One of the nicest things a generous critic can tell you is that a particularly off-key email or comment doesn't sound like you. It's generous because that's precisely the sort of feedback we can use to improve our work. And... | Continue reading
Sea levels are rising. It happens every day, and it's been going on for a while. Most people aren't noticing, and won't, until it gets worse. On the other hand, a hurricane or a flood captures everyone's attention and causes... | Continue reading
We see it all the time. Someone gets caught cheating, or breaking a social taboo, or undermining the fabric of our culture in order to get ahead... And the fans of the team rush to his defense. It happens to... | Continue reading
There's a lot of volleying in tennis. They hit the ball, you hit it back. A lot like most of the engagements you have with other people. The thing is, though, you get to decide who to volley with. Perhaps... | Continue reading
A simple dialog can turn opinions into plans (or perhaps, into less tightly held opinions). We ask, "and then what happens?" Flesh it out. Tell us step by step. The more detail the better. No miracles allowed. And it helps... | Continue reading
I don't usually blog about food, but here you go: The next chance you have to visit an Indian grocery, buy yourself a packet of papad (sometimes called papadum, or the phonologic, 'poppers'). They cost about $2 for 10. (my... | Continue reading
It lets us off the hook in many ways. It creates systems and momentum and eliminates many decisions for its members. "I'm just doing my job." "That's the way the system works." Most of all, it gives us a structure... | Continue reading
You know you should be focusing on the long-term journey, on building out the facility, signing up new customers or finishing your dissertation. But instead, there's a queue of urgent things, all justifiable, all requiring you and you alone to... | Continue reading
They still have one at the Helsinki airport. No one in the lounge seems particularly happy to be there. Perhaps they enjoyed smoking when they first started, but now, it sure looks like they realize that it's expensive, unhealthy and... | Continue reading
Everyone on your team should have one. When we hit the button, it instantly alerts the CEO or someone who willingly takes responsibility for what happens next. And then the question: What are the circumstances where an employee should (must)... | Continue reading
You connect with someone. But you exert power over someone. You can dance and communicate and engage with a partner. It's a two way street, a partnership. On the other hand, you either exert control over someone, or you are... | Continue reading
There are two real problems with this attitude: First, drawing lines. Problems aren't linear, people don't fit into boxes. Lines are not nuanced, flexible or particularly well-informed. A line is a shortcut, a lazy way to deal with a problem... | Continue reading
It's too late now. If you're the moderator of a panel and you want to rush through one more question... Or if you're the speaker and you need to race through three more slides... Or if you're a writer or... | Continue reading
One reason it's difficult to understand each other is that behind the words we use are the worldviews, the emotions and the beliefs we have before we even consider what's being said. Before we get to right and wrong, good... | Continue reading
It's not "less." If we care enough, the opposite of more is better. | Continue reading
Being locked out of your car is not an interesting problem. Call five locksmiths, hire the cheap and fast one, you'll be fine. And getting a script written or a book cover designed isn't that interesting either. There are thousands... | Continue reading
A fish is not like a bicycle, but they're not mutually exclusive. You can have both. Part of our culture admires reason. It celebrates learning. It seeks out logic and coherence and an understanding of the how and the why.... | Continue reading
This is the snarky feedback of someone whose bias is to hustle instead of to stand for something. When you say 'no' to their pitch, they merely smile and congratulate you on the quaint idea that you have standards. Their... | Continue reading
At some point, you'll need to make a deal with yourself. What is this career for? What are the boundaries? What are you keeping score of, maximizing, improving? Who do you serve? Once you make this pact, don't break it... | Continue reading
Perhaps she wants to be heard instead. Or find something better, or unique. Or perhaps customer service, flexibility and speed are more important. It might be that the way you treat your employees, or the side effects you create count... | Continue reading
It's tempting to seek to change just one person at a time. After all, if you fail, no one will notice. It's also tempting to try to change everyone. But of course, there really is no everyone, not any more.... | Continue reading
Early adopters want to buy a different experience than people who identify as the mass market do. Innovators want something fresh, exciting, new and interesting. The mass market doesn't. They want something that works. It's worth noting here that you're... | Continue reading
I recently did a talk where the organizer set up the room in the round, with the stage in the middle. He proudly told me that it would create a sense of intimacy because more people would be close to... | Continue reading
When you seek the mass market, there are two paths available: You can dumb down your message and your expectations, and meet your audience where they stand. You can coarsen your lyrics, offer simpler solutions, ask for less effort, demand... | Continue reading
Perhaps the biggest cultural change of my lifetime has been the growing influence and ubiquity of commercial media in our lives. Commercial media companies exist to make a profit, and they've grown that profit faster than just about any industry... | Continue reading
The scourge of Powerpoint continues to spread throughout the land. In offices everywhere, people roll out their decks, click through their bullet points and bore all of us to tears. Worst of all, important projects don't get done. All of... | Continue reading
We've always been paying it, of course. Insulation, heating systems, drains--we build all of them because we live in places with unpredictable or inhospitable weather. But the weather tax is rising, and it is likely to go up faster still.... | Continue reading
Freelancers, writers, designers, photographers--there's always an opportunity to work for free. There are countless websites and causes and clients that will happily take your work in exchange for exposure. And in some settings, this makes perfect sense. You might be... … | Continue reading
Sir Boyle Roche famously said, "Why we should put ourselves out of our way to do anything for posterity, for what has posterity ever done for us?" Quite a lot, actually. We were born into a culture that took generations... | Continue reading
In most interactions, you're capable of winning. If you push hard enough, kick someone in the shins, throw a tantrum, cheat a little bit, putting it all at stake, you might very well get your way. But often, this sort... | Continue reading
There's no more urgent reason to write. It keeps you from insisting that people read your mind, understand your gestures and generally guess what you want. If you can learn to share what you hope to communicate, written in a... | Continue reading
If you're trying to persuade someone to make an investment, buy some insurance or support a new plan, please consider that human beings are terrible at buying these things. What we're good at is 'now.' Right now. When we buy... | Continue reading
Even an Olympic athlete is going to do poorly on Jupiter. The gravity is two and half times greater, which means you're just not going to jump very well. On the other hand, our moon gives you a huge advantage...... | Continue reading
After more than a year, I can report that the altMBA is working. It's the most effective, purpose-built and transformative learning tool I've ever worked on. Here's our latest alumni spotlight. More than 950 people have completed this month-long workshop,... | Continue reading
Not if, but when. You and your team have already given up on carrier pigeons, typewriters and probably, fax machines. And the spreadsheet has totally changed not only your accounting, but much of your decision making. My guess is that... | Continue reading
I got to the gate just as they closed the door and the plane began to back away. It was thirty years ago, but I still remember how it felt. I think we’re hard-wired to fear these painful moments of... | Continue reading
We focus on them and elevate them on our priority list. Sometimes, we invent a fake problem and give it great import and urgency as a way to take our focus and fear away from the thing that's actually a... | Continue reading
It's fashionable for designers and marketers to want to reduce friction in the way they engage with users. And sometimes, that's smart. If someone knows what they want, get out of their way and help them get it. One-click, done.... | Continue reading
The digital sign at the train station near my home could show me what time it is. It could tell us how many more minutes until the next train. Or it could announce if the train was running on time...... | Continue reading
We're not having a lot of trouble with the "diverse opinions" part. But they're worthless without shared reality. At a chess tournament, when the newcomer tries to move his rook diagonally, it's not permitted. "Hey, that's just your opinion," is... | Continue reading
The best time to experiment in the kitchen is if you don't have 11 guests coming for dinner in three hours. Or, at the very least, be sure to have some decent frozen pizzas on hand, just in case. We... | Continue reading
Jacqueline Novogratz points out that the market can be an efficient listening device. If you go to a person and offer charity or even a gift, there's not a lot of choice. But if you offer to sell someone something,... | Continue reading
There's a contradiction built into our instinct to hoard: the more we do it, the less we get. An idea shared is worth more than one kept hidden. Opportunities passed from one to another create connections which lead to more... | Continue reading
We may dream of the mass market, but the mass market doesn't dream of us. Almost no one visits your restaurant, almost no one buys your bestselling book, almost no one watches the Tonight Show. Rare indeed is a market... | Continue reading
In the moment, when you have power, no matter how momentarily, how will you choose to act? Jerk comes from the idea of pulling hard on the reins, suddenly and without care. Horses don't like it and neither, it turns... | Continue reading
Of course, for millions of years, people couldn't look it up. They couldn't read and they hadn't invented writing yet, so there was nothing to look up. All you knew was what you knew, along with what you could ask... | Continue reading
Human rights might be our species' greatest invention. More than phones or trains or Milky Way bars, our incremental progress toward dignity, opportunity and equality is a miracle. Rights aren't a decision we make when we're in the mood or... | Continue reading
(at something). Which makes it imperative that you connect and ask for help. At the same time that we encounter this humbling idea, we also need to acknowledge that you are better at something than anyone you meet. Everyone you... | Continue reading