Find a practice for your goal
Search for the skill or situation you want to work on, such as focus, negotiation, or setting boundaries. Open a practice to read its steps before choosing what suits you.
54 results (expanded search) for "DESC"
Social
DESC Builder for Recurring Conflict
Describe, Express, Specify, Consequence — a template to disarm any recurring quarrel.
Leadership
Conflict with Your Manager: DESC Model
Manager crossed a line or made an error affecting you. DESC: Describe, Express, Specify, Consequence. Each in a sentence.
Social
DESC Script for a Tough Conversation
Write four sentences: Describe the behavior, Express the impact, Specify the change, Consequences.
Social
DESC Script
In tough confrontation: Describe-Express-Specify-Consequence — four sentences resolve.
Leadership
Build a Hard Conversation with DESC
4 steps: Describe (situation), Express (impact), Specify (change), Consequences (outcomes).
Psychological
Emotion Description Without Judgment
Name feeling (sad, angry) — without "I'm bad" or "this is wrong".
Parenting
Specific Praise Over Generic
Instead of "great job," describe exactly what he did — "I love how you split the problem into two steps."
Psychological
Ethical Will
Write what you want to bequeath to descendants — discover what matters.
Professional
Praise Specificity Drill
Replace vague "good job" with specific praise describing: what he did, impact, why it matters.
Social
Replace "Always/Never" With "Today/Now"
In fights, "you always..." is a no-return point. Swap with "today I noticed...".
Social
20-Minute Time-Out in a Fight
When pulse passes 100, call a 20-min time-out — physiology needs time.
Social
Small Repair Within 24 Hours
After a fight, don't wait — a small repair gesture within 24h saves the bond.
Social
Shared Need Question
Deep in conflict, ask: "What is the shared need we are both trying to meet?"
Social
Four-Part Apology
Name the act, acknowledge impact, commit to change, ask for repair — an apology that mends.
Administrative
Vendor Consolidation
Count vendors per category — consolidating 2 similar drops price 15-25%.
Administrative
Vendor Scoring Matrix
Don't pick vendor "by gut" — score on 6 dimensions with weights, pick by points.
Administrative
Effective RFP Design
Good RFP defines what you need precisely + selection criteria — not "send anything".
Administrative
Contract Red-Flag Checklist
Before signing: 12 red flags that may cost thousands later.
Administrative
New Vendor 90-Day Check-In
90 days into contract: review with vendor — don't wait for renewal to find issues.
Administrative
Switch-Cost Analysis
Before renewing expensive vendor: compute real switch cost — may be less than you think.
Administrative
Exit-Clause Review Before Signing
Before signing: exit options? notice? penalties? data handoff?
Administrative
Mediating Conflicting Stakeholders
When stakeholder A wants X, B wants opposite: don't pick — surface underlying interests.
Leadership
Building Psychological Safety on Edmondson's Model
Teams with high psychological safety perform 4x better. This exercise measures and raises it in your team.
Leadership
Interrupting Microaggressions
A small "innocent" comment wounds an employee. Your job as leader: interrupt immediately, respectfully, without trial.
Leadership
Decision Equity Audit
Review your team's last 20 decisions (promotion, project, leave). Who gained? Who lost? Pattern reveals bias.
Leadership
Language of Inclusion: 10 Daily Swaps
Your small leader words exclude or include. 10 simple swaps shift your team's culture in 60 days.
Leadership
Onboarding Your Manager (Not the Reverse)
When joining a new manager (or they join you), give them YOUR user manual. How you work best? What annoys? What you need?
Leadership
Exit Gracefully: Leaving Without Burning Bridges
You decided to leave. The last 30 days define your reputation for 10 years. This frame protects bridges.
Leadership
COI Disclosure
When sensing conflict of interest, declare it before discussion begins.
Leadership
Ethical No Practice
Practice refusing an unethical request clearly and respectfully — before you must in reality.
Parenting
Full Apology to Child
When you wrong your child, fully apologize: what you did, its impact, the change.
Psychological
Physical Pain Sensation Acceptance
Physical pain doesn't obey resistance — it softens with conscious acceptance.
Psychological
5-4-3-2-1 Grounding
5 see, 4 touch, 3 hear, 2 smell, 1 taste — quick return to present.
Psychological
Outsider Witness Map
Ask 3 who know you to tell you "who you are in their eyes" — discover forgotten self.
Psychological
Pain Mindfulness
Pain + resistance = suffering. Pain - resistance = just pain.
Psychological
Best Possible Self
Write 15 min about best version of self in 5 years — you may see self.
Psychological
Meaning Moments Log
Log moments where you felt deeper meaning — discover what matters.
Psychological
Self-Eulogy Writing
Write your eulogy as if delivered for you — discover deep values.
Professional
30-Second Elevator Pitch
Prepare a 30-second pitch that describes what you do, for whom, and why it matters — so you never fumble at a chance meeting.
Administrative
Managing the Difficult Stakeholder
Before labeling someone "difficult", diagnose the specific type: are they anxious, ignored, or genuinely conflicted in interest?
Parenting
No Comparing Between Siblings
Never compare your children — even positive comparison destroys their bond.
Parenting
Each Child's Unique Role
Beware fixing your kids in "roles" ("the rational," "the artist," "the difficult") — each is multifaceted.
Parenting
Identity Emerging Pre-Teen
Don't "fix" your 10-12's identity — it's forming, you watch, you don't carve.
Parenting
Celebrating Differences Without Ranking
Not the generic "you're both special," but precise per-child description preventing implicit better/worse comparison.
Professional
5-Year Vision Letter
Write a letter from your future self in 5 years describing your ideal workday in sensory detail.
Professional
Perfect Day Vision
Describe a "perfect day" in detail, then engineer goals to repeat it more.
Professional
Reader Persona
Before writing, describe reader in 5 sentences: age, job, knows, doesn't know, decision he makes.
Professional
Personal Mission Statement
Write 50-word mission describing your life calling, read every morning.
Administrative
Delegate Outcome, Not Method
Describe the outcome in 3 sentences, let the employee pick the path.
Administrative
Leading vs Lagging Indicators
Leading predicts, lagging describes past — know each KPI's place.
Leadership
Getting on the Dance Floor: Smart Intervention
After the balcony, you must descend. What's the smallest intervention opening the biggest change?
Professional
Resume Bullets STAR
Convert 5 resume bullets from "duties" to Situation-Task-Action-Result outcomes.
Administrative
Stale SOP Review Cadence
Every SOP has a mandatory expiry date — if unreviewed, it's auto-flagged "unreliable".
Digital & AI
Few-Shot Prompting Technique
Give the model 2-3 complete input-output examples before your ask, instead of explaining the rule verbally.