June 2018
Last month in London , I spoke at a "Creating the Future" conference to about 500 investment bankers. Research shows that majority of us feel technology improves our personal lives but ruins our society. When designs are personally convenient but collectively cumbersome, it…
Read →June 2018
I'm always amazed by what happens in between the cracks. Last month, in Austria, I had a very tight schedule but a very sweet woman asked if I would be willing to do an interview over breakfast in Vienna. Out came this interview in German , and this translation . Afterwards, as she…
Read →June 2018
How do we avoid putting people on a pedestal? Devotion has its merits, but Guru-disciple dichotomy can also be quite problematic? I tend to think in terms of spectrums. There's Gurus with a capital G, teachers, mentors, historical heroes, momentary inspirations, and so on. Personally,…
Read →May 2018
Growing up, I had four very close friends who were from Vietnam. I never thought I'd ever get to visit their native country, but here I was, today, landing in Ho Chi Minh City. Few years ago, I had met Hang-Mai and Giang Dang at a well-being dialogue in Germany. Giang has done some…
Read →May 2018
This morning, I went to a women's prison where Ana and Anjo have been putting on weekly "theater arts" circles. Last year, when Nimo visited, they were all deeply moved and then memorized his songs. And as a tribute to him, and to express their gratitude, they put on a *phenomenal*…
Read →May 2018
iNay means mother in Filipino. That's what Ana named the beautiful 5-story building at Assumption College, whose mission now is to "encourage circles." It has a gorgeous yoga studio, various halls, a state of the art theater, a zen room, and a whole lot more. It feels like our…
Read →May 2018
Today, I spoke to the graduating class of 2018 at Assumption College . After my commencement, the students received their diplomas. They had to walk up to the "x" on the stage, bow and then receive the diploma. The only thing was that I was right in front -- so they all had to look in my…
Read →May 2018
I spoke to a 10th grade assembly, and then a 12th grade one, at Assumption School today. To the 10th graders, I asked if they felt that human beings were fundamentally selfish with a few moments of kindness, or fundamentally kind with a few moments of selfishness. It produced some very spirited…
Read →May 2018
This morning, I had to speak to some students at Asian Institute of Management -- one of the top rated business schools in the Philippines. Ricky, the former Dean, and now a long-time professor, warned me that these students are super competitive and love to be argumentative. :) The thing is,…
Read →May 2018
I arrived in Philippines today, for the first time. It's a developing country in many ways, with 450 thousand call center workers in Manila alone. Colonized by Spanish, it's a largely Catholic country, whose current president is a vocal proponent of violence as a means to solve problems.…
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