The Apparatus Effect
The idea of a personal brand is already an ideological product. It’s not neutral. It’s an artifact of the attention economy.
The LinkedIn Experiment
What if LinkedIn is just a massive Milgram experiment? The algorithm plays the scientist, pushing you to escalate, engage, and obey. How far will you go?
Assertions or Assumptions?
When someone says “most marketers,” ask yourself—how would they know? With millions in the field, broad claims aren’t insight. If you have data, use it.
The Cost of Easy Gains
If a tool made you stronger but left you weaker, would you still use it? AI is making work easier—but at what cost? Researchers say it’s eroding our ability to think.
Missing the Future
Marketing used to be about vision and purpose—now it’s just about the next project, the next noise. When did we stop planning for the future?
Lead or Lose Ground
Thought leadership isn’t a luxury—it’s a growth engine. Firms with strong programs grow 27% faster, yet it takes just 8% of a budget. The time to start? Yesterday.
Confessing AI Uncertainty
I’m going to be honest. My view on AI—to the extent it even matters outside my own cozy head—moves all over the place. I’m uncertain.
Oblique Strategies and Creativity
Lessons from, Brian Eno: Songwriting strategies can also apply to the creative process for writing—even on topics in institutional finance.
Xodus and Bluesky
Accounts and traffic on social media platform Bluesky are soaring because X is just appalling. But is that a good thing? Will it last?
Sorry to Tell You, But…
Sorry to tell you, but most of what you hear about content has little to do with what you need to do to do thought leadership. Sweeping statements about what content is may sometimes contain a kernel of utility. But for the most part, they are positioning without much standing behind them.