US President, Richard Nixon, said it well: “To me, the unhappiest people of the world are those in the watering places… going to parties every … The post A Use It or Lose It Species appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
We hear a lot about “Gen Z taking over the office” these days. WSJ and other outlets tell us they want meaning, mentorship, and matcha … The post Gen Z Isn’t the Problem appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
What’s the most memorable line from the Harris-Trump debate? “They’re eating the dogs.” This bizarre claim born from a single regretted social media post, spread … The post How Outrageous Ideas Change the World (for better or worse) appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
From the creation of the Soviet Union in 1917 until its dissolution in 1991, Pravda, its largest newspaper, was the mouthpiece of the ruling Communist … The post They pretend to pay us, we pretend to work appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
In JRR Tolkien’s “Lord Of The Rings”, the Elves seemed to have it made. Tolkien’s Elves weren’t like the old Celtic Faeries- little mischievous creatures … The post Elves are Overrated appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
What do New York Mayor, Eric Adams, and Sean Combs aka Puff Diddy have in common? They’ve allegedly fallen into what we call “The Croesus … The post Corruption is Contagious appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
One of the hardest questions in business is how to scale. The great startup VC, Paul Graham, talks about this in one of his essays, … The post In Defense of Red Tape appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
The big news in remote working this month was the memo Amazon CEO, Andy Jassy, sent out last week mandating that all employees return to … The post Culture is Purpose Not Place appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
The title of this piece is basically the subtext of a growing trend reported in a recent WSJ article, “America Pulls Back From Values That … The post How to Live Through Civilizational Collapse and Still Have Nice Things appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
Our old friend Seth Godin has a great definition of organizational culture: “People like us do things like this.” It’s simple and yet captures how … The post What’s Your If-Then Loop? appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
From the 1970’s to around the financial crash of 2008, one could credibly argue that London advertising was the best in the world. Sure, the … The post Allergic to Mediocrity appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
In 1863, Abraham Lincoln delivered what is largely revered as the most famous speech in US History, The Gettysburg Address. “Four score and seven years … The post Ideas That Don’t Die appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
If we ask a random person in the street, what’s the point of language, we may expect to hear something like, “it allows us to … The post When Small Becomes Tall appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
In 1971, Coca-Cola launched the most famous commercial in advertising history. Older folks will still remember it fondly. Younger folks might remember it being used … The post The Psychology of Sugar Water appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
We all know at least one person. The Superfan. They aren’t just a Star Trek nerd, everybody attending their wedding came dressed as Klingons. Not … The post What If Work Loved Us Back? appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
Many people born after the Millennium won’t remember much about the newspaper comic strip, “Peanuts,” featuring Good Ol’ Charlie Brown. But from its debut in 1950 … The post Try not to have a good time… this is supposed to be educational appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
It’s that Burning Man time of the year again, when with a predictability you can set your watch to, the internet becomes flooded with the … The post Better to Burn out Than Fade Away appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
We’re born into chaos, spend our lives seeking order, and die realizing we never had control. This is the human condition. And it’s not hard … The post Simplicity is Complexity Resolved appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
In June 1940, during the darkest period of WWII for the British, Winston Churchill gave his famously defiant “We shall fight them on the beaches” … The post All leaders are politicians. Not all politicians are leaders appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
According to the very first story in Herodotus’ Histories (c. 440 BC, the oldest nonfiction book in the Western Canon), King Croesus was the richest … The post The Croesus Trap appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
Little things matter. A lot. (Or they don’t, until they do). A year-long study of 450,000 employees across 40 million Zoom meetings revealed a not-so-shocking … The post What Signal Are You Sending? appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
When talking about architecture, in 1948 Winston Churchill may have said it best: “We shape our buildings; thereafter, they shape us.” Ain’t that the truth? … The post Environment is Leadership appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
Admit it. Until this summer, very few of us knew what a Phryge was. Most of us probably still don’t. “Les Phryges” are a pair … The post Meaning: the Ultimate Olympic Sport appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
In a 2001 episode of “Sex and The City,” hilarity ensues when one of the main characters, Samantha, tries using her celebrity connections to jump … The post Mastery as Marketing appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
In “On The Waterfront,” the classic 1954 Elia Kazan film about a former professional boxer turned low-status New Jersey longshoreman, the protagonist, Terry Malloy, is played … The post Unexpected Lessons from the 50-yard Line appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
Isn’t it strange how, once upon a time, our Presidential debates literally sounded like this: “I have no disagreement with the Vice President’s position on … The post The Domino Effect of ‘Just this Once’ appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
According to former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, the founding father of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, made three big decisions in 1959 that had a … The post Singapore: An Exercise in Creating Culture appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
As most of the world knows by now, Joe Biden dropped out of the Presidential race, and within 24 hours Kamala Harris has jumped in … The post The Social Objectification of Kamala appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
Walking along Harrow Road in London in the mid-1970s, the art-rock pop star and former Roxy Music band member, Brian Eno, suddenly tripped, fell off … The post Eno or Beethoven? appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
Who is the best of the Greeks? According to Homer, it was Achilles, their greatest fighter of the Trojan War. Except Achilles was a demigod, … The post The Best of the Greeks? appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
You know what the main trouble is with the old saying, “The road to Hell is paved with good intentions?” The fact that it’s actually … The post The Hell That Is Good Intentions appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
Let’s say one day you break a coffee cup by dropping it on the floor. Nothing fancy, but an irreplaceable piece of great sentimental value … The post All Culture is Kintsugi Culture appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
In 1995, two years before he came back to run Apple, Steve Jobs made an interesting point. He was asked why Apple (which fired him … The post A Culture Crash? appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
Netflix’s ‘Drive to Survive’ has transformed and turbocharged the Formula One (F1) business. The series beautifully depicts dramatic stories of power, money, ever-changing status, and, … The post How Formula 1 Will Save the Free World appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
Atticus Finch, the patriarch in one of the great post-war novels, “To Kill A Mockingbird,” is a very compelling character. When we first open the book, … The post Business Lessons from Atticus Finch appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
Innovation is an infinite game, and the second an organization stops playing that game is the second it begins to cede the lead. As Jeff … The post The Only Thing We Have to Fear appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
Innovation is an infinite game, and the second an organization stops playing that game is the second it begins to cede the lead. As Jeff … The post Don’t Cede the Lead appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
Napoleon didn’t conquer most of Europe all by himself. He had other people helping him, of course. Literally armies of them. The reality is, it’s … The post The Second Job of a Leader appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
Symbols are a funny thing. We all know what they are…. But do we really? What is it about, say, the Pride Flag, a piece … The post How To Create A Movement appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
As the old saying goes, “no response is still a response.” And it’s precisely the response Apple CEO, Tim Cook, recently gave to Elon Musk. … The post The Art of Opting Out appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
As Tony Robbins says,“success leaves clues.” Whenever there is a great accomplishment, we like to examine it, reengineer it, decode it, and learn a lesson … The post The Clues to Success appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
Disney is having a bad time of things lately, with some high profile box office flops, or at least, major disappointments. 2023 was the year … The post The Case for Cheap Bets appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
Driving a tank in the Second World War was a high-stakes, scary, and dangerous job. So tank crews did what humans tend to do in … The post Feelings Are Who We Are appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
There’s the immutable law of business: whenever a new way of working comes long, albeit from tech or social change, people will try to game … The post Half In Is All Out appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
Back in 1949, George Orwell was already predicting algorithmic content In his best-known novel, “1984:” “There was a whole chain of separate departments dealing with … The post The Machines Don’t Care appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
The Amish are a technology-avoiding, mostly agricultural American religious community of German origin, famous for their Barn Raising. Whenever a new barn needs building, instead … The post The Cultures that Actually Win appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
There is a famous scene in the 2023 movie, “Barbie”, where Gloria (America Ferrera) gives a passionate speech about all the paradoxes of being a … The post What Leaders Can Learn from Barbie appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading
“Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon … The post The Greatest Existential Threat appeared first on Gapingvoid. | Continue reading