Our Common Denominator

Since the politicization of anthropology in the 1970s, most anthropologists have been reluctant to approach the topic of universals—that is, phenomena that occur regularly in all known human societies. In this volume, Christoph Antweiler reasserts the importance of these cross-cultural commonalities for anthropological research and for life and co-existence beyond the academy. The question presented here is how anthropology can help us approach humanity in its entirety, understanding the world less as a globe, with an emphasis on differences, but as a planet, from a vantage point open to commonalities.

What if people -- even longtime enemies -- could transform conflicts into dilemmas they feel motivated to solve together and build more connection and trust? What if employees could leave a meeting empowered and with a joint sense of purpose? What if the positive changes community activists are working so hard to see in the world had a lasting impact?In THE HIGHEST COMMON DENOMINATOR: Using Convergent Facilitation to Reach Breakthrough Collaborative Decisions, Miki Kashtan introduces a novel decision-making process called Convergent Facilitation that builds trust from the beginning, surfaces concerns and addresses them, and turns conflicts into dilemmas that groups feel energized to solve together. This highly-effective decision-making process has been used successfully around the world to resolve problems and teach people how to collaborate without sacrificing productivity. Since 2002, Convergent Facilitation has helped organizations, businesses, and governments upend traditional and unproductive decision-making methods, such as majority rule, top-down decision-making and coercion, or consensus, which can drain a group's energy. In 2012, Miki worked with the Minnesota State Legislature to resolve gridlock on child custody legislation and helped stakeholders draft bills that passed nearly unanimously. In a 2014 op-ed in the New York Times, Miki explained how power differences lead employees to stay silent and not feel part of a common goal, which ultimately makes a business run less effectively. THE HIGHEST COMMON DENOMINATOR allows readers to learn and implement Convergent Facilitation. The book moves readers through three phases of a process that brings groups to outcomes that are profoundly collaborative and genuinely supported by all. Through vivid case studies and practical examples, the book explains:?how to guide people towards solutions that integrate everyone's needs and concerns without requiring compromise;?how to keep people on track with the task at hand;?how to invite dissent and engage with it productively; and?how to attend to the power differences that so often interfere with collaboration.

Most people imagine their career following a straight path, but in reality, it is filled with twists and turns. What do you do when you want a new job or change your career? How do you identify the right industries, roles, and organizations for you? Who do you contact in your professional and personal networks? Skills: The Common Denominator shows you how to determine your transferable skills and present them to potential employers to differentiate yourself as a job candidate. Part inspiration, part how-to, you will read stories from 25 career changers to learn how you can position yourself to make a successful switch. Discover ways to: Identify your transferable skills Build (or rebuild) your professional brand to stand out in a job search Leverage digital tools to master LinkedIn, secure interviews, and stay organized Cultivate your network to find a role that best aligns with your strengths Keep an open mind on today's top transferable skills as you grow your team With the help of Asha Aravindakshan's Skills: The Common Denominator, you can land the job made for you, whether you are entering the job market or looking to pivot.

Advanced races generally are eager to share their knowledge with primitive ones. In this case ... with Earthmen!

This textbook has been in constant use since 1980, and this edition represents the first major revision of this text since the second edition. It was time to select, make hard choices of material, polish, refine, and fill in where needed. Much has been rewritten to be even cleaner and clearer, new features have been introduced, and some peripheral topics have been removed. The authors continue to provide real-world, technical applications that promote intuitive reader learning. Numerous fully worked examples and boxed and numbered formulas give students the essential practice they need to learn mathematics. Computer projects are given when appropriate, including BASIC, spreadsheets, computer algebra systems, and computer-assisted drafting. The graphing calculator has been fully integrated and calculator screens are given to introduce computations. Everything the technical student may need is included, with the emphasis always on clarity and practical applications.

The Highest Common Denominator is a testament to rising together, to reaching higher, and to intersecting at the best version of ourselves, in service of equality, of opportunity, and of optionality.

When you think about forgiving do you associate it with religion? If so, you are among the majority of people. Even individuals that do not have a religious affiliation, express they associate forgiveness with religion. Approximately 30 years ago research scientist had a flux of groundbreaking discoveries concerning the connection between our mind and body. Studies proved that thoughts affect our emotions, and emotions affect our bodies. Here's an example of how your mind can affect your body. Imagine you're at work and you have a disagreement with your co-worker regarding the next step on a large project that is your responsibility. Your co-worker gets very defensive about how he feels and suddenly begins to make comments about you that were not true. You walked out of his office feeling, angry, hurt, and disappointed. Once you were in your office you noticed your heart was beating faster than usual and your breathing had increased. You were starting to get a headache as well. It's clear your feelings of anger and hurt affected your body. Here's another example that's more intense. After working hard one morning, your boss decides to give you the afternoon off. You were excited because your spouse works the night shift and you don't get to spend a lot of time together. As you walk in the house, you notice some shoes that didn't look familiar. You open the bedroom door and find your spouse in your bed with someone else. How would you feel? Maybe furious, hurt, outraged, shocked, etc., you never thought your spouse would do something like that. What type of physical symptoms do you think you may feel? Increased heart rate, An increase in your heart rate and breathing, light-headed, sweaty, nauseated, just to mention a few symptoms. From the example above, Do you believe it's important to forgive your spouse? What do you think happens if you do not forgive the person who hurts you? The negative memory is stored in your subconscious mind just like other memories. As time goes by you notice you don't think of the event much, you've been staying busy with work and friends. It may appear that time is healing your wounds and at some point, it will be forgotten. However, this is not what happens. It may be hard for you to believe right now, but unforgiveness over time will make you sick. I will explain precisely what happens in your body when you don't forgive that causes you to slowly become ill. When we go through emotional trauma, we have the choice to forgive or not to forgive. Are you willing to forgive? Do you know how to forgive? Are you aware of the cost of unforgiveness? You will find the answers to these questions and many more in this book. I hope my journey of forgiveness will inspire you to be forgiving so you can obtain the benefits of living a life of forgiveness.