Make Decency the Default
Basic decency isn’t radical. It’s necessary—in politics, business, and marketing. Let’s make it a priority.
Clarity for the Sake of Rhetoric
What does the phrase “let me be clear” suggest when it becomes a knee-jerk gesture instead of a rhetorical flourish?
Atrophy, Apathy, Literacy
A smaller and smaller slice of people enters the workforce able to wrestle with ideas they don’t easily understand.
Something Happens to Writers
Many business writers become bitter and crabby. They cross the line from audience advocacy into indignant ignorance. They grouse, kvetch, and scold. But there’s a way out.
How Many Marbles?
Last year, I asked myself how much longer I think I want to work before “retiring.” I did the math and decided it would be 800 weeks. It’s a lot of time, but not much time at all.
Stop Making Bad Deals
When you make a deal to distort your writing and thinking for the sake of a platform algorithm, you slowly corrode the quality of your thought.
Fostering a Culture of Compassionate Intelligence
Cruel and stupid are everywhere. That’s a big part of why I created my business—to create a safe little island of kind and smart for myself, my team, and my clients. And I don’t (only) mean the usual cast of bullies and bigots. What’s more insidious are the cruel and stupid forces that creep into […]
Harvesting Strawberries with a Lawnmower
Here’s what causes things in business go awry. Organizations are status machines. Companies are economic value machines. When you try to make one kind of machine do the work of another kind of machine, you get messy results. It’s like trying to use a lawnmower to harvest strawberries. Organizational dynamics cause people to save face, […]
Why Your ‘Why’ Matters
Founders, innovators, product managers: When you’re building something new, it’s easy to start ignoring the why. It’s even more likely that you forget to be vocal about why. Then you finally have something ready for investors or the market—but you feel like you’re starting at zero again. Your idea of what is new and better […]
One Week to Mastery
Become a better fintech leader/marketer/writer in just one week. Three steps. Here’s how.