At the recent Society for the Advancement of Consulting conference we talked about (some) peoples’ lack of social acuity. There is no better place to observe this than when walking down a city street.
We don’t even have to include people staring at their phones (and I’m so tempted to one day just stop and let them run into me rather than dodge them). Groups who walk four abreast, slowly. People who merge from a building into pedestrian traffic and go slower than the flow. And of course, those who just stop to get their bearings, take a picture, or look at something.
You score a lot of points when you show you’re paying attention to what’s around you and have consideration for others. Something as simple as this can make or break any kind of deal, buy-sell, new customer, or a job.
