The OK Plateau

How to change someone's mind, what experts do differently, and the rise of the 9.9%...

How to change someone's mind, what experts do differently, and the rise of the 9.9%... View email in your browser All artwork by Joe Taylor. Hi Friends- My shortlist of the best brainfood from the past week: The 9.9% is the new American aristocracy. This eye-opening longread from The Atlantic is a staggering indictment of the idea of meritocracy. Don't miss it: "A 2015 study in Boston found that the wealth of the median white family there was $247,500, while the wealth of the median African American family was $8. That is not a typo. That's two grande cappuccinos. That and another 300,000 cups of coffee will get you into the 9.9 percent." If you want to change someone's mind, listen to them. After last week's Hurry Slowly episode on feedback, a reader shared this excellent piece on the power of listening in motivating people to change their behavior: "Whereas feedback is about telling employees that they need to change, listening to employees and asking them questions might make them want to change." The manipulative power of "you understand." P*ssy Riot's Nadya Tolokonnikova on how activism and artistry requires that we invent our own language: "'You understand' is a phrase used to inure us to our own oppression, and make us complicit in the oppression of others. It draws us into the system that oppresses; tells us that we are already part of it; suggests that to reject it is simply to not get it." How experts get over the "OK Plateau." I recently dug up this archival piece from 99U on what experts do differently: "Expertise, as the formula goes, requires going from unconscious incompetence to conscious incompetence to conscious competence and finally to unconscious competence. The coach provides the outside eyes and ears, and makes you aware of where you're falling short. This is tricky. Human beings resist exposure and critique; our brains are well defended." + How to download all the info Google has on you. + A soothing meditation timer for your phone. + Too many men.   TOOLS FOR YOUR SANITY:   This week's newsletter sponsor is SaneBox, an app that saves its average user 2-4 hours every single week. With just a few clicks, it auto-magically gets your email under control and makes keeping it that way forever super-easy. Newsletter readers can test-drive a free trial and get a $25 credit at sanebox.com/jkglei.   All artwork by Joe Taylor. SHOUT-OUTS: Much appreciation to: Next Draft and Amy Varga for link ideas. The illustrations are from: Joe Taylor, who works out of Berlin, Germany. Follow him on Instagram. You can support this newsletter by: Tweeting about it, or leaving a review for Hurry Slowly on iTunes. Share This Newsletter via: Facebook Tweet Email Hi, I'm Jocelyn, the human behind this newsletter. I host the Hurry Slowly podcast — a new show about how you can be more productive, creative, and resilient by slowing down — write books that will help you reclaim your time, and give uncommonly useful talks. Subscribe to this newsletter Website: jkglei.com Twitter: @jkglei   Copyright © 2018 Hurry Slowly LLC, All rights reserved.  Mailing address: Hurry Slowly LLC P.O. Box 150-212 Brooklyn, NY 11215 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list