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Microlending Success Starts with a Smile
The economist Muhammad Yunus was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 in recognition for his pioneering work in microlending – making small loans available to people living in poverty. Yunus believed that entrepreneurs in rural, impoverished areas needed the same things as any other business—capital to get their small businesses started and growing. These entrepreneurs are frequently unable to get loans through traditional banking institutions. Through microlending, someone in Montana can help finance a small $500 loan so that an aspiring tailoring business in Tajikistan can invest in buying more sewing machines.
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Bedtime Stories for Young Brains
The New York Times: A little more than a year ago, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a policy statement saying that all pediatric primary care should include literacy promotion, starting at birth. That means pediatricians taking care of infants and toddlers should routinely be advising parents about how important it is to read to even very young children. The policy statement, which I wrote with Dr. Pamela C. High, included a review of the extensive research on the links between growing up with books and reading aloud, and later language development and school success. ...
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3 lessons from the Amazon takedown
Fortune: The recent profile of Amazon’s culture shows us that leaders aren’t always what they seem, money trumps human comfort, and harried workers may have themselves to blame. The recent New York Times profile of Amazon.comdescribing its relentless, high-pressure, measurement-obsessed culture is scarcely the first to depict what it is like to work there, either in its warehouses or its offices.
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Don’t Hit Send: Angry Emails Just Make You Angrier
The Wall Street Journal: One evening, after a frustrating chat with his boss, Jason Bauman sent an email to a co-worker. He wrote that his supervisor never praised him, only criticized, and said he found this frustrating. He went on for several hundred words. Mr. Bauman, the manager of a cellphone store at the time, complained that his boss was bad at his job. He said the man was jealous because he made less money than his employees. He insisted his boss had no right to give him what he called “a hard time.” “It felt really good writing the email and hitting send,” says Mr. Bauman, a 30-year-old who lives in Souderton, Pa. Not for long. Mr.
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How a coughing ape is changing our ideas about animals, humans and language
The Washington Post: The 280-pound gorilla fits awkwardly in the lab at the Gorilla Foundation, her domed head brushing up against the cabinets that hang just below the ceiling. She looks into the camera and touches a lone, large finger to her lips, waiting. “How about when you’re, um, coughing?” researcher Penny Patterson asks from off screen. Koko the gorilla raises a hand to her mouth, waits a beat, then wheezes into it, sounding every bit like an aging smoker. “That was good!” Patterson cheers, while Koko holds a massive hand out to her, as though accepting the praise. ...
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When You’re in Charge, Your Whisper May Feel Like a Shout
The New York Times: “Gail, I need to talk with you about something this afternoon. Can you come by my office at 3 p.m.?” I didn’t think much about my seemingly innocuous words, spoken to one of my department’s doctoral students one morning back when I was an assistant professor. Gail showed up right on time, walking into my office with great trepidation. I proceeded to go over some small changes in a research project we were planning. After I finished talking, Gail sternly said, “Never do that to me again!” “Do what?” I said with much confusion. ... At the time of these exchanges, I had started to study the psychological effects of power.
