2025-09-30 17:03:00
This is the quickest and most direct way to manage. In the short run, compliance is predictable and might even be effective.
Over time, it’s always outdone by the generative and resilient alternative of, “because it’s the course that most effectively helps us achieve our shared objectives.” That opens the door to the brains and hearts of the community, and is also the way toward better.
Weak leaders (bosses, parents, captains and shift managers) resort to authority because they don’t trust themselves and their team enough to actually lead.
2025-09-29 17:03:00
On an airplane, we notice even tiny changes in acceleration (including direction) but we’re completely unaware that we’re traveling at hundreds of miles an hour.
“Compared to what” is the unstated question that we ask ourselves, all the time.
Consumers, employees and peers are unlikely to think about what’s already a given. It’s the changes we notice.
2025-09-28 16:44:00
Start where you are.
Start with what you’ve got.
Start now.
Now is the perfect moment. It only feels ‘fast’ if we’re rushing.
Don’t rush. But act.
With deliberate progress.
2025-09-27 17:03:00
The next dish.
It might be better than the one you have now.
The presence of the next dish, its possibility, corrodes our experience. “Compared to what?” keeps needling us.
The next email, the next text, the next blog post.
It arrives, unbidden, unasked for. Here it comes.
Next.
Like Lucy in the chocolate factory, we’re trained to simply focus on next.
Which is rarely as satisfying as now.
2025-09-26 17:03:00
Perhaps this metaphor will help:
Nails are the easiest to use and require the least skill.
Glue can make a more solid bond, but it’s often a one-way commitment–you can’t undo it without damage.
And screws are the most resilient. They require good judgment in their selection and skill in their application. They create a powerful bond but can also be undone without a lot of fuss.
Often, we build our projects with nails. Sometimes, we commit and use glue. But screws often yield the best productivity in the long run. They’re not easier, but they might be better.
2025-09-25 17:03:00
Here’s a summary from a book industry newsflash about what’s selling right now: Dystopia, Dark Romance, Dark Literary, Horror, Paranormal, True Crime, Alternative Histories, Decline of Democracy, Humor, Digital Wellness, Cozy & Cute, and Escapism.
Setting aside just how long it takes to bring a book (or just about anything more important than an instagram post) to market, it’s pretty clear that this list, and any list, contradicts itself.
Look closely enough or in a short enough window of time, and all you will see is turbulence. Turbulence is the chaos around the edges, the noise without signal.
The problem with snipe hunting (it’s a real creature, it turns out) is that it distracts you from the real work to be done.
A useful north star: Work that matters for people who care.
We need to figure out who the people are. What they care about. What would matter. To them. Not to everyone. To them.
And then we need to earn enrollment, trust and attention. Build a foundation, with consistency and persistence.
That’s impossible if you’re also hunting snipes.
Chasing snipes comes with a sort of deniability. It’s obvious that there are fast-moving snipes, and they’re successful as well. Of course you’re chasing them.
On the other hand, when we make a commitment to find our people and to contribute in a meaningful way, we’re on the hook. If it doesn’t work, there’s no convenient snipe to blame.
