Expertise and firmly held beliefs don’t always go together. Here’s a simple XY grid to help us choose where to sit at whatever table we’re invited to: Plenty of well-trained professionals have earned the right to have strongly held beliefs. These convictions save them time and error, particularly if the world is stable. Surgeons, jugglers and historians make countless decisions, and they rarely have the time or resources to reconsider each underlying factor. This makes them efficient, but can also cause a field to get stuck. Fortunately, there are innovators. These are individuals with plenty ..read more

Dreams are fine. And dreams involve contradictions. We want this AND that, but both can’t happen. That’s what keeps them from being plans. Plans embrace boundaries and reality, they don’t ignore them. Plans thrive on scarcity and constraints. Plans are open for inspection, and a successful planner looks forward to altering the plans to make them more likely to become real ..read more

Sometimes, we’re so afraid of creation that we don’t even leave blank pages around. If your workspace has a hole exactly the size of a creative idea in it, you’re more likely to fill the hole. When we decrease the number of steps to begin creating, and increase the expectation that something is going to arrive, it’s far more likely to happen. Book a recording studio. Leave the laptop open. Schedule a blog post. Make sure the whiteboard can be seen. Buy more blank canvasses than you need. Blank pages beg to be filled, and it helps to have them around. Some GOODBIDS auctions to consider: Get som ..read more

This week is the 150th anniversary of the most important failed art exhibit of all time. It was organized by and featured artists who weren’t even among those that had a slot at the runner’s up exhibit for artists who weren’t featured in the real Salon in Paris. Manet didn’t have the guts to join them, so he participated in the ‘Refused’ exhibit. The others understood that a real change was possible. Monet, Renoir, Sisley, Degas, Berthe Morisot, Pissarro, Béliard, Guillaumin, Lepic, Levert, and Rourt all participated. They not only put their art in the show, they organized and paid for it. A f ..read more

Every competitor faces pressure, and it varies by industry, consumer/investor segment and geography. This applies to services, products, ideas, organizations, jobs… whenever there’s a choice and a market. The pressure might push you to be: Cheaper Simpler Dumber More short term Easier Coarse More convenient Hyped But it’s also possible to choose a marketplace that rewards: Durability Difficulty Elegant design Resilience Thoughtfulness Higher performance and efficiency Patience A real challenge is in trying to bring the desires of one segment to the other. That’s difficult indeed. Choose yo ..read more

“How do you get the word out?” I’ve heard this from presidential candidates, from small business leaders and nonprofits as well. It’s easy to believe that the goal of marketing is to shout, hype, hustle and otherwise promote. It’s tempting to focus on your story as the top of the pyramid, and decide that your work is to share that story to everyone downstream, downwind or near you. Hire a PR firm, run some ads, post more on social media and hype and hustle. After all, it’s important. But that’s not how the world works, and it hasn’t worked that way since network TV started to fade a few decade ..read more

[Relevant aside: If you get this blog by email, apologies for the glitches of the last few days caused by my provider. If you ever see a broken link or something that doesn’t render, you can visit the blog. It always has the latest version, typos fixed. It’s much easier to fix the blog over time than it is to re-send an email due to an error. The irony of ‘live’ in this post is not lost on me. Thanks for your patience.] Charity auctions are an odd hybrid. They take a lot of focus, and when done live, a lot of logistical support. It’s all of the charity’s best “customers” in a room, at the same ..read more

What kind of culture will we build? At work, in our community, online? Compliance Quality Inquiry Inclusion Consumption Possibility and/or Fear Each of us builds culture every time we interact with anyone else. Opting out isn’t possible, all we can do is decide what sort of impact and contribution we’re each going to make. It’s tempting to say, “they” build culture, and to see that some have far more leverage than others. But it’s actually a “we” thing ..read more

When someone starts a business, they spend a bunch of time with a business plan, working to raise funds and get it off the ground. After that, though, the purpose of the business is completely aligned with the idea of not running out of money. We run a business to make money, not to spend it. If done well, there’s no more fundraising after a startup period. On the other hand, nonprofits sign up to do at least two things. They’re here to solve a problem, to address trauma, to enrich the culture, to do the difficult work that we’re not always able to do on our own. And yet, at the same time, we ..read more

There are few sitcoms, thrillers or plays where the plot can tolerate the addition of a cell phone. Once the characters have the ability to connect and clear up misunderstandings at will, a lot of tension disappears. If Juliet had had a smartphone, she and Romeo would have ended up married, living in a house in the suburbs. And the ubiquitous meeting-in-person has a similarly long history. And yet they still happen with very few changes, with power getting the head of the table, traditionally privileged voices being the loudest and no accommodations for new information or asynchronous interact ..read more