Short-term thinking repeated again and again doesn’t lead to long-term thinking. Rand Fishkin shares a thoughtful analysis about a trend that now affects just about everyone: Google is hoardi… | Continue reading
Short-term thinking repeated again and again doesn’t lead to long-term thinking. Rand Fishkin shares a thoughtful analysis about a trend that now affects just about everyone: Google is hoardi… | Continue reading
You might know one. The busy person has a bias for action, the ability to ship, and a willingness to contribute more than is required. The busy person is wrong more than most people (if you get up … | Continue reading
If you’re creating something where widespread inputs, usage and adoption lead to significant benefits, it’s worth considering who you’re excluding. The curb cut turned out not sim… | Continue reading
Guts, because it might not work. And generosity, because guts without seeking to make things better is merely hustle. The innovator shows up with something she knows might not work (pause for a sec… | Continue reading
For more than a decade, I’ve been working with the fine folks at 800 CEO READ (and yes, that’s their phone number, and yes, people have asked me how to reach them.) It’s where I e… | Continue reading
If you’re trying to help yourself (or those you serve), the most effective thing you can do is create long-term habits. They become unseen foundations of who we will become. The goal of runni… | Continue reading
Pema Chodron’s story has stuck with me for a decade: At a meditation retreat, the guy sitting near her kept making an annoying clicking sound. Again and again, she was jolted from her practic… | Continue reading
The us/them mindset of most corporate customer service is simple: When you can, get it over with. If at all possible, evade responsibility. Which means that when things go wrong, you’ll likel… | Continue reading
Leaders create the conditions where people choose new actions. The choices are voluntary. They’re made by people who see a new landscape, new opportunities and new options. You can’t ma… | Continue reading
Find the right clients Earn their attention and trust Identify the problem Find their fear, embrace their objectives Prototype possible solutions Create an architecture that supports your solution … | Continue reading
It used to be that a well-tended lawn of 50 by 100 feet was wasteful indeed. Today, it’s in the by-laws of the local housing association. You could impress the neighbors with a new Cadillac, … | Continue reading
It used to be that a well-tended lawn of 50 by 100 feet was wasteful indeed. Today, it’s in the by-laws of the local housing association. You could impress the neighbors with a new Cadillac, … | Continue reading
In our culture, it’s easy to choose to live in deficit. To spend just a bit more than you make, so that you’re in debt. To need to drive just a bit faster than the prevailing traffic, s… | Continue reading
Guts, because it might not work. And generosity, because guts without seeking to make things better is merely hustle. The innovator shows up with something she knows might not work (pause for a sec… | Continue reading
Optimists are always a little disappointed. If you live with possibility, the idea that things can get better, that with consistent generous effort you can make a contribution, then you also end up… | Continue reading
Are you hesitant about this new idea because it’s a risky, problematic, defective idea… or because it’s simply different than you’re used to? If your current normal is exact… | Continue reading
Discipline, rigor, patience, self-control, dignity, respect, knowledge, curiosity, wisdom, ethics, honor, empathy, resilience, honesty, long-term, possibility, bravery, kindness and awareness. All … | Continue reading
In every era, traditional media channels will diminish, dismiss and ignore the new ones. They do this at the very same time that they are supplanted by the new ones. While they will occasionally sp… | Continue reading
Today’s the 11th year in a row of daily posts on this blog. Nearly 5,000,000 words since my first post twenty years ago, and I haven’t missed a day (given some time-zone wiggle room) si… | Continue reading
It’s essential that we make new mistakes. We don’t make nearly enough of them. Not enough original effort, not enough generous intent, not enough daring in search of something better. B… | Continue reading
This is the moment, right here and right now, to start your podcast. Not because it will make you rich. Hardly. There are too many other ways for people to spend their attention for you (or me) to … | Continue reading
Take it seriously. Of course. That’s required. But you don’t have to take it personally. In fact, if you want to be a professional, it’s impossible to do both at the same time. | Continue reading
Our days are filled with the path to future skills, tasks and commitments that we believe we can’t possibly take on. We’ve seduced ourselves into believing that we’re not born wit… | Continue reading
“Use your best judgment.” Bureaucracies have a very hard time saying this to their staff. They create an endless series of scripts and rules, procedures that force people to not care. &… | Continue reading
Leo's working hard to do something he's never done before. He's just turned one, and he doesn't know how to walk (yet). There are no really useful books or videos on how to walk… | Continue reading
In our culture, it’s easy to choose to live in deficit. To spend just a bit more than you make, so that you’re in debt. To need to drive just a bit faster than the prevailing traffic, s… | Continue reading
“Well, that was super helpful.” Was it? Or are you trying to be sarcastic? Because if it was helpful, you could simply write, “thank you, that was helpful.” On the other han… | Continue reading
“Well, that was super helpful.” Was it? Or are you trying to be sarcastic? Because if it was helpful, you could simply write, “thank you, that was helpful.” On the other han… | Continue reading
If you ask for mustard at a French bistro, you’ll get a strong Dijon, handmade in a little village three hundred kilometres away. If you ask for mustard at a game at Fenway, apparently you… | Continue reading
I was talking to someone dedicating his career to working in newspapers. I asked him what he thought of the work of Jeff Jarvis. He had no idea what I was talking about. I met a musician the other … | Continue reading
For the longest time, school has been organized around subjects. Fifth graders go to math class and then English class and then geography. Mostly, those classes don’t teach what they say they… | Continue reading
(Unless they want to) Humans are unique in their ability to willingly change. We can change our attitude, our appearance and our skillset. But only when we want to. The hard part, then, isn’t… | Continue reading
First thing: All open access online surveys are essentially inaccurate, because the group that takes the time to answer the survey is usually different from the general public. Second thing: Don… | Continue reading
The marketing math is compelling. It’s obvious that the most highly-leveraged moment in every brand’s relationship with a customer is the moment when something goes wrong. In that momen… | Continue reading
Facebook, Linkedin, Google, Apple and Amazon have very little ability to promote a specific idea or creator. That sounds crazy, but culturally and technically, it’s true. In 1995, Oprah got to put … | Continue reading
Facebook, Linkedin, Google, Apple and Amazon have very little ability to promote a specific idea or creator. That sounds crazy, but culturally and technically, it’s true. In 1995, Oprah got to put … | Continue reading
Direct marketers don’t care how many people they reach. They care what percentage take action. Brand marketers have trouble measuring action, so all they have to work with is reach. If you ca… | Continue reading
When you’re feeling stuck with your project, grab three index cards. On each card, write down an element of the project that, if you invested time and money, would change for the better. If t… | Continue reading
Since the first story was carved on a rock, media pundits have explained that they have simply given people what they want, reporting the best they can on what’s happening. Cause (the culture… | Continue reading
When you set up a system, it helps to keep in mind what will happen if it doesn’t work. Depending on the costs of ‘not working’, you can build more resilience into the system. In … | Continue reading
It doesn’t make you go any faster. It doesn’t make the leader go any faster. Tailgating creates frustration, limits your choices and isn’t safe. If you want to make a difference, … | Continue reading
Euphemism is easier than ever. Broad strokes, majestic language, big ideas… Mission statements and humanitarian motives. It’s interesting to note that organized sports, one of the first… | Continue reading
Today, will you stand outside your boss’s office hoping that she’ll meet with you about your new project, or will you hunker down in your cube hoping she doesn’t notice you? Will … | Continue reading
Do you really want the grease? Or would you rather make things better? The best way to contribute to a community or a brand isn’t by complaining. It’s by making things better. Taking re… | Continue reading
On one list identify the grievances, disrespects and bad breaks: People who don't like you. Deals that went wrong. Unfair expectations. Bad situations. Unfortunate outcomes. Unfairness. It… | Continue reading
If you’re going to do a presentation (instead of sending a memo)… If you’re going to do a sales call (instead of staying home)… it’s because you want to make a change … | Continue reading
The rationale for traditional education is that more learning gets you a better job, and a job gets you paid, which makes the learning a worthwhile investment. But what happens after you get that j… | Continue reading