Critics are eager to pick apart complex decisions made by others. Prime Ministers, CEOs, even football coaches are apparently serially incompetent. If they had only listened to folks who knew precisely what they should have done, they would have been... | Continue reading
If you have a safe place to sleep, reasonable health and food in the fridge, you're probably living with surplus. You have enough breathing room to devote an hour to watching TV, or having an argument you don't need to... | Continue reading
Announcing a two-day workshop in my office for 8 people. I define publishing as the work of investing in intellectual property and monetizing it by bringing it to people who want to pay for it. The world of publishing is... | Continue reading
Assumption: Some people love what you do. They love your product, your service, the way you do your work (if that's not true, this post isn't for you. You have a more significant problem to work on first). So, how... | Continue reading
I got a note yesterday from a recent grad of the altMBA. He said, "I have to say that the value I have gained from this group far exceeds anything I could give back, and please know that it is... | Continue reading
Somewhere, someone is doing something that got your attention, inciting you into action. Somewhere, someone is: Taking your share Wasting an opportunity Cutting ahead in line Suffering at the hands of bully Invading your territory Announcing a deadline Sharing breaking... | Continue reading
Price is a simple number. How much money do I need to hand you to get this thing? Cost is more relevant, more real and more complicated. Cost is what I had to give up to get this. Cost is... | Continue reading
Proximity matters a great deal. Detroit car executives in the 1970s and 1980s consistently failed to respond to the threat from Japanese imports. They weren't merely arrogant—they were blinded by proximity. Everyone in their neighborhood, everyone on their commute, everyone... … | Continue reading
The status quo is not kind. It works overtime to stay the status quo, and that means that new ideas, urgent pleas and cries for justice are rarely easily voiced. We're pleased that Annie Kenney stood up for a woman's... | Continue reading
Sonder is defined as that moment when you realize that everyone around you has an internal life as rich and as conflicted as yours. That everyone has a noise in their head. That everyone thinks that they are right, and... | Continue reading
It's tempting to enter a field where mastery is assured, where you have a very good shot of being as good at it as everyone else. It turns out, though, that the most exciting and productive fields are those where... | Continue reading
When someone is frequently naysaying a proposal or a situation, it's tempting to figure out how to make them happy. What can you change to find a compromise, how can you listen to their objections and respond in a way... | Continue reading
is that nothing will ever be good enough. But the alternative, low expectations, is sad indeed. The internet (like life) will always disappoint us. It will always be too flaky, too slow, too insulated. It will always have errors, hate... | Continue reading
When TV first was adopted, it was a magical gift. The shows united our culture and the ads fueled a seemingly endless consumer boom. Today, though, marketers have turned television into an instrument of dissatisfaction. The shows alienate many, because... | Continue reading
There are high-end products, like camera lenses, stereo speakers and cars where the conventional wisdom is that heavier is a signifier of better. It's so widely held that in many cases, manufacturers will intentionally make their products heavier merely to... | Continue reading
When a new technology arrives, it's often the nerds and the neophiliacs who embrace it. People who see themselves as busy and important often dismiss the new medium or tool as a bit of a gimmick and then "go back... | Continue reading
It doesn't pay to say to the CFO: These numbers on the P&L aren't true. And arguing with Walmart or Target about your market share stats doesn't work either. You can't make things better if you can't agree on the... | Continue reading
For me, it's not "do what you feel like doing," because that's unlikely to be useful. You might feel like hanging out on the beach, telling off your boss or generally making nothing much of value. Authenticity as an impulse... | Continue reading
When I started as a book packager, there were 40,000 books published every year. Every single book I did, every single one, had a substitute. Every time we had an idea, every time we were about to submit a proposal,... | Continue reading
for a journey with stress. You get the journey and you get the stress. At the end, you're a different person. But both elements are part of the deal. There are plenty of journeys that are stress-free. They take you... | Continue reading
But at least you're doing it. Once you're doing it, you have a chance to do it better. Waiting for perfect means not starting. | Continue reading
Pleasure is short-term, addictive and selfish. It's taken, not given. It works on dopamine. Happiness is long-term, additive and generous. It's giving, not taking. It works on serotonin. This is not merely simple semantics. It's a fundamental difference in our... … | Continue reading
If you gear up, put yourself on high alert and draw a line in the sand, it's likely you'll find the enemy you seek. On the other hand, expecting that the next person you meet will be as open to... | Continue reading
Part of his power comes from the shadows. We hear his voice, we know it by heart. He announces his presence with a rumble and he runs away with a wisp of smoke. But again and again, we resist looking... | Continue reading
A $30,000 software package is actually $3,000 worth of software plus $27,000 worth of meetings. And most clients are bad at meetings. As a result, so are many video developers, freelance writers, conference organizers, architects and lawyers. If you're a... | Continue reading
It doesn't matter what the speed limit is. He's going to drive five miles slower. And it doesn't matter to the guy in the next car either... he's going to drive seven miles faster. It's not absolute, it's relative. The... | Continue reading
There's a school of thought that argues that markets are the solution to everything. That money is the best indication of value created. That generating maximum value for shareholders is the only job. That the invisible hand of the market... | Continue reading
That's rare air, with no support, no foundation. Like the coyote, running of a cliff in pursuit of the roadrunner... What could be more important? When we synthesize and invent and leap, we create a rare sort of value. | Continue reading
Nothing ever is. Nothing is flawless, optimized and suitable for everyone. Instead, all we can hope for is, "the best we could hope for, under the circumstances." But, because there are circumstances, whatever happens is exactly what the circumstances created.... | Continue reading
It's never been easier to find ways to be disappointed in our performance. You can compare your output, your income, your success rate to a billion people around the globe... many of whom are happy to exaggerate to make you... | Continue reading
Right there, in your driveway, is a really fast car. And here are the keys. Now, go drive it. Right there, in your hand, is a Chicago Pneumatics 0651 hammer. You can drive a nail through just about anything with... | Continue reading
The busiest Indian restaurants in New York City are all within a block or two of each other. Books sell best in bookstores, surrounded by other books, their ostensible competitors. And it's far easier to sell a technology solution if... | Continue reading
The best way to plan a house on a vacant piece of land is to move into a tiny shepherd's hut on a corner of the property. It's not fancy, and it's not comfortable, but you can probably stay there... | Continue reading
Over the last few decades, there's been a consistent campaign to sow confusion around evolution, vaccines and climate change. In all three areas, we all have access to far more data, far more certainty and endless amounts of proof that... | Continue reading
Some people like really spicy food. Some people like bland food. Building a restaurant around sorta spicy food doesn't make either group happy. It's tempting to look at pop music, network TV and the latest hot fashion and come to... | Continue reading
If it helps you, not the customer, why should she care? Sometimes there's an overlap between your selfish needs and hers, but you can save everyone a lot of time and hassle if you begin and end with a focus... | Continue reading
It seems like a fine way to earn trust. Merely fit in. In every way. Don't do anything to draw attention to yourself, to be left out, to challenge the status quo. Go along with the crowd to get ahead.... | Continue reading
Businesses with power are prohibited from colluding with one another to set prices or other policies. For good reason. Public officials and economists realize that it’s quite tempting for an oligopoly to work to artificially create scarcity or cooperate--it creates... | Continue reading
Difficult tasks have a road map. With effort, we can get from here to there. It might surprise you to realize that difficult is easy once you have the resources and commitment. Paving a road is difficult, so is customer... | Continue reading
If you eat beef, you're probably using a maximized system. It's a commodity, and every part of the chain is under huge pressure to increase yield and cut corners. The animals are pushed to the brink, and so are the... | Continue reading
I once drove home from college at 100 miles an hour. It saved two hours. My old car barely made it, and I was hardly able to speak once I peeled myself out of the car. That was maximum speed,... | Continue reading
It's tempting to be oppositional. To see the different as the other. To dominate, to win, to move up as others move down (because in the zero sum game that we've built around us, that's the only way). But a... | Continue reading
That's pretty unlikely. When we see someone with well developed abs, we don't say, "oh sure, he was born that way." Instead, we realize that a lot of effort went into it. The same thing ought to be true for... | Continue reading
It's easy to imagine that some things have to be the way they've always been. That music has to be delivered on a round platter. That an overnight stay needs to be in a hotel. And that learning is solely... | Continue reading
Without a doubt, it's long-term, consistent and persistent effort that makes real change happen. Systemic change is a process, not an event. But as we watch Irma bear down on millions in Florida, it's worth remembering that first aid brings... | Continue reading
Don't be trapped into accepting shame from someone who is trying to keep you from doing something you have every right to do. Ignore the mob that would like you to feel badly for not fitting in. Categories are rarely... | Continue reading
When they began airbrushing the models in fashion magazines fifty years ago, no one complained much. Everyone knew, we thought, that it was some sort of make believe. But then they started airbrushing our food. And then vacations. And family... | Continue reading
But most of us don't like to admit it. That's because selfish marketers are pretty scummy. They steal our attention, they lie to us, they use shame and guilt and the short-term zinger to get us to buy something we... | Continue reading