internal conflict is happening. When there is a conflict, the brain does not respond normally. It creates signals that make it impossible for the person to keep the same mannerisms, voice tone, head position, all in a congruent state as the lie is told.

Typical body language that reveals an internal conflict:

• Hands over mouth
• Hand to nose
• Hand to ear
• Hands or fingers moving, wringing, tapping
• Head tilt to side
• Head turned away
• Body moving backwards
• Blink rate increases
• Pupils contract
• Eyes go down to left or right
• Eyelids stay closed during the answer
• Voice tone rises
• Clearing the throat

Do these things mean a person is lying? Not necessarily.  It depends on the calibration. Remember you are looking for the differences- the thing that the body does because there is an internal conflict that causes involuntary “leakage” of the emotional charge.

Words can be a great indicator that a person is about to lie:

• Answering your question with a question

• Repeating the statement, rather than answering
• Say “I am telling you the truth
• “I will not lie to you”
• Accusing “Are you saying I am lying?”
• Stammering, stuttering, and pausing before answering
• Pointing while answering

The sound of the voice

• Voice raises due to tightness of vocal chords.
• Anxiety makes voice squeaky or raspy
• Mumbling

Eyes

• Blink rate increasing
• pupils contracting
• Looking down to left or right (depending on whether the person is right or left handed)
• Eye twitch- involuntary
• Staring into your eyes (look for leakage immediately)

These signals alone do not mean a person is lying. If you have calibrated properly, you will see the immediate and obvious change, or combination of behaviors that mean they are lying. Remember, it is all about the way the person tells the truth, that will tell you when they are lying.

Some people think that they can lie by looking you right in the eyes. But, guaranteed, something else will give. Even if they have practiced lying there will be a signal somewhere else.  A face that lacks expression can be covering up the lie- but the lack of expression and the lack of micro muscle movements can be the dead giveaway.

If you learn how to detect a liar, the clues will be obvious. You will wonder how you never noticed such OBVIOUS signals before.

Copied from http://www.wendi.com/video/html/how_to_know.html

The posting explains the role of body language. Body language is actually quite easy: Being receptive to signals and respond to that. Most of us learn it in the disco or in sales. For those interested in some good reading, check out amazon or any other book store for books of Kevin Hogan (I remember Irresistible Attraction quite well) and the Pease family.

The course will be available this month.

“In every job there has to be done, there is an element of fun. So find the fun, and the job is “snap” done”

Mary Poppins

A Violinist in the Metro
A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated
that thousand of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk. A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but
the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all
the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one
noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.
Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a
commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?

To prove it’s not a hoax, here’s the footage!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html

and on youtube