Customer service isn’t simply an expensive, time-consuming obligation. It’s a strategic marketing investment if you want it to be. When Tony built Zappos, he invested in having his cust… | Continue reading
That meeting on your calendar, the one scheduled for tomorrow. What if it were the final interview for a job you care about? Would you show up on time? Where would you sit? What sort of questions w… | Continue reading
Evolution, whether by natural selection or artificial, whether in species or in ideas, is all around us. It happens slowly. Usually more slowly than we’re aware of, and definitely more slowly… | Continue reading
It always is. That’s its natural state. Never enough opportunity, fairness and connection. Never enough time for a student who needs it, or dignity for a person who deserves it. A chance to b… | Continue reading
The first cycle of computers was good at: arithmetic and storing data This meant that if you wanted to know how strong a bridge was going to be, or how to schedule a complicated series of truck del… | Continue reading
Run out of chocolate, and that’s a shame. Run out of oxygen and you’re doomed. Sometimes, we overdo our reliance on chocolate. It’s better in small doses–too much and it los… | Continue reading
All problems have solutions. That’s what makes them problems. The solution might involve trade-offs or expenses that you don’t want to incur. You might choose not to solve the problem. … | Continue reading
Honorable men (at least that’s what they called themselves) used to settle their disputes with dueling pistols. Honorable women used to bind their feet and shame others that didn’t. Hon… | Continue reading
A thoughtful friend has a new project, and decided to integrate a podcast into it. Talking to a producer, he said that his goal was to make it a “top 10 podcast on iTunes.” Why is that … | Continue reading
We’ve been doing it for a long time. “The Gods must be crazy.” The easiest way for a human to deal with a complex system (an AI that plays Scrabble, the traffic, the weather) is t… | Continue reading
Over time, some people embrace edge beliefs like ear candling, the Stein Harmonizer and hydrogen infused water, among thousands of others. Our search for reassurance and belief is built deep into o… | Continue reading
There are two reasons we say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’. The first is pretty obvious. It gives the other person dignity. It acknowledges their humanity. It implies that at som… | Continue reading
In The Wizard of Oz, we meet a powerful heroine. Dorothy is resolute, focused and honest. A generous partner, leading her friends to where they seek to go. “C’mon, let’s go,”… | Continue reading
You probably know people who are late. Often. They don’t want to be late. In fact, their good intentions are probably the reason that they are late. They might try one technique or another, a… | Continue reading
It’s pretty easy to tell when you have a plumbing problem. Or when you need a roofer. And if your finances are a mess, you might have an accounting problem. But what are the symptoms that you… | Continue reading
On my way to work, I need to make a left turn on a somewhat busy street. If there’s no traffic, it’s easy. Stop at the stop sign, look and go. And if there’s dense traffic, the de… | Continue reading
When two people have a heated discussion about an issue, one of three things could be happening: One of them is wrong. At the moment, each of them are sure that the other person is the one who̵… | Continue reading
There are words that now have no meaning at all. Literally no meaning. We write them to take up space. To make ourselves seem more serious or smarter. We speak them to give ourselves a pause, a mom… | Continue reading
In our office, the kitchen exhaust fan blows the smoke from the cooktop–back into the kitchen. It’s a closed loop, a palliative, a noisy device that doesn’t do much except make yo… | Continue reading
On one hand, Uncle Ben’s rule makes great sense: “With great power comes great responsibility.” The essence of the rule is that once you have great power, you need to take the res… | Continue reading
On one hand, Uncle Ben’s rule makes great sense: “With great power comes great responsibility.” The essence of the rule is that once you have great power, you need to take the res… | Continue reading
For most pieces, for most audiences, most of the time, you wouldn’t miss it if it were gone. But take away one more instrument, and then another, and pretty soon, we’ll stop listening. … | Continue reading
It’s way easier to eat lousy food than it is to exercise it off. Your effort is undermined by your inputs. And the same thing is true for corporate culture. You can work as hard as you like t… | Continue reading
If you need to persuade someone to take action, you’re doing marketing. If you’re looking for votes at the city council meeting, or looking for a promotion, you’re marketing. If y… | Continue reading
Two dangerous uses of social media: To find out what other people are saying about you behind your back. To follow people you don’t particularly like, just to hope that they’ll mess up … | Continue reading
In every field, extraordinary benefits go to those seen as being in the top five percent. One out of twenty. Sure, the biggest prizes go to the once-in-a-generation superstar. But that’s larg… | Continue reading
In 1900, David Hilbert published a list of 23 problems that he proposed would be the important ones for mathematicians to solve in the upcoming century. That list led to a focused effort that laste… | Continue reading
In 1900, David Hilbert published a list of 23 problems that he proposed would be the important ones for mathematicians to solve in the upcoming century. That list led to a focused effort that laste… | Continue reading
If you want someone to help, you’ll do better with a spec. It lists just four things: What is the problem to be solved? How are we going to solve it? How can we test that the thing we built m… | Continue reading
I’ve never once had a meeting at 3 am. Not once. My iCal is apparently unaware of this. If I type “3” into the time box on my calendar, it blithely defaults to “am”. A… | Continue reading
While it might be fun (or appear expedient, or brave, or heroic) to try to scale a cliff with no tools, it turns out that ladders are a more effective way to level up. When it’s time to drive… | Continue reading
In just about a week, we open the doors for the sixth session of The Marketing Seminar. If you’ve read This Is Marketing, you have an idea of the content, but you might not be familiar with t… | Continue reading
Professionals understand that the project is the whole project, not simply the fun or urgent or interesting part of the work. There are countless productive shortcuts along the way. But not finishi… | Continue reading
Poets use words (and silence) to change things. They care about form and function and most of all, about making an impact on those that they connect with. Every word counts. Every breath as well. I… | Continue reading
Pessimists are right. Optimists are right. Expectations have magical powers. So many people to connect with, so many things to learn. Doors to open, helping hands to be offered. The magic of our ti… | Continue reading
There are some jobs that are only done by accredited professionals. And then there are most jobs, jobs that some people do for fun, now and then, perhaps in front of the bathroom mirror. It’s… | Continue reading
So much pressure to be general, to be all inclusive, to aim for the middle. That’s what meetings push you to do. Advertising. Social. But what if you were specific instead? Precisely for you,… | Continue reading
Of course it did. We wouldn’t be in this jam if it hadn’t. The nature of our independent choices means that sometimes we’re seduced by a decision that turns out to be a mistake. W… | Continue reading
Every day, at the end of his shift, one of your employees takes three laptops out of the supply closet, takes them home and sells them on eBay, pocketing the money. If you discovered this, would yo… | Continue reading
When someone else screws up, it’s because of who they are, their race, their upbringing… a glimpse into their true character. When we do something, it’s because the situation we&#… | Continue reading
The 10x programmer, the 10x strategy expert, the 10x surgeon. This is something we are always in search of. The human who is playing at a different level, generating work that changes everything. T… | Continue reading
For millions of years, we’ve evolved to live in community. Our brains, which are hugely expensive to maintain, got bigger and bigger, primarily to support our ability to engage with others. I… | Continue reading
The worst kind of problem is precisely the kind of problem we’re not spending time worrrying about. It’s not the cataclysmic disaster, the urgent emergency or the five-alarm fire. No, the worst kin… | Continue reading
The boss in a factory relies on compliance. More compliance leads to more profits. Do what you’re told, faster and cheaper, repeat. This is the history of the twentieth century. The studio, on the … | Continue reading
The people who get you. The ones who have been through it with you. Who see you. Our life is a series of cohorts, and the special ones connect with us deeply. They raise the bar and they provide a … | Continue reading
They’re difficult because they resist simple solutions. Glib answers and over-simplication have been tried before, and failed. People have tried all of the obvious solutions. They haven’t wor… | Continue reading
This is a brave and generous thing to say. If you’re not able (or committed enough) to do the reading before you give your opinion, please have the guts to point that out. “I didn’… | Continue reading
Joni Mitchell was one of a kind. A sensation. A record-selling machine, with legions of fans. And then she made Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter. A personal, idiosyncratic album that marked the f… | Continue reading