I’ve had to look up the definition of this word, the Overton window, so many times. It never quite sticks, even though the idea itself has always been a part […]
Health and Wellness - Social and Self-Help
The Age of Unreason
When I was in my twenties, quite a while ago now, I became obsessed with learning a martial art called Ving Tsun, or Wing Chun. And being the kind of […]
Finance and Economy - Making Money - Social and Self-Help
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 personified the word […]
Finance and Economy - Making Money - Social and Self-Help
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. We’re generally sitting […]
Finance and Economy - Making Money - Social and Self-Help
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. One might even […]
Health and Wellness - Making Money - Social and Self-Help
Sometimes, I’m Almost as Good as I Think I Am
I’ve been accused, more times than I can count, of being arrogant, condescending, self-righteous. There are probably a few other adjectives in that same vein that would apply, but you […]
Finance and Economy - Making Money - Social and Self-Help
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. Content. Labor. Attention. […]
Social and Self-Help
Musing on Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité
The French national motto is: Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité (Liberty, Equality, Fraternity). That seems like a pretty good thing on which to found a society. When we talk about liberty, we’re […]
Social and Self-Help
Let’s Talk About Plato’s Republic
Plato’s Republic is the kind of thing that you’re supposed to have read, understood, and talked about. That is, if you want to sound smart. It ranks high on the […]
Social and Self-Help
The Leviathan Still Lives
Thomas Hobbes didn’t trust us. And the truth is, he may have had good reason. In Leviathan, Hobbes imagines what humans are like without rules, without authority, without some consequence […]