In an ever more interconnected world, understanding and valuing cultural diversity has become essential for effective leadership.
“Cultural and Historical Reflections” explores the ways in which culture shapes our identities, influences our decisions, and connects us to one another, and how it has done so over time.
In the workplace, in our communities, and on a global scale, the ability to respect and embrace cultural differences is a cornerstone of leadership and progress.
This chapter examines the richness of cultural traditions, the power of shared history, and the importance of bridging divides.
It highlights the role of culture in fostering creativity, resilience, and collaboration.
As you read these reflections, consider how cultural awareness can transform the way we lead and the way we engage with others.
Allow this section to inspire you to see diversity not as a challenge but as an opportunity, reminding you that the differences among us are what make our collective endeavours stronger and more innovative.
This week I underwent surgery to remove a cataract. A simple procedure, at least when described: the surgeon enters the eye, removes the “damaged” crystalline lens, and replaces it with a new one, selected to compensate for any pre-existing visual defects. This is the account of an ordinary patient whose quality of life has improved … Read more
Italians are not always late, but the stereotype persists because it contains a grain of cultural truth — a small one, the size of a coffee bean, but still enough to fuel an entire international myth. It is not really about punctuality in the strict sense. It is about a different relationship with time, one … Read more
A dear friend of mine has found himself today in a situation that is authentically “Pirandellian” (as in Luigi Pirandello, 1934 Literature Nobel Laureate). A cyber-attack has caused him to lose his main social media account, the one through which he used to speak to the world. That account was tied to an alias, and … Read more
We are talking about one of the most common and indispensable kitchen tools: the rubber or silicone spatula, more commonly known in English as a “rubber spatula” or simply a “scraper”. The rubber spatula consists of a long handle, usually made of wood, steel, or rigid plastic, and a flat, soft, flexible tip, today almost … Read more
Today I learnt something simple and hard: when a discussion slips into a clash of identities, reason switches off.
We are no longer talking about ideas; we are defending tribes.
At that point you waste time and, worse, you risk losing the friend.
Why it happens
Bias and identity.
If an idea is glued to the ego, any argument feels like a personal attack.
Flexibility helps us negotiate and grow, but at times it slips into yielding and, with it, the renunciation of what defines us.
Flexibility is a means, not an end: it is useful until it touches the core of principles — truth, safety, dignity, legality. Beyond that line, to bend is not intelligence, it is abdication.
Reputation, built over years and lost in a minute, lives precisely on this boundary.
“If hard work led to success, the donkey would own the farm.”
But it does not.
The donkey works the hardest, from dawn to dusk, and yet remains where it started — tired, obedient, and replaceable.
The truth is that effort without vision only strengthens someone else’s dream. The donkey’s labour feeds the master’s ambition.
And that is the silent tragedy of many: they mistake productivity for purpose.
“In Sicily, when we do something, we do it grandly — or not at all.
That is why we often do nothing.”
(Pino Caruso)
This remark is both self-irony and deep truth: in Sicily (and not only there), there exists a natural aversion to mediocrity.
Doing things “halfway” is almost an insult to one’s own pride.
The paradox is that this drive toward greatness often becomes a trap.
The “all-or-nothing” mindset leads to postponement — waiting for the perfect moment, the perfect means, the perfect conditions — which rarely ever come.
“Marriage is when one person is always right, and the other person is a husband.”
As everyone knows, a successful marriage is simply the art of a man learning to nod, smile, and pretend his opinions matter.
Meanwhile, his wife, blessed with an innate understanding of all things (including his mistakes before he even makes them), gently guides him through life.
“See you between three and five. And please, be on time!”
(Renzino Barbera)
Italian precision — and even more so Sicilian precision — is a form of art.
Forget Einstein: we bent space and time long before relativity.
“Between three and five” is not a time. It is a state of mind.
It is an invitation to enter a temporal zone where clocks follow the rhythm of the heart and the level of post-lunch blood sugar.
“Verba generalia non sunt impiccicatoria”
The Medieval Latin maxim “verba generalia non sunt impiccicatoria” is often rendered as “General words do not bind” — or, more literally, “General words are not to be interpreted restrictively.”
Rooted in Roman and medieval legal tradition, the expression warns that when a law, contract, or agreement employs broad or unspecific terms, such words should not automatically be read as a source of strict or punitive obligations.
“It is not by muscle, speed, or physical dexterity that great things are achieved, but by reflection, force of character, and judgment.”(Cicero) Strength can move matter, speed accelerates motion, and skill executes — yet none provide meaning or direction. Reflection offers clarity, character supplies resolve, and judgment bridges thought with action. Together, they turn ability … Read more
It looks like many of you enjoy playing with exotic insults!
A quick note: insults are not always a single word (…though, admittedly, one sharp word often lands harder than an uppercut).
Some of the finest barbs in history are entire phrases, elegant in their cruelty.
So let us broaden the contest with a few gems you may try to outmatch.
This post is a challenge — against yours truly!
I came across a Facebook post about the art of insults, especially in British English, quoting Shakespeare’s delicious volley:
“You scullion! You rampallian! You fustilarian!”
Henry IV, Part 2 (Act 2, Scene 1)
“Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.” (William James)
No action exists in a vacuum.
Every decision, every gesture — however small — sets off a chain of consequences. Some are visible immediately, others ripple quietly for months or years.
In leadership, this is not merely an uplifting sentiment; it is a strategic discipline.
A manager who dismisses small acts as irrelevant risks corroding trust, morale, and alignment. Conversely, a leader who handles even modest choices with care communicates that every contribution matters.
As the Sicilian proverb says:
“A word is like an arrow: once it has been shot, it cannot be taken back.”
“A parola è comu ‘a freccia: una vota scacciata, nun si po’ cchiù ripigghiari”
Brandolini’s Law and fake news
Formulated in a tweet by the Italian programmer Alberto Brandolini in 2013:
“The bullshit asymmetry: the amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than to produce it.”
“If pride were an illness, more than half of us would be dead.”
(Si la superbia fussi ‘nfirmitati nni murissiru cchiù di la mitati)
This Sicilian proverb turns arrogance into a fatal epidemic. It is not about healthy dignity, but the inflated pride that refuses to listen, hides mistakes, and blinds judgement.
It is a scalpel disguised as humour.
It takes a universal human flaw — arrogance — and exaggerates it into a fatal epidemic, implying that it is far more widespread than most will admit.
Freedom without measure is not freedom — it is chaos.
The ancient Greeks understood this long before us.
At the Temple of Apollo in Delphi, they carved two maxims that still serve as a compass for humanity: μηδὲν ἄγαν (mēdén ágan, “nothing in excess”) and γνῶθι σεαυτόν (“know yourself”).
Twin warnings: one against hybris — the arrogance of surpassing every boundary — and the other reminding us that self-knowledge is the first limit worth respecting.
The Sicilian word “timpulata”, especially common in the dialect spoken in Palermo, refers to a slap — specifically, a blow delivered with an open hand, often to the cheek or the side of the head.
The term has ancient roots: it derives from the Greek verb “τύπτω” (týpto), meaning “to strike”. It also bears a resemblance to the Spanish “bofetada”, which also means slap. Like many Sicilian words, it reflects the island’s layered linguistic heritage, shaped by centuries of contact with Greek, Arabic, Spanish, and Norman cultures.
He who feels comfortable is always well dressed.
“Cu si senti comudu, è sempri vistutu bonu.”
(Sicilian proverb)
Style is not a label. It is a feeling.
Forget the runway. True elegance is found in what fits not only your body, but your life.
A garment may carry a famous name, but if it pinches, pulls, or makes you doubt yourself in the mirror — it is not style, it is theatre.