Betterment

The intentional, noticed choices are obvious. “Vanilla or chocolate?” But most of the choices we live with are unseen. They’re expensive, challenging and invisible. When we plan a…

As in, what _types_ of to-do are there.

The Irish broadcaster, Colm Flynn recently tweeted about a lovely TV news report he worked on back in 2019, about a postman, Mike Sheehan, in a very

No wonder you feel overwhelmed! All your work is urgent, there are no clear solutions for anything, you sprint from meeting to meeting, with barely space to breathe. Leadership coach Lena Reinhard offers a few tips on managing the unmanageable.

One of the common conceits in leadership is that nobody is truly essential for a company’s continuity. I call it a conceit, but I do mostly agree with it: I’ve felt literally sick after hearing about some peer’s unexpected departure, but I’m continually amazed at how resilient companies are to departures, even of important people. About two-thirds of Digg’s team left in layoffs in 2010, but we found ways to amble on.

For the last thirty years, the easiest shortcut has been convenience. If a marketer or a politician or an institution wants to gain acceptance, make it convenient. Tim Wu has pointed out that we&#8…

A strong personal value proposition should define who you want to work with, what solutions you can offer, and why any of it matters.

In resetting my organisation system, I need to get away from the computer.

Not what we see when we’re present, but what do we see when we imagine we’re present? In the early days of photography, the world was black and white, and sort of flat. It’s worth…

Some industries need to be dragged kicking and screaming to innovation. When margins are tight and profits are small, CEOs often don't want to spend a dime on the promise of increased efficiencies or long-term savings, and so external leverage is needed. Today we talk with Shinya Shimizu, founder and CEO of Elephantech, who explains how he found that leverage in his mission to make the global technology supply chain more environmentally friendly. We explore how Elephantech and other startups are helping the world meet net-zero targets, strategies for scaling manufacturing startups, and how you can make money while doing good in the world. It's a great conversation, and I think you'll enjoy it.

Back when I was managing at Digg and Uber, I spent a lot of time delivering feedback to my management chain about issues in our organization. My intentions were good, but I alienated my management chain without accomplishing much. I also shared my concerns with my team, which I thought would help them understand the organization, but mostly isolated them in a Values Oasis or demoralized them instead. Those experiences taught me that pushing your organization to improve is essential leadership work, but organizations can only absorb so much improvement at a given time before they reject the person providing the feedback.

Life can be irritating. And sometimes, we can make a choice. The thing that’s vexing you: is it a situation or a problem? Problems have solutions. If we care enough, we can find a way to solv…

The secret to getting results only has three words: Understand human nature.  During the Revolutionary War, Ben Franklin was in the precarious position of

Over the last two newsletters (three, if you include my reply to Google’s “rebuttal” of the Prabhakar Raghavan newsletter), I’ve made the case that while rot economics are responsible for making technology products manifestly worse, this transformation was only possible thanks to the interventions of a managerial class.

Indie Courses helps you sell your course quickly and gives you the tools and knowledge to make more sales than you would elsewhere. No marketing degree needed.

Researchers explore the intricate mechanisms of memory and debunk common myths about its function.

Guest post by L6 Staff Engineer & Tech Lead at Google

More than two-thirds of the companies surveyed said that they used NPS methodology with their customers. Some are using it to measure employee satisfaction as well. The P stands for ‘promoter…

Every business and individual has overhead. The bills we have to pay and the costs we incur that aren’t directly related to our income. You pay them whether or not you’re busy. But ther…

What does it mean to be cool?  Philosophers have long pondered this burning question.  There are different types of coolness, with some related to affect, style, or talent. But one type is connected to how we show up in relationships. It’s the type that underlies the feeling expressed when you think to tell someone (or […]

That’s not true, actually. Books sell, but book doesn’t. The odds of a particular book selling a lot of copies are close to zero. The truth of the long tail is that most titles are way …

In 1980, a 46-cent chip almost caused nuclear armageddon. Gapingvoid advisor, Brigadier General John “Dragon” Teichert (USAF (RET) tells the story in his

They’re often related. It’s not unusual for someone to have more experience or knowledge than we do. If they use that knowledge to their benefit, not ours, they might be manipulating us…

Thomas Carlyle famously warned against stuff that is “a good tool to have as a slave, but a bad master to be ruled by." Consider applying this warning to culture. Culture is humanity’s superpower; it is what makes humans so much more capable than other animals. When we know what outcomes we want, but not how to get them, culture helps us find and copy associates better at getting those outcomes, and then collectively improve our abilities.

In an interview in 2011, Bill Gates said “Legacy is a stupid thing! I don’t want a legacy.” That makes him relatively unique. We humans are deeply social

It’s easy to get focused on the public-facing mouth of the funnel. More followers. More impressions. More buzz, hype, promotion. Get the word out. Just about all the time people who call them…

Why pursue goals in wealth, fitness, status and mastery only to find that achieving them doesn’t really change our lives very much? Here are 7 maxims on what to do instead.

After a recent animated-video contest, two shocking things happened. First, it was revealed that the winning animation was animated entirely by AI.

Three vignettes on finding and hiring great people by playing Moneyball

Have you had two different experiences, one where you were dumped by text message, and one where you were broken up with in person? While similar sentiments were probably conveyed in both instances, the context of each likely changed your feelings about the experience and even how you then assessed and now remember the relationship. This example begins to get at what media philosopher Marshall McLuhan […]