This Element is an excerpt from "Focus: Your Key to More Productivity at Work" (ISBN: 9780137002566) by Jurgen Wolff. Available in print and digital formats. How to make sure virtually all your conversations and meetings achieve the goals you've set for them. We like to think of conversations as exchanges in which we listen to the other person and share our thoughts and feelings with them. It should be easy, yet often we leave a conversation or meeting feeling frustrated that the other person didn't seem to understand. The other person leaves feeling the same way. "Why is it so difficult?"
Jurgen Wolff is a writer and creativity and writing coach who divides his time between London and Southern California. He has taught at the University of Southern California, the Academy for Chief Executives, the University of Barcelona, the Pilots Project, and workshops around the world. He has written nine books including “Your Creative Writing Masterclass” (Nicholas Brealey Publishing), “Creativity Now!” (Pearson), “Marketing for Entrepreneurs” (Pearson), “Focus: the power of targeted thinking” (Pearson), “Your Writing Coach” (Nicholas Brealey), “Do Something Different” (Virgin – foreword by Sir Richard Branson). He has written more than 100 episodes of television, the feature film “The Real Howard Spitz” starring Kelsey Grammer, the miniseries “Midnight Man” starring Rob Lowe, two TV movies starring the Olsen Twins, been a script doctor on feature films starring Eddie Murphy, Walter Matthau, Michael Caine and others. He created the animated series, “Norman Normal” (56 episodes) and co-created the series “Lukas” (39 episodes). He teaches screenwriting at the Raindance Film Festivals and in workshops around the world. He is a NeuroLinguistic Programming practitioner, a certified hypnotherapist, and has studied improvisation with The Groundlings in Los Angeles and Keith Johnstone in London. He is currently writing “Reptile Nations,” a novel for Young Adults. His other sites include: www.yourwritingcoach.com (which includes bonuses to the book); www.creativitynowonline.com (which includes bonus materials for the “Creativity Now” book); www.focusquick.com (with bonus material for the “Focus” book); www.timetowrite.com; His writing blog is at www.timetowrite.blogs.com, where he posts most days with writing news and tips. - See more at: http://jurgenwolff.com/about/#sthash....