Sometimes You Need to Reinvent

You don’t need me to remind you we live in a world of constant change. I started to make a list, but it got ridiculously long. Instead, I’ll skip to the punch line. Assuming you want to compete and thrive . . . Market forces grind what’s unique and special into what is ordinary and […]

Yes, You Can Be Like LeBron (clickbait headline, but bear with me)

A top athlete, like LeBron James, “trains” six to eight hours a day during the season (not including games) and four to six hours in the ten minutes that comprise his off-season. A lot goes into “training,” including skills, practice, strength and conditioning, flexibility and mobility, recovery and treatment, film study and mental preparation, nutrition, […]

Build Better Than Code

Talking with a colleague this morning about “code.”  Not that kind. Building codes. They’re there for a reason. They level the playing field (everyone must meet a standard). They increase owner and buyer confidence (the building is safe, efficient, and durable). They make it possible for lenders to underwrite. Building codes also stifle innovation. You […]

What Would Happen if You Went “All In?”

The Paris Olympics has been a joy, a wonder, an occasional head-scratcher, and a living answer to the question, “What would happen if you went all in?” And the answer? Medals World Records Olympic Records Personal Bests Instagram Follows And also . . . Injuries Crushing disappointments DNF Finished last And also . . . […]

Do Fewer Things Better

Many of us manage our time and work by saying yes to everything and then scrambling to complete it. Maybe it’s because we think we have to. Maybe it’s the nature of the job. Maybe it’s how we were raised. Maybe it’s because we don’t know any other way. What would you do if you […]

You Can’t Hack Your Way to Great

Sivanandan is nine years old. She took up chess during lockdown, which made her, what, six when she started? She is one of five players chosen for England’s women’s team to play in the Chess Olympiad in September. Maybe she’ll be ten! The next youngest player is an ancient 23. You and I aren’t Sivanandan. […]

25 People

In the 1990s, a man named Dunbar suggested a correlation between primate brain size and social group size. Without litigating his research, he proposed that we humans can comfortably maintain between 100 and 200 social relationships. Ever after, this has been referred to as “Dunbar’s Number.” Many people split the difference and call it 150. […]

Stuff Happens

Well, of course, it does. This moment results from all the stuff that happened, and the next one is the same. It’s all just stuff that happens. We’re the ones attaching stories to it. Normal Stuff. What we were expecting. Good Stuff. Better than we were expecting. Great Stuff. Way better than we were expecting […]

The Power of Curiosity

Tom Peters’ book In Search of Excellence is regarded as one of the most influential business books of all time. In an article about the book, Peters says, “There was no carefully designed work plan. There was no theory that I was out to prove. I went out and talked to genuinely smart, remarkably interesting, […]

Why Reinvention is Hard

Reinventing yourself means the people in your life will have to think about and deal with you differently.  Their Jedi Mind Tricks will no longer work on you.  Their expectations will no longer be met in the same way.  They won’t know what box to put you in, and that rocks their world. In the […]