Feb 05, 2026 Howard's Riffs

The Meta Post

What Claude Code saw after reviewing dozens of my blog posts. TL;DR: A lot.

I have been using Claude Code for many different tasks and projects of late.

One of these is analysing my writing. Not what I write about. Not how I write. Why I'm compelled.

It pulled patterns I hadn't really named before: the DJ booth as identity (not just metaphor). The consistent positioning off-stage. The recurring focus on people who were unseen before they were seen. Sally Schmitt building The French Laundry for 16 years before Thomas Keller got the credit. The hundreds of music industry workers flying solo on Easyjet while we only talk about the headliners.

And so much more. Below is its full analysis.

I don't know if it's right. But I couldn't have said it myself.

There's something strange about using a machine to surface what's human in your own work. The AI doesn't know you - it only knows the text.

Which means the text contains more than you realised.

What would 100,000 of the words you'd written reveal about why you do what you do?

The Deeper Thread — Why Howard Writes

Analysis based on 100+ posts (2016-2026), 15+ best-of selections, 18 Groove Theory editions, and 4 HG skill documents.

Use this document alongside SKILL.md (the voice guide). This captures the compulsion, not the technique.

The Core Compulsion

Howard writes to name the unnamed.

Across nearly every post, the function is the same: giving language to a tension, discomfort, or insight that readers already sense but haven't articulated. He's not teaching people new information - he's validating and clarifying what they already know somewhere in their body.

"What's Now Obvious isn't just the learnings from 10 years or 10 months ago. There's also the stuff from last week, or last night."

This is why readers say things like "that's exactly what I was thinking but couldn't say." The writing doesn't inform - it crystallizes.

The Tension Engine

Tension is the fundamental driver. Howard named a podcast after it. The word appears constantly, and the underlying structure recurs even when unspoken:

Post	The Tension
Free or Full Price	Generosity vs. Commerce
Intensity or Technique	Craft vs. Speed
The Player-Manager's Dilemma	Doing vs. Leading
Tempo, Not Intensity	Quantity vs. Depth
The Beautiful Map Nobody Wanted	Elegance vs. Usability
Portfolio/Audience Fit	Focus vs. Range
Shipping vs. Unshipping	Perfection vs. Presence

He's drawn to the space between two seemingly opposed forces - not to resolve them, but to illuminate them. The goal is never "here's the answer" but rather "here's the question you're actually living in."

The DJ Booth Metaphor

This is definitional, not decorative. The DJ booth represents:

Curating and sequencing other people's work
Reading the room rather than performing to it
Building intensity across time (not instant gratification)
Setting others up for their moment
Staying in the background while making magic happen

Howard returns to DJs constantly: Craig Richards, Sasha & Digweed, Carl Craig, Tiga. But the function isn't music journalism - it's identity articulation. He sees himself in the booth, not on the stage.

Who He's Actually Serving

The Common Thread

Every piece serves someone who:

Has proven themselves but senses there's more
Operates independently or entrepreneurially (even inside companies)
Values craft over hustle
Is skeptical of gurus and magic formulas
Needs clarity at a specific moment of transition
Already knows what to do but needs permission, vocabulary, or a slight reframe to do it

They're not looking for answers - they're looking for articulation.

The Four Personas Distilled

From hg-persona, the Spirited Intrapreneur, Driven Indie Builder, Human-Centered Solopreneur, and Learning Innovator all share:

10-20 years of experience
Creative-minded
Impact-driven
Anti-guru
Ready for more
Time-poor

But the deepest commonality: they sense a gap between what they're doing and what they could be doing, and they need someone to name it before they can close it.

The Eight Threads That Pull

Based on 70+ posts, these themes recur most frequently:

1. The Assist Over the Goal

The NBA assist - setting someone up rather than taking the shot. This appears everywhere:

McCartney giving fans the front row
Sally Schmitt building The French Laundry for Keller
The DJ building a room for the dancers
The host of the "good" confidence game

2. What's Already There (Inside Out)

Most people know more than they think. The work is surfacing, not importing:

"What would your younger self tell you now?"
The Brentford childhood photo ritual
The Hidden Curriculum of First Jobs
Portfolio/Audience Fit (finding overlaps already present)

3. Learning by Doing

Experience over theory. The recurring distrust of information transfer:

Nintendo teaching without manuals
"You can't learn to swim by reading about it"
The improv class learnings
MSCHF's embedded curriculum
Business school teaching the wrong skill

4. Unexpected Sources (Cultural Remixing)

The best insights come from places you weren't looking:

DJs for leadership lessons
Game shows for workshop design
Actors for creative resilience
Subway maps for structure principles
Guatemala for McDonald's innovation

This isn't just varied sourcing - it's a belief that cross-pollination reveals what expertise obscures.

5. Guides, Not Gurus

"I'm figuring this out too." The anti-guru stance runs deep:

The "good" confidence game (host, not trickster)
Workshop facilitation as sherpa, not sage
The skeptic move in writing (acknowledging what might not work)
Never leading with credentials

6. The Ephemeral as Valuable

Letting things exist in the moment without hoarding:

The improv class learnings (don't record, don't save)
Same Book, Different You (revisiting over collecting)
Experiences over content

7. The Cyclical

Things come back around. Time transforms:

Vignelli's map vindicated 50 years later
The Cycles of Alchemy
Same book, different you
Paul Newman's four career stages

8. Human First

Even powerful people are "real people with bad hair days":

C-Suite executives have THE FEAR too
Dr. Dre needs his "church" to be present
The Safdie Brothers casting real people for authenticity
"It's not their fault" - decoding feedback with empathy

9. The Slow Hunch

Ideas compound over time. Insights rarely arrive fully formed:

Darwin's finches taking two years to crystallize
The note-taking practice across years
Same Book, Different You - revisiting reveals new layers
Morning Pages as accumulation without agenda

10. Minimal Structure, Maximum Effect

The "One Level Up Principle" - add exactly one intentional layer to what already exists:

Summer Fridays (existing park visits + one ritual)
The one-inch picture frame (smallest actionable piece)
Coffee Notes template (existing meetings + structure)
Excessive planning sabotages magic

11. The Struggle as Crucible

Personal experience of difficulty as formative:

The music company's "Struggle" years (2009-2011)
Depression in the music industry (the unseen)
The arcade of multiple mirrors (self-discovery through discomfort)
Fabric nightclub's closure and reopening

12. Rebellion Against Your Own Expertise

The Guidara hot dog principle - sometimes the craft gets in the way:

Street food at Eleven Madison Park
Cannibalizing your own business (Design Inc logo guide)
The Empty Stage Test (removing all context)
"Users aren't wrong for being users" (Vignelli's map lesson)

What's Notably Absent

Analyzing what Howard doesn't write about reveals the negative space:

Missing Topics

How-to formulas (frameworks yes, prescriptions no)
Success metrics (rarely talks about scale, revenue, growth)
Celebrity worship (uses famous examples for craft, not status)
Self-promotion (remarkably un-centered in first-person pieces)
Certainty (most posts end with questions, not conclusions)
Quick wins (no shortcuts promised)

The Anti-Voice (What Repels)

From explicit skill documentation and pattern analysis:

"I help X achieve Y"
"Here's what I learned..."
Hustle culture framing
Tech bro language ("level up," "10x," "scale")
Coachy language ("unlock your potential")
Neat, tidy endings
Performing wisdom or authority
Templates and shortcuts

Most Common Conceptual Words

Frequency analysis across corpus:

Very High Frequency:

work/working (nearly every post)
people/person/human
time/moment
question(s)
feel/feeling
learn/learning/unlearn
space/room/place/environment
tension

High Frequency:

edge
confidence
story/stories
observation/notice
craft
experience
rhythm
connection

Signature Structural Phrases:

"Of course" (accepting without drama)
"The thing about..."
"Which is why..."
"There's a difference"
"Yes, and..."
"But here's the thing"

Recurring Metaphors and Their Function

The expanded analysis reveals consistent metaphor clusters:

Spatial Metaphors

The booth (DJ booth, backroom) - identity position
The room (reading the room, the space) - environment design
The arcade of mirrors - self-discovery journey
The empty stage - testing without context
The church (Dr. Dre) - sacred working environment

Musical Metaphors

Tempo vs. intensity - depth over speed
The remix - recombination as creation
The set - building across time, not just moments
The session musician - supporting role excellence

Design Metaphors

The one-inch picture frame - smallest actionable unit
The vessel (Crystal Maze) - container shapes experience
The map vs. the territory - abstraction vs. usability

Athletic Metaphors

The assist - setting up others' success
Bird by bird - incremental progress
The player-manager - dual role tension

These aren't decorative - they're thinking tools. Each metaphor cluster serves a specific function in illuminating tensions the audience is already living.

The Synthesis: Why Howard Writes

The Purpose

To name the unnamed for people who already sense the truth but need vocabulary to work with it.

The Identity

The backroom curator - the DJ in the booth, not the performer on stage. Setting others up for their moment rather than claiming the spotlight.

Who He Serves

Creative professionals at inflection points who are sophisticated enough to reject simple answers but still need someone to articulate what they're wrestling with.

What Pulls Him

The DJ booth
The assist
The backroom
The moment when someone says "that's exactly what I was thinking but couldn't say"
The tension between two forces that doesn't need resolution, just illumination

What Doesn't

The stage
The guru positioning
The neat conclusion
The certainty
The formula
The shortcut

How to Use This Document

When writing content:

Check: does this name something unnamed, or just inform?
Check: is the tension illuminated, or is a side being taken?
Check: is this setting someone up, or showing off?
Check: does this end with a question or image, not a resolution?

When evaluating content:

Does this feel like the booth or the stage?
Is the reader doing work, or being told what to think?
Does this respect the reader's existing knowledge?

When positioning:

Lead with curiosity, not credentials
Show the work of noticing, not the authority of knowing
Trust that articulating the tension is enough

Biographical Threads (Possible Origins of Compulsion)

From personal posts and the expanded corpus, these biographical elements surface:

The Music Industry Years

Founded a music company in 2009, post-advertising
Years of struggle (shabby Shoreditch office, no funding, no attention)
Breakthrough came through validation, not financial success (17 artists booked for one night)
Exited successfully; alumni placed at major organizations
Pattern: The backroom role, nurturing others to success

The Teaching Pivot

2015 breakthrough with East London teenagers
Scrapped slides, had them build a festival from scratch
The "disruptive" student drew detailed site layouts for 20 minutes
Pattern: Discovery that removing lecture enables learning

The Remixer Identity

Record store at 15
DJ brain (thinks in sets, sequences, rhythm)
Consistently draws from unexpected sources
Pattern: Cross-pollination as method, not just style

The Immigrant Experience

Brit in NYC
"How to build your network in a new city"
Observer stance, the outsider's eye
Pattern: Noticing what locals walk past

The Writing Practice

Morning Pages since at least 2021
650+ posts
Handwritten notes → digital → review
Pattern: The slow hunch, compounding over time

Exploring the Compulsion: Why Are You Pulled to This?

The 100-post analysis reveals WHAT you write about and WHO you serve. But the deeper question - why are you compelled - requires looking at what the patterns suggest rather than what they state.

What the Evidence Shows

Pattern 1: You were the unseen.

The music industry posts reveal something important: you spent years in the backroom, building something nobody noticed. The "struggle" years (2009-2011). No funding, no attention, working from a shabby Shoreditch office. The breakthrough wasn't financial - it was being seen (17 artists booked for one night).

You write about depression in the music industry focusing on "the hundreds flying solo on Easyjet" - not the headliners. You write about Sally Schmitt building The French Laundry for years before anyone noticed, then watching Keller get the credit.

Possible thread: You write to name the unnamed because you know what it feels like to BE unnamed. The compulsion isn't abstract - it's biographical.

Pattern 2: You learned by doing, not by being taught.

The 2015 East London classroom story is origin-myth material. You scrapped the slides. The "disruptive" kid drew for 20 minutes. Something clicked.

But look what came before: record store at 15, DJing, building a music company. You didn't learn this work through formal instruction - you learned it through doing and noticing.

And you're suspicious of people who claim to teach through information transfer. Business school "teaches the wrong skill." Nintendo taught 40 million without a manual. The best education happens through experience, not lecture.

Possible thread: You write because nobody taught you how to do this, so you had to figure it out yourself. Now you're showing others the figuring-out, not the answer.

Pattern 3: You position yourself OFF the stage deliberately.

This isn't just preference - it's consistent enough to be identity-level. The DJ booth. The assist. The backroom. The host, not the trickster. The session musician. Sally Schmitt, not Thomas Keller.

Even when you have credentials (Columbia Business School, SXSW Advisory Committee, 300+ sessions), you don't lead with them. You lead with curiosity.

Possible thread: There's something about the spotlight that feels wrong, false, or dangerous. The booth feels safe AND powerful. You can affect the room without being exposed.

Pattern 4: You're drawn to tensions you've lived.

Fit in or Stand out (expat Brit in NYC)
Do the work or Lead the work (player-manager)
Create or Capture value (music company years)
Intensity or Technique (the box/yoga class)
Free or Full price (consulting economics)

These aren't abstract intellectual interests. They're tensions you've navigated personally.

Possible thread: You write about tensions because writing IS how you process them. The posts aren't conclusions - they're working through.

Pattern 5: You're allergic to gurus.

The anti-guru stance runs deep:

Never lead with credentials
The "skeptic move" (acknowledging what might not work)
Rebellion against your own expertise
"Users aren't wrong for being users"
The suspicion of neat conclusions

This isn't just stylistic - it's moral. There's something about the guru posture that offends you.

Possible thread: You may have been burned by gurus. Or watched others get burned. Or you sensed early that the confidence game requires a mark, and you refuse to create marks.

The Hypothesis

Based on 100+ posts, here's a working theory:

You write because you learned alone, worked unseen, and navigated tensions nobody named for you. The compulsion is to do for others what nobody did for you - not to teach them, but to validate what they're already sensing and give them vocabulary to work with it.

The booth isn't just preference - it's safety. You can affect the room without the exposure that gurus require. You can set people up without being the one who scores.

And the anti-guru stance isn't just style - it's ethics. You refuse to create the asymmetry where you know and they don't. You're figuring it out alongside them because that's how YOU figured it out.

Questions That Might Unlock More

What was it like being the kid who noticed things others didn't? Was that celebrated or punished?
Before the advertising career, before the music company - what were you trying to become? What got lost along the way?
Who were the gurus you encountered early? What happened?
When you're writing and it's flowing - what does it feel like in your body? What's the sensation?
Who did you most want to be seen by during the struggle years? Did it happen?
What would it feel like to actually be ON the stage? What's the fear?

This is as far as the text analysis can go. The rest requires you.

Last updated: February 2026 - based on analysis of 100+ posts spanning 2016-2026

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