The End of the World, Again and Again
Without thinking too hard about it, I can recall thinking that each of the following events, all of which happened during my working life, were something like the end of the world. Black Monday (1987): On October 19, 1987, global stock markets experienced a massive crash, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeting 22.6% in […]
Wolfing vs. Tasting
Trader Joe’s sells a very nice 500-gram dark chocolate bar for about $8.00. We break it apart and put the pieces in a jar. It’s super easy to walk by, grab a piece, and wolf it down before I make it to the other side of the room. In the same pantry, we keep single-origin, […]
Carry On
There is a point in every big deal when it looks like it will all fall apart. There is a point in any creative project where you become convinced that the work is crap, and it should be thrown away. There is a point in any writing project where the bank page just won’t stop […]
Triple Bottom Line
The best jobs live at the intersection of three values . . . Good economics Good work Good relationships There is no objective definition for those terms. We get to decide. If you’ve been around long enough, you realize how rare a “triple bottom line” is. When you find yourself loving all three, be sure […]
Plan Like a Pessimist, Work Like An Optimist
We plan, prepare, work, worry, work some more, use our skills, and employ our tactics and strategies, all in service of bringing about a positive outcome. Myriad causes, conditions, and often competitors add to the soup of our intentions. We like to think we have some measure of control over how things will turn out, […]
Interested. Committed. Obsessed.
Interested. Committed. Obsessed. I heard someone the other day talk about the difference between these ideas . . . about the step-change in focus, persistence, and potential outcomes. Without saying more, I’m sure you can parse the differences. Perhaps you’ll do what I did: I made a mental list. What are the things that interest […]
It’s Not Over Until It’s Over, And Even Then . . .
It’s a jittery time of year. I’m not talking about elections. I’m talking about baseball. In 2023, Major League Baseball teams played 2,471 games. At the end of each, some people went home happy, some disappointed, and presumably some just went for the peanuts and hot dogs and didn’t care. The intensity of those feelings […]
50/10,000,000 is Not Reality
The human brain takes in roughly 10 million bits per second (Mbps) of visual information. Right alongside, it processes another 100,000 bits per second of auditory information, along with a lesser volume of touch, taste, and smell data. By way of reference, the 4k camera on your mobile phone processes about 6,000 Mbps. So what […]
Unfinished Business
I had a conversation with a colleague today. Some months ago, he and a business colleague had a bad breakup over a piece of business they did together. They have spoken since, but the feelings of hurt, betrayal, distrust, mistrust, and disappointment linger on both sides. Whether they are “finished” as business partners or transactors, […]
Perfect Game
Major League Baseball has existed since 1876. Over those years, about 20,000 pitchers have appeared in approximately 240,000 games. Of those pitchers, just 24 have pitched a perfect game. In other words, 24 people, 24 perfect games. Rare air. As I write this, a man named Shoehei Ohtani set a single game standard some people […]