From Mad Men to Influencers: How the Dream Ate Us
I don’t think Mad Men was ever really about nostalgia. I mean, It looked nostalgic. The suits. The cocktails. The cigarettes smoked ironically. But underneath it all…
Finance and Economy
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The Map That Ate the Territory
Once upon a time – long, long ago – symbols pointed to things that actually existed. We knew what reality was. Or at least, we thought we…
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Real Wealth Isn’t Monetary or Physical. It’s Social
I know. I hear it too. It sounds naive. Like something you’d find printed in cursive above an old hippie’s kitchen sink. But let’s not be quick…
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Innovate or Die
I just finished watching the movie Jobs. It’s a very loose retelling of Steve Jobs and the early days of Apple, and if there’s anyone who has…
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Why Community Builders Should Read “Leading Change” by John Kotter
Most people in the community-building game don’t think of themselves as “change managers.” Most of us are not sitting in corner offices with PowerPoint decks and consultants. …
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Why I’m Obsessed With Optimal Outcomes
If I had a life motto, or a working framework by which I live, it would be this: maximum efficiency and effectiveness. Or, put another way, optimization.…
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Impact and Value… Bring It Or Else
How do people, organizations, and businesses make money? At the most basic level, they sell something. Or they work for someone who sells something. Products. Services. Ideas.…
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Conditional Belonging: From The Diamond Age to the Beast System
Neal Stephenson’s The Diamond Age offers a strange and prophetic look at our world. In his novel, nations have faded and the globe is divided into phyles;…
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Building Belonging Before the Fracture
It doesn’t take much imagination to sense that our world is fragile. Whether the strain comes from economics, geopolitics, the environment, or something else, there’s a feeling…
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Tribalism: the good, the bad, and the ugly
I just read an article that painted tribalism as a wholly negative thing. And, sure, it can be, in many respects. When people divide themselves into us-versus-them…