Great lunch. Still no deal.

Your British counterpart did his homework. He knew Latin Americans build trust over the table, not just across it, so instead of squeezing in a second meeting before your flight home, he cleared two hours for lunch. No slides, no agenda, just food and conversation. You talked about your kids, his...

by Cecilia Lipovsek — Aug 26, 2026 relational dimension the friction dispatch™

What's The Loop System™ and why it works

I built the Slot System™ first. The harder question was what shape the other side would take. I kept coming back to something small: the difference between my Oyster card in London and my SUBE card back when I lived in Buenos Aires. Back then, topping up a SUBE was never a sure thing. You never k...

by Cecilia Lipovsek — Aug 26, 2026 slots v. loops™

Are you making eye contact or demanding it?

A Mexican corporate affairs manager spends the weekend before a big London pitch working through a business masterclass online. Lesson four says that holding eye contact is the single biggest signal of trust one can send. He walks into the meeting and does exactly that. Steady gaze, no breaking a...

by Cecilia Lipovsek — Aug 25, 2026 spatial dimension the friction dispatch™

The room that split in two

Half the room ended up by the window. Half by the bar. Nobody planned it, and nobody moved for twenty minutes. I watched this happen at a reception mixing UK and Latin American guests. Ten minutes in, the room had split clean down the middle, separated by the Atlantic Ocean. The Situation The Lat...

by Cecilia Lipovsek — Aug 25, 2026 conversational dimension the friction dispatch™

Slots v. Loops™ & The Lasso Way

Ted Lasso is back, and I won't pretend I’m not delighted. I remember watching the previous seasons and recognising my own work as a diplomatic interpreter in Ted’s approach to Total Football: constant movement, no set positions, everyone covering for everyone else. His style of play, broken into ...

by Cecilia Lipovsek — Aug 25, 2026 slots v. loops™

The agenda was aspirational

You sent the agenda four days out. Three items. Tight. Time-boxed. One page attached to the calendar invite so everyone could come prepared. They confirmed attendance. Nobody pushed back. You walked in with a deck for each point and ten minutes to spare. By 11:15, you were still on item one. The ...

by Cecilia Lipovsek — Aug 25, 2026 temporal dimension the friction dispatch™

The yes that wasn’t

‘We'll certainly take that on board.’ You leave the meeting satisfied. The questions were good. Someone on their side even mentioned exploring next steps. You make a note: deal moving. Two weeks later, nothing. You follow up. Warm reply, no movement. Another week. Still nothing. Eventually a mutu...

by Cecilia Lipovsek — Aug 25, 2026 conversational dimension the friction dispatch™

They liked you. That wasn’t the problem.

By the time the coffee arrived, you’d been introduced to two people who weren’t on the original invite, the conversation had moved well off the agenda, and nobody in the room seemed to mind. You left thinking: this one’s going somewhere. Three weeks later, you’re still waiting for the contract. T...

by Cecilia Lipovsek — Aug 25, 2026 relational dimension the friction dispatch™

What's The Slot System™ and why it works

I moved to London in 2015 and did what any newly arrived Argentine in a new city would do: signed up for everything. One of those things was my local book club. We’d meet at the pub mid-week, order drinks, and tear into the book of the month. The discussions were sharp, lively, the kind that kep...

by Cecilia Lipovsek — Aug 25, 2026 slots v. loops™

The follow-up that disappeared

You sent the follow-up the same afternoon. Summary of what was agreed, action points, a suggested date for the next call. Clear, prompt, professional. Then nothing. A week goes by. Then another. You send a gentle chase. Still nothing. You start wondering if you misread the room. The situation I'v...

by Cecilia Lipovsek — Aug 25, 2026 temporal dimension the friction dispatch™

There is no such thing as Latin American Spanish

Contrary to what most British professionals assume, interpreting a technical meeting about infrastructure is often simpler than interpreting the lunch that follows it. In a meeting about bridges, water supply, or electrical grids, the Spanish is largely standardised across Latin America. The voca...

by Cecilia Lipovsek — Aug 25, 2026 conversational dimension the friction dispatch™

You both spoke English. That was the problem.

There is a particular kind of British-LatAm meeting that runs entirely in English, goes smoothly by all appearances, and produces a follow-up where both sides discover they understood something different. Not because anyone was unclear. Not because the English was poor. But because the two sides ...

by Cecilia Lipovsek — Aug 25, 2026 conversational dimension the friction dispatch™

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