Weekly Download 14.20

Here’s a recap of news and notes from around the Web that caught my attention over the past week or so.

Ever sent an email you wish you didn’t? I have, leading to my adoption of this modern commandment: thou shalt not hit send in anger. You Can Recover From a Snippy Email, But Prepare to Grovel is a practical guide to  what type of emails to refrain from sending and how to make amends when you have done so and are regretting it. It includes a history lesson:

Abraham Lincoln is said to have advised his secretary of war, who was furious with one of his generals, to write the man a sharp letter, then “put it in the stove.”

IBM Plummets as CEO Abandons 2015 Earnings Forecast. I commented on this back in a July 2014 post.

How Wolves Change Rivers. Perhaps you’ve seen this making the rounds on the internet or Facebook. I thought it was very powerful example of “systems thinking” and how small things can impact distant and seemingly unrelated items. Like our natural systems that this video demonstrates, much of our work occurs in a larger system (such as our organization’s culture) that may be hard to see or understand.

Character matters. I don’t recall how I found Psychopaths in the C-suite: Fred Kiel at TEDxBGI, but I liked the research-based approach that links certain character traits and profitability. The four character traits studied are: Integrity, Responsibility, Forgiveness and Compassion.

Bonkers World is a fun site. Who doesn’t like comics? I particularly enjoyed the humor in this one:

Credit to Manu Cornet