CHAPTER 4The Writing Failures

 

IN THE SPRING of 2009, Annmarie Neal, a psychologist who works at Cisco Systems to develop upper-management talent, accompanied her child’s class of five-year-olds to the Denver Art Museum to see an exhibit on samurai warriors. Once at the museum, the girls sat together peacefully and asked polite questions of the museum’s monitor. The boys, by contrast, wanted to touch everything everywhere and their questions were often impolitely blurted out. Especially noticeable was one little boy who hopped up and down on one foot while asking questions. The teacher advised the boy to sit down, gather his thoughts carefully—and then ask a question.

The squirmy boy reminded Neal of some of the employees she advises at Cisco. ...

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