There are two easy ways to tell: First, if you have a script or a highlighted goal in mind, you’re pitching. You’re simply asking questions to create connection, tension or forward motion. Second, if you’re willing to learn and change your point of view as a result of the conversation, you’re asking. That’s rare. People can tell ..read more

It’s possible that your day will be more enjoyable if you are insulated from the market. If you have a boss who has a boss… If you don’t have to review the sales numbers for the products you created or edited… If you have raised a ton of venture investment… If you are embracing the discontent of being unpublished, undistributed or unfunded… An alternative is to seek to strip away all market insulation, the equivalent of the kid selling cookies at a table in front of their house. Either people buy the cookies or they don’t. The market might be wrong, it might be callous or it might be stupid, b ..read more

The first was radio and television. Humans around the world spending a significant portion of their waking hours consuming audio and video recordings of other people. The second was the internet. Five to ten hours a day interacting, in real time, with other people, many of them strangers. And the third is AI. We’re about to spend almost all of our time interacting with software that appears to have an understanding of us and the world around us. All the time, in real time ..read more

There’s often doubt. Giving someone the benefit of that doubt enables us to move forward, and that requires us to realize that our doubt might be unfounded. Systems that assume goodwill create possibility, connection and utility far easier than those that don’t. Being invited to find a place in those systems is a privilege worth earning ..read more

Massive leaps in utility and quality are extraordinary events. Going from ver 2.0 to 3.0 is a step change. But that is almost never what improvement looks like. Instead, the persistent commitment to slightly better on a regular schedule inexorably makes a difference over time ..read more

In just about every group, people decide in advance how they’ll show up when it comes to learning, to winning and to responding to opportunities. They’re wearing a hat with a label, and over time, it’s not hard to recognize. This can change based on pedagogy, social conditions and the juxtaposition of status roles, but it’s really quite sticky. A few people are not simply autodidacts, they’re actually motivated by the journey itself. They show up early, do the training, focus on prep and learn what they can, merely because they can. This is the person who trains for a marathon and then runs o ..read more

Where’s your permit? Who said you could try to solve this problem? I don’t get it… That’s too original. It’s not original enough. You missed a comma. That’s not funny. That’s been done before. That’s never been done before. It’s not your best work. None of us are authorized to solve interesting problems. And there are no guarantees. Do it anyway. Generous creativity is the only way things can get better ..read more

Two of the building blocks of a resilient society. And the opposite of the lazy shortcut. The meanings of both clauses change over time… Play fair: Everyone gets an opportunity to participate, from the very beginning Leave your campsite cleaner than you found it Take responsibility for the effects and side effects of your work Don’t seek monopoly power The long-term is the point Show your work and bring transparency to the market Don’t be a jerk Give others the benefit of the doubt Call your own fouls and don’t work the refs Work hard: Do the reading Ask good questions Create value Change y ..read more

AI agents are going to overhaul the way we think about buying and selling. Uber already did this in a small way. They organized the drivers, and now they organize the riders. Hailing a cab was already sort of anonymous, but with competition and structure, AI will continue to get better at finding the right passengers for the right drivers, and vice versa. But there are far more markets where this sort of transformation hasn’t happened yet. Real estate (both buying and renting) has been slightly changed by the internet. They’ve made markets a bit more efficient and given buyers more insight. Bu ..read more

“Just a little more,” might be a useful way to self motivate, until it isn’t. N + 1 pushes us to win every race, every argument, every bank balance competition. Sometimes this is simply a self challenge, not designed to hurt others, but the problem with never being satisfied is that the loser is also going to be you. “Enough” is often attainable and always useful ..read more