Learning Innovation
What Hot Ones, Masterclass, and Liquid Death have in common
They all won by breaking the rules of format. The best formats feel obvious after the fact, but they're hard to get right.
📝 Writing
This is where most of the writing lives. 650+ posts since 2016 - some about learning and creative work, some about whatever I couldn't let go of that week. A restaurant that changed fine dining, a Nintendo executive who saved the company, a Gmail interface for leaked documents...
Best of...
Shakepeare & Co's Proustian Questions
In Paris, there's a bookstore called Shakespeare and Company (hey, who said the Brits and French don’t get along?). Next door is Bob's Cafe. Together, they do something wonderful.
Culture & Insights
Delta's $120 seat choice, but no subtitles? The curious priorities of airline CX
When airlines charge premium prices for basics but miss fundamental accessibility features.
A.I.
Customer Experience with a pinch of Proust
In Paris, there's a bookstore called Shakespeare and Company (hey, who said the Brits and French don’t
Future Of Work
Mispriced Talent
Underserved. Underrepresented. These are valid terms for talent, but let's be honest - they've lost their
Mindsets & Growth
The Shadow Brief
Carl Jung said every person has a shadow - the other version of themselves, shouting in silence. Turns out, every
Future Of Work
An unexpected skill for the Future of Work
For years, I've used 'magic' as shorthand for moments of delight in products, classes, or events
Creative Business
Two ways to define 'Good Enough'
Ever found yourself endlessly tweaking a project, chasing that elusive perfection? Yeah, me too. But here's a thought.
Future Of Work
Soft Skills are dead. Let’s talk Character Skills.
Forget buzzwords—how do we build environments that make developing Character skills exciting, impactful, and irresistible?
Learning Innovation
“Imagine if we taught baseball the way we teach science…"
Why are so many people disengaged in classrooms and workplaces - places where they've often invested so much of themselves?
NYC
Dumbo Moving's marketing moves
How to stand out from the crowd and find big spending customers... at close to zero cost. Just add packing tape
Learning Innovation
Why Learning Beats Education (and Why It Matters to You)
Education mandates; learning invites. Discover the key differences and why flipping education into learning unlocks serious growth and fun.
Best of...
7 ways to improve a conference speaking proposal
I’ve just finished evaluating proposals for SXSW 2025. Here are 7 things that separate the standouts from the rest.
How-To Guides
How the creator of 'Peaky Blinders' uses one word to unlock new worlds
Picture this: A working-class kid from Birmingham, youngest of 7, no silver spoon in sight. Fast forward, and he'
Entrepreneurial Endeavours
Two essentials for building distributed teams
Jeff Bezos once said to bet on things that won't change. Here's one: talent is everywhere.
Future Of Work
Tyler Cowen's two questions to unearth hidden talent
How do you find talent with a spark? Can you predict who’s going to be most creative, energetic, curious, or successful? Here are two unusual questions the economist Tyler Cowen asks to figure it out…
Reflections & Stories
My one piece of advice for new parents
If I could give my pre-parent self one piece of advice it would be this: deal with loss.
Let’s
Creative Business
Goodbye Google Slides. Hello, Figma
Death by Powerpoint? Perhaps ‘Death of Powerpoint’ is more apt. Because Figma just launched a slide design tool, and it’