No one cares. That happens rarely. Someone cares. That happens all the time, and it’s at the heart of our work. Everyone cares. Almost never. Someone is enough. In fact, someone is the entire point. | Continue reading
Who gets the benefit of the doubt? Who is treated with dignity? You would think that this shouldn’t be scarce. When the pool of respect is widened, no one is harmed. And yet, cultural status roles have ingrained biases all around us. We’re now seeing a long overdue evaluation of … | Continue reading
You probably know that Bruce Wayne is actually Batman. That’s a secret identity that most of us are aware of. And if you’re up on pop culture, you know that the best Batman was played by the late actor Adam West. Visit the visual search engine Lexica, though, and you’ll see that … | Continue reading
Of course, we’ve always had snake oil salesmen. We’ve always had patent medicines, odd electric probes and copper bracelets. That’s partly because placebos work, and partly because when someone isn’t feeling well, it’s tempting to seek relief and belief. In the last fifty years, … | Continue reading
This seems to be cultural, not based on income, caste, race or genetics. Some professions and communities give a greater percentage of their income to charity than others. Some towns have no-kill dog shelters while others have a reputation for abandonment. You might find an onlin … | Continue reading
It’s tempting to have your book copyedited and typeset before you have your editor read it. And it feels right to spend time on the company’s website before you have your first customer… But if you don’t have the foundational elements right, the fit and finish don’t matter at all … | Continue reading
Moore’s law talks about the fact that computer chips get faster and cheaper over time. It turns out that the biggest shift to our culture isn’t the changing speed of a computer chip, it’s what happens when we network humans together. Adding more people to the internet has acceler … | Continue reading
For decades, marketers (and politicians) have been working to amplify cultural distress, a hack on our emotions. Not the tragic emotional distress of being unable to care for your kids, find a place to live or deal with trauma, but the invented cultural distress of modern industr … | Continue reading
If you do anything at the last minute that takes more than a minute, you’re not organizing your project properly. The last minute is not a buffer zone, nor is it the moment to double-check your work. The last minute is simply sixty seconds to enjoy and to remind yourself that you … | Continue reading
If you leave your cheese out and the mouse eats it, the mouse is simply being a mouse. While it might be nice if the mouse didn’t wreck your dinner, that’s his job. Often, we show up with our cheese and then become indignant when the mouse does what mice do. “Oh, you’re a mouse.” … | Continue reading
Wisdom and good advice are everywhere, now more than ever. And yet, despite the abundance that’s available, people often make errors in job searches, product launches, or even planning a party. There might be three reasons: The advice might not be good, or it doesn’t appear to be … | Continue reading
Google has killed more than 200 projects over the last few decades. They fail all the time. More than once a month they shut down a business that frightened the competition and seduced consumers. That’s part of the recipe for becoming an unbeatable behemoth. Fail a lot. Instituti … | Continue reading
It’s a simple question that can open doors. But it also creates tension. The person you’re seeking to connect with might not want to believe that help is possible. There’s a solace that comes from being really and truly stuck, and hope might not be on their agenda. Or there might … | Continue reading
Technological leaps always take us by surprise. What happens when every visual image ever created can be remixed and expanded? Van Gogh, Superman, or Moses. These link to an open search engine, so your mileage may vary. New software allows anyone to create images simply by typing … | Continue reading
There are two marketing problems when it comes to creating interventions for the public good. The first marketing problem is that when it works we take the intervention for granted. The world doesn’t fall apart, and we don’t notice, because our expectation was that the world (wha … | Continue reading
The gatekeepers keep disappearing. When it cost $500,000 to produce a record album, you could assume that it was going to reach some people and not be completely amateurish. Today, many songs in the iTunes store have had exactly one listen. When it cost $5,000,000 to make a video … | Continue reading
The hallmark of a resilient, productive and sustainable culture is that disagreements aren’t risky. When someone cares enough to make an assertion and show their work, a healthy organization or society takes a look. The alternative is the brittle, closed culture of talking points … | Continue reading
Growing our impact or profit usually involves maximizing something that’s valuable. And things that are valuable are often scarce. Finding the one thing that is at the heart of your value/scarcity matrix makes it much easier to focus your energy on strategic decisions. If you own … | Continue reading
You usually succeed You rarely feel like an imposter You already know what you need to know You’re confident it’s going to work | Continue reading
People tend to do one of two things: not talk talk Both are a problem. If we’re facing an important issue at work, at school or in our community, our instinct is to let others who are better informed speak up. Which prevents people from voting on a school budget or even volunteer … | Continue reading
The math is simple: many people do less than they should. They might be selfish, but it’s likely that they’re struggling with a lack of resources or a story of insufficiency. Either way, in any community or organization, many people contribute less than their peers. Whether it’s … | Continue reading
Plastic was inevitable. It took hundreds of years to perfect, but we built a system based on profit, convenience, productivity and markets. Markets are extremely good at sniffing out problems that can be solved with transactions. If people care enough to buy something to fill a n … | Continue reading
They dance with each other. If expectations are too low, you don’t get the gig, and you’ll never have a chance to engage with a customer. But if they’re too high, surprise and remarkability disappear. As you succeed, it’s harder, not easier, to bring delight to the people you ser … | Continue reading
You own your living room and your bedroom. We take care of our front lawn for our neighbors. And our trash (in all its forms) belongs to everyone. | Continue reading
Both The Shawshank Redemption and The Big Lebowski bombed. If “bombed” means that during the first few weeks, no one went to a theater to see them. Since then, tens of millions of peopl… | Continue reading
Both The Shawshank Redemption and The Big Lebowski bombed. If “bombed” means that during the first few weeks, no one went to a theater to see them. Since then, tens of millions of people have seen and talked about these movies. Tommy James’ first record also failed, because no on … | Continue reading
Oppositional energy is easy to create and spread. Once you pick a ‘they’, then it’s simply a matter of doing the opposite of whatever ‘they’ recommend. It’s a la… | Continue reading
Oppositional energy is easy to create and spread. Once you pick a ‘they’, then it’s simply a matter of doing the opposite of whatever ‘they’ recommend. It’s a lazy shortcut, one that divides, demonizes and causes us to suspend our instincts toward better. It works great in market … | Continue reading
Look around the rooftops of many cities and you’ll see wooden water towers. New York has thousands of them. The reason is simple and often overlooked: In the morning, when every resident of the building is preparing for the day, there’s a need for thousands of gallons of water un … | Continue reading
It was early in the development of a new product, and someone asked this question. I’m not sure the word “marketing” means what you think it means. Later, we will get to the promotion and advertising part. But right now, this is marketing. All of it. The product. The warranty. Th … | Continue reading
There are 1,000 other high schools, and each one has a vice principal who isn’t you. No, you’re not irreplaceable. No one is, not really. But if we work at it, we might become indispensable. The linchpin, someone who would be missed if they were gone. | Continue reading
It doesn’t matter that it’s not the Super Bowl or the World Cup. For this twelve-year old, tomorrow’s game is the big game, the biggest ever, and the emotional stakes are just as high. It doesn’t matter that this illness isn’t going to be life or death in the next few days. For t … | Continue reading
In countries throughout the world, even in countries where there are no snakes, the most common dream is one based on our (it must be) genetic fear of snakes. But in Bhutan, they dream of rainbows.… | Continue reading
In countries throughout the world, even in countries where there are no snakes, the most common dream is one based on our (it must be) genetic fear of snakes. But in Bhutan, they dream of rainbows. The dreams might be consistent, but the way we talk about them clearly isn’t. Perh … | Continue reading
When we sing in the shower, we hardly expect applause. In fact, that would be awfully weird. But online, when just about anyone might be clicking, watching or sharing, it’s disappointing to put your work into the world and hear nothing. Nothing but a black hole that absorbs your … | Continue reading
So many choices. So many sorts of metrics, critics and measures. Perhaps it makes sense to count things where the counting tells us how to do better next time. And to count things that let us know how much risk we can take next time. Or to calibrate our judgment about the market. … | Continue reading
Every year, tens of thousands of people get into a famous college of their choice. It’s not unlikely that someone will get in, it’s simply not certain that you will. But someone will, so getting isn’t a miracle, it’s simply a long shot. If you add a pound a day to the leg press m … | Continue reading
Sooner or later, they’re all finite. And the way we allocate our time and emotional energy determines what gets done. If we audited your day in six-minute increments, what would we find? By the clock, how did you actually spend the time you given to you (we each get the same 24 h … | Continue reading
“What other colors do you have that are not currently in stock?” There are always more options. If exploring them is the goal, please explore. And sometimes, the unavailable can lead to a breakthrough. But if the job is to simply get the work done, it might be worth pretending th … | Continue reading
That depends. Will the spec change after we begin? Are we depending on supplies or inputs from other people? Will the budget change? Is this work that has been done by anyone before? Is this work that has been done by this team before? Is finishing it fast more important than doi … | Continue reading
If you hand a good spec to three providers, you’ll get three variations back in return. The way you know your spec is worthwhile is that you can live with the differences between them. If it’s worth caring about, it’s worth writing down. | Continue reading
Brittle systems are weak. Short-term wins feel like a demonstration of will by those that seek to be strong. But the only run is the long run. When we embrace flexible, renewable and diverse approaches, we create actual progress. | Continue reading
Joni wrote, “Rows and floes of angel hairAnd ice cream castles in the airAnd feather canyons everywhereI’ve looked at clouds that way But now they only block the sunThey rain and snow o… | Continue reading
Joni wrote, “Rows and floes of angel hairAnd ice cream castles in the airAnd feather canyons everywhereI’ve looked at clouds that way But now they only block the sunThey rain and snow on everyoneSo many things I would have doneBut clouds got in my way I’ve looked at clouds from b … | Continue reading
If you’re basing your proposal on facts, the scientific method, calculations and effectiveness, please show your work. Eagerly share your reasoning, your sources and how you came to this proposed plan. Even better, adopt a posture that welcomes improvements and corrections to you … | Continue reading
Rhetorical questions, some easy, some particularly difficult, all worth thinking about: If your house near the ocean has a beautiful view, should the person who buys the lot closer to the shore be … | Continue reading
When Frederic Taylor brought the world Scientific Management a hundred years ago, it changed what it meant to run a factory. Stopwatches and assembly lines dramatically outperformed the traditional piecemeal approach. Henry Ford wrote a four page article for Encyclopedia Brittani … | Continue reading
We’re looking for some volunteers to join us. It’s life-changing, useful, powerful work. After taking our Almanac to #1 in the US, Italy and the Netherlands, the volunteers on this project are working to amplify our message. We connect online, from countries around the world, and … | Continue reading