If any other institution was giving away essential items, it would be a sensation. The grocery store, the car dealership, even the laundromat would have a line out the door. And now that we’v… | Continue reading
Chestnut brand canoes dominated the Canadian wilderness for years. One reason is that they were shaped with a tumblehome. If you leaned the boat over, the boat leaned back, providing stability. The… | Continue reading
What’s the point of sorting the silverware when you empty the dishwasher–why not simply put all of it in the drawer in a random order, and then pick out the cutlery you need when you ne… | Continue reading
And it is unevenly distributed. The only way we have to understand someone else’s pain is to consider it in comparison to our own experiences. It’s a bit like our taste buds: If somethi… | Continue reading
It’s not an accident that dirt roads end up with deep ruts on them, that moguls on hills get steeper and that we find ourselves slipping back into the very things that exhaust us at work. Onc… | Continue reading
The ignored secret behind successful organizations (and nations) is infrastructure. Not the content of what's happening, but the things that allow that content to turn into something productiv… | Continue reading
If you want to see wisdom and maturity in action, look for someone (or a community) investing in infrastructure before it’s too late. Part of what makes my part of the country so lovely is th… | Continue reading
I just installed new smoke detectors in the house (definitely worth the hassle and low expense) and the batteries now last ten years. There’s a little spot on the side of the detector to writ… | Continue reading
Our life is filled with projects. We invest time, effort or money, and perhaps we get a result. It’s useful to have a portfolio of projects, because not all of them are going to work. The 4 x… | Continue reading
Well, that was interesting. Tragic. Heartbreaking. Painful. Difficult. Have more people ever been happier to see a year go away? I’m posting this a few hours early just to clear the decks a b… | Continue reading
For many people, work consists of a series of urgencies. Set them up and knock them down. Empty the in-box, answer the boss, make the deadline. Over the next few weeks, there may be fewer urgencies… | Continue reading
Two videos for when you might have time. For no really good reason, I filmed this long riff about my experience with the early days of video and adventure games. Probably more 1980s game history th… | Continue reading
It is on the most important blog. Yours. Even if no one but you reads it. The blog you write each day is the blog you need the most. It’s a compass and a mirror, a chance to put a stake in th… | Continue reading
then you don’t. (Not yet.) Cleaning out the fridge after a power failure, I found three half-empty containers of anchovies. Because they magically migrate to the back of the fridge, every tim… | Continue reading
One of Woodie Guthrie’s resolutions was to “Wake up and fight.” But he wasn’t talking about being a bully. Or picking a fight at the local bar. He was talking about changing… | Continue reading
“People like us do things like this.” Social media understands this. It also knows that people like points, likes and something that feels like popularity. The social media companies op… | Continue reading
First: If you come up with an innovation that creates value, that value is multiplied a million-fold because now you can share it outside your village. Second: If you build a community, the network… | Continue reading
It’s urgent It’s certain to work It’s close by Everyone else is It might happen to you Only someone as caring as you will choose to make a difference Only someone as smart as you … | Continue reading
In the midst of all of it, some people are still able to trust. To trust in others, to trust in possibility and to trust themselves. And… we’re surrounded by opportunity. we often get a… | Continue reading
2020 was a terrible year for too many people. So much trauma, dislocation and illness. Everyone has their own stories, and everyone suffered (unevenly and unfairly) from the extraordinary shifts in… | Continue reading
That’s not often the same as, “I did my best.” Quality has a very specific definition: Did it meet the customer’s requirements? Any experience, product or deliverable that m… | Continue reading
The landlord acts like he owns the place, because he does. The landlord makes the rules and has the power to enforce them. The host acts on behalf of those that are being served. “Gracious… | Continue reading
The landlord acts like he owns the place, because he does. The landlord makes the rules and has the power to enforce them. The host acts on behalf of those that are being served. “Gracious… | Continue reading
Some people hesitate to share an idea because they’re worried it will be stolen. In general, these people are afraid of success, not failure. An idea unspoken is a safe one, which not only ca… | Continue reading
How certain do you need to be? When presented with a new opportunity, or a risk to be avoided, do you have any doubts? Because there are always doubts. And then we multiply it, waiting for the doub… | Continue reading
There’s a lot to be said for tradition, for stability and for the foundation that the status quo gives us to move forward. But, if we were on the spot to analyze our day, our processes and ou… | Continue reading
In chess, a blunder is a mistake that no one can excuse. Even one blunder and you’re probably going to lose. In our vigilance to avoid blunders, sometimes we try to eliminate mistakes as well… | Continue reading
Someone who plays Monopoly every week, and always uses the little silver hat as their playing piece and always buys Boardwalk if he can–he may think that this is his game. That’s way to… | Continue reading
“I was wrong,” isn’t something you hear very often. Particularly from people in power, or folks who have gone out on a limb espousing a belief. It’s far easier to persuade s… | Continue reading
It’s fun to say the perfect thing at the perfect time. Mic drop. The problem is that then you have to bend over and pick up the microphone. Conversations take more effort but tend to be worth… | Continue reading
One reason that successful and prolific singer-songwriters are prolific is that as soon as they’ve written a song, they can record it and publish it. And a huge advantage of having a daily bl… | Continue reading
Here are some books for the end of the year… fifty years of ideas that have helped me understand the world differently: Gödel, Escher, Bach — Before meta was cool, Douglas Hofstadter won a Pu… | Continue reading
The typical ten-year-old violinist can’t tell the difference between a cheap instrument and a Guarneri. A harried traveler simply wolfs down a hamburger, not really worried or aware of its pr… | Continue reading
Toddlers whine. Most adults figure out how to lose the habit, because it’s toxic. And yet it persists. Whining is a seductive package deal. When it works, it gets us attention, it lowers expe… | Continue reading
An almost magical idea, a tiny little word, a chance to make it real. If someone tasks you with carving something profound into a block of granite, the emotional overhead is probably too high to do… | Continue reading
“You’re welcome,” is not the same as, “it’s my pleasure.” and “No problem,” is not the same as, “I’m happy to help.” These sentence… | Continue reading
Humans do it all the time. Sometimes with great success. Not just easy-to-measure and profitable endeavors like sports betting or the stock market, but essential human interactions like, “wha… | Continue reading
If I was admitted to a prestigious business school and scheduled to begin in January or even September, I’m pretty sure I’d defer. Take a gap year, take two. For many students, the two … | Continue reading
The old adage was always wrong. “Say whatever you like, but spell my name right.” And now it’s even more of a trap. The temptation to get the word out is overwhelming. There’… | Continue reading
The only way to train a group of sea monkeys is by triggering an instinctual reaction. The best way to train a dog is with tiny tasty treats, combined with calm and consistent feedback. Some dog ow… | Continue reading
When a small enterprise offers a lousy user experience, the person in charge learns about it, fast. Customers leave, visitors bounce, complaints roll in. It’s expensive and it undermines the … | Continue reading
Unlike natural phenomena like orbiting planets or geologic formations, there are no consistent and perfect laws of human behavior. If we’re talking about groups of people, if we’re teac… | Continue reading
How do you act when you’re not thinking about how you act? When no one is looking and when you’re just doing what you’re doing… That’s the automatic self. No narrative… | Continue reading
Just about everyone over the age of fifteen, anywhere in the world, engages in the market in some way. We need things and we buy them. That’s not what shopping is. Shopping is the act of imag… | Continue reading
At enlightened companies, leaders are smart enough to ask, “how do we make things better for our customers?” They realize that this simple ratchet leads to loyalty, word of mouth and mo… | Continue reading
No need to read the whole book, I can just glance over the Cliffs Notes… I get it. I don't need to hear your whole pitch, just show me the summary slide… got it. No, I already hear… | Continue reading
REM was one of the most respected indy rock bands. You’d think that a group that somehow managed to thread the needle between whatever authentic means to them and huge popular success could w… | Continue reading
If Harper Lee had written To Kill a Mockingbird today, there’s no doubt that the salesforce and the marketers would have pushed for a catchier title, probably with better SEO. And it’s … | Continue reading