Conversation Agent - Valeria Maltoni

Thought-Provoking Readings to Build a Better Future

There's only one thing worse than having no data, and that is using the wrong data. Numbers without context are useless. Well, you can say the same for knowledge: Competencies and skills are useful, but without the ability to make deeper associations that lead to ah-ha moments or new insights you cannot ask better questions. When you don't understand why something is happening, it's because you don't have all the underlying variables. What's evident for data — yet still misapplied — is also true for thinking and reasoning. If there ever was a time to get outside your comfort zone,... Read more →

A Sound Brand

Originally from Cremona in the Northern Italy region Lombardy, Mina Mazzini—Mina in discography—has a long string of timeless success to here name. At 80, her sound career spans more than four decades. She made the history of Italian television in the 60s and 70s with a combination of stage presence and incredible talent, then decided to abandon it forever. The images here are but a small sampling of the amazing creativity of the Mina brand. Her voice is unmatched to this day. I have used a reverse chronological order for the collage. She has since recorded / reissued several new... Read more →

Responding to Emergencies

On Friday, September 21, 2001 there was an explosion in the city of Tolouse, France. Since it happened ten short days after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, it meant immediate panic about a terror attack. The public had already been primed in that direction by both politicians and the always-on news cycle. At the time, I had flights to Italy booked 20 days out and, though I didn't know it yet, I would lose my job right before Christmas. It was a volatile time, marked by ambiguity and uncertainty. Making decisions with a clear head... Read more →

Thought is the One Thing Free to Roam, Spirit can Grow Strong

“Thought is like the sea,” says Bologna-native musician Lucio Dalla, “You cannot block or fence it in.”# The human spirit is resilient and we can rebuild... better. Like all artists and musicians International Opera Choir - International Symphonic Lyric Choir has suspended activities to comply with various decrees. In a note companion to the video, they say (translation mine): Therefore we opened the doors of our virtual rehearsal room that each of us 'reaches' with the means available, equipped with smartphones and voice, to hear and feel close to each other through Music. And if it is true that “the... Read more →

Why the Little Decisions we Make Every Day are of Infinite Importance

We earn success a little bit a time, in the moment to moment decisions that in themselves make no visible difference whatsoever, but the accumulated compounding effect is profound. Understanding that the effects of small actions build over time helps us do something we may have struggled for years — to start. Whether we want to be healthier or pick a more diverse panel of speakers at conferences, we can make big changes with small steps. C. S. Lewis# once said, “Good and evil increase at compound interest. That’s why the little decisions we make every day are of infinite... Read more →

The Power of Relationships and the Value of Experts

I've been tracking human responses to what the World Health Organization (WHO) just declared a pandemic for a few weeks. The ability to read in more than two languages has given me a front line seat to how communication is moving through networks. Last week I published an article about how the riskiest ideas are the ones we don't recognize. In it, I link to many of the sources and resources I've been using and evaluating over the past ten-to-twelve years. As I've come to expect, many of these curators of economic, science, and communication information have intensified the usefulness... Read more →

You're Saying Important Things. Here's How to Get People to Believe You.

I'm seeing many guides on remote work online and in email distributions. Some of them touch on an important element of remote work: Communication. But if the importance of good communication practices is critical in heightened situations, I'd like to point out that remote work is a normal reality with customers. A company's operations are generally opaque to customers and clients. For good reason, what customers and clients care about are the results. They see your communications from the outside in. It's a process that happens at lightening speed: I'm considering if this is a valuable use of my energy,... Read more →

In the Culture of "Me," we Exist Because of "Us"

The biggest crisis we're facing today is not a lack of means to solve problems. It's not the desire to make things happen. It's not even the lack of (insert flavor the year) skills. Though we can use better questions and thinking to improve all of them. No, our biggest crisis is one of hubris: 1./ To think that there exist exceptional individuals who are going to swoop in and make everything better, without fully understanding what's required; and 2./ To judge what happens elsewhere irrelevant, without understanding what is happening because of it. This is the fallacy, to think... Read more →

Culture and Business in Books

Reading is a form of freedom. Libraries and bookstores are some of the most interesting places in the world. Growing up, we had a library of 5,000 books in the house—my antilibrary. The year started off reading a great mystery novel by Scottish crime writer Val McDermid, and continues with a mix of books. An inner dialogue with different ideas is possible only if we're willing to engage with diversity in geography and culture. How I read books: In batches and not linearly. Culture About culture, but also hearing from different perspectives. Sensemaking: The Power of the Humanities in the... Read more →

How the Riskiest Ideas are the Ones we Don't Recognize

In his first inaugural address on March 4, 1933#, Franklin D. Roosevelt outlined in broad terms his vision of how he hoped to govern. During his presidential campaign, Roosevelt had said as little as possible about what he might do, if elected. His campaign speeches favored a buoyant, optimistic tone spiced with humor. The speech was solemn as warranted by a worrisome context: By 1933 the depression had reached its depth. Addressing the failures of the market and those of unscrupulous profiteers, he said, “when there is no vision the people perish.” FDR made changes to policy that intended to... Read more →