It’s easy to be confused about this job, because it’s not one job, it’s at least three. This is why it’s a difficult job to fill, and why turnover is so high–we’re not allocating resources or setting expectations in a way that matches the work to be done. Marketing strategy: This is the work of positioning, story telling, status and affiliation. It’s understanding network effects, the user experience and the change we seek to make. Good marketing strategy overcomes just about everything else. Some of my books are about this. Promotion: This is more tactical. It’s coupons and PR and perhaps adv ..read more

Non-profits and charities depend on the emotional and financial support of their backers. And that support is always based on a story. A story of possibility, of justice, of community. They serve to right wrongs, to fix problems, to shine a light and to make things better. I’ve discovered that a book is a powerful tool for sharing this story. This week, Afya is launching a book by my friend Danielle Butin. It’s only available on their site. Wild Hope Now is the story of one person who saw a problem and refused to turn away. And it’s the story of how she began in her backyard, organizing one pe ..read more

In the moment, it’s really difficult. l’esprit de l’escalier means, “the spirit of the staircase.” That thing you wished you had a said just a moment ago, the bon mot or the clever riposte. It only comes to us as we’re walking away. But this sort of quick comment is good for the movies, not so much for the work we seek to do. When we’re in the middle of it, when the speed bump or emergency arises, perhaps it pays to write a blog post about the incident that will go live in two months. Or to simply think about what you will remember about this moment then. Two months ago, that thing that happen ..read more

Here’s a simple grid that might change the way you think about internal stories: When we believe in something that’s useful but not true, it can serve a helpful purpose. The tooth fairy, perhaps. When we act on something that’s useful and also true, we’ve found a resilient path forward. That’s because the truth doesn’t vary based on whether or not others choose to acknowledge it. In the top left is the cynical corner of focusing on things that while true, aren’t particularly useful. Thinking about the fact that a critic hated your last film isn’t going to help you with your next film, es ..read more

How about an astrolabe? Or even a watch? Technology advances, and sooner or later, the old stuff gets left behind. It’s easy to romanticize some of the classic devices that we built civilization on, and it’s worth remembering that the tech we’re wrestling with now will soon be faded away, with some folks nostalgic for the good old days. Everything doesn’t always move toward better, but everything moves ..read more

They’re almost always conservative. Whether it’s a governmental body, the strategy group at a big company or the membership panel at the local country club, we can learn a lot by seeing what they approve and when they stall. Of course, each of us know a lot about our offering, the change we seek to make and why it’s better. It’s easy to believe that, “If I were you I’d pick this obvious, rational choice…” and pitch accordingly. But they’re not you. They’re the committee. And the committee almost never makes what outsiders might say is the ‘right’ decision, instead they choose what’s right for ..read more

People talk about Hobson’s choice as if it’s always a bad thing. A liveryman in pre-industrial London, he rented horses. And every customer was allowed to take the horse closest to the door. Hobson’s choice is no choice at all. Of course, this system meant that the horses were rotated, and the fanciest ones weren’t overworked. It meant that you didn’t get to insist on a selection that was sub-optimal for the ridership as a whole. It’s tempting to imagine that when each person chooses, we all come out ahead. But sometimes, Hobson has a point ..read more

If you’re a freelancer or a contractor of any kind, it’s typical to be asked for an estimate or a quote. And if you’ve been doing business for a while, it’s likely that you’ve heard about price more than just about any other factor in losing an opportunity. So the pressure is on to sharpen your pencil, find the lowest price and do the best work you can under the circumstances. This leads to a grind and an endless race to the bottom. The glitch lies in how we interpret the objection about price. What the client is actually saying is, “All things being equal, the other alternative is cheaper, so ..read more

If I had to choose one metric that would determine how well someone would do in law school, it wouldn’t be the LSAT or another test. It would be whether or not they formed a study group, and who else was in it. Of course, the same is true for your project, or any sort of adult learning. It’s easier than ever to organize a group like this… in fact, we almost have to work hard to avoid it. The speed of our forward motion is directly related to the velocity of the people around us ..read more

If you’re trying to reduce risk, do the hard part first. That way, if it fails, you’ll have minimized your time and effort. On the other hand, if you’re looking for buy-in and commitment so you can get through the hard part, do it last. People are terrible at ignoring sunk costs, and the early wins and identity shifts that come from the easy successes at the beginning will give you momentum as you go ..read more