If you start a book, you will do better if you have a plan for finishing your book. If you take the time and spend the money to go to college, it’s worth considering graduating as well. Areth…

Civilization depends on the apology. When humans interact and something goes wrong, the apology builds a bridge that enables us to move forward. But apologies are failing more often. Two reasons: F…

It’s not that they don’t know the truth (they might, if they stopped to think about it.) It’s not that they want to know the truth, either. Information is available if they looked…

It’s the blockbusters that get all the hype. The home runs, the viral videos, the hits. It’s the sudden shifts, the ideas that change everything, the fell swoops. Fell swoops seem like …

With enough top-down energy, it feels like the creator of an idea can broadcast it, anytime and anywhere. That enough hype/promo/media/leverage ought to allow a major publisher or network or candid…

“You do it like that?” Every day, we’re at our machines, clicking and swiping and typing. And it’s entirely possible that the methods you’ve developed are costing you …

We have so many forms of “this will only take a minute” inputs. We have Slack, which is optimized for, “yep, I saw that.” We have email, which is optimized for, “I cle…

In 1955, Bo Diddley released his first record. It became a #1 bestseller. The name of the track? “Bo Diddley.” It was a song about a singer and his work. That’s what it sounds lik…

There’s the forever of discomfort. Sasha Dichter taught us about this. The feeling we get during a temporary situation that feels like it’s going to last forever. It’s one thing t…

“Gravity’s not just a good idea, it’s the law.” A truth is a useful, reliable statement of how the world is. You can ignore it, but it will cost you, because the world wonnn&#…

It might be the biggest misconception in all of advertising. The Super Bowl has reach. Google has reach. Radio has reach. So? Why do you care if you can, for more money, reach more people? Why woul…

It lives right next to lifelong learning. Lifelong learning is the mindset of possibility. It is built on the idea that we can grow if we simply show up, ready to learn. Lifelong learning is never …

Industrialism is based on scarcity. So is traditional college admissions. In fact, much of the world as we know it is based on hierarchies, limited shelf space, and resources that are difficult to …

The incoming is coming to you because a while ago, you did something brave and generous and risky. Incoming is great. It’s a reward for your impact. It’s a chance to serve and to make a…

Innovation is essential, but it’s rarely true that we do something that’s truly never been done before. And that means that our work is toward something. We’re making decisions, t…

If you’re imagining your future and then looking back at today through a rear-view mirror, it can wear you out. Writing a book (all caps, WRITING A BOOK) or preparing for a TED talk (already …

You can’t be great at everything. None of us are. The question is: What will you do about it? What will you do about the areas where you don’t have the commitment, time or skill to be e…

There are people in your inner circle who trust you. Family members, close work colleagues, college alumni, dear friends–they will give you the benefit of the doubt. Think twice before turnin…

Maybe. Improvability is a choice. You can build a society, an organization or a family with improvement in mind. Either things are static or we’re putting effort into making them better. Here…

While a high-status college admission confers a measure of status, it doesn’t automatically grant a great education. Sometimes, a student gets both, but not always. Because learning is taken …

The ‘might’ in “this might work.” The ‘might’ of making a generous assertion, one that you can’t be sure of. Might, might, might. It adds up.

The problem with A/B testing is that people don’t like to fail. So they test option A against option B, where both options are quite similar. Blue boxes vs. green boxes. $199 vs. $205. Why no…

It might be that you’re losing money on every sale (Which means that each and every item you sell, every service you perform, costs you money. Bigger won’t make you better…) Becau…

If your habit is to clear your throat, apologize a few times, minimize the quality of the work you’re about to share and in general, apologize for the assertions you’re about to make…