Photo by Mark König on UnsplashHere are a few questions I've been asking myself since at least 2016: Why do certain people amass large followings by tweeting, blogging, or gramming through a crisis? When does this behavior do more harm than good? And is it ever...

Photo by Katie Jowett on UnsplashI'm sure you've seen one of those super satisfying videos of a controlled demolition. A clock counts down to zero, and then you hear some pops, maybe see some puffs of smoke or dust. After a moment, seemingly all at once, the building...

Photo by Zac Durant on UnsplashA utopia is always a work in progress. While dystopian societies are held together by violence, utopias are held together by work—the effort and action that brings us into cooperation. If utopia feels impossible, it's because we...

Photo by Kevin Canlas on UnsplashClients, students, and followers often ask me how I keep track of ideas and information. They want to know how articles and podcast episodes like this one come together.I think they imagine I employ a sophisticated system of...

Photo by Susan Q Yin on Unsplash"There is a sense, it would seem, that an ethos of collective sacrifice for the common good should fall disproportionately on those who are already, by their choice of work, engaged in sacrifice for the common good. Or who simply have...

Photo by Peter Robbins on UnsplashIn management cybernetics, theorists divide systems into three categories: simple systems, complex systems, and exceedingly complex systems.1 In a simple or complex system, we can figure out the system's behavior and output.In an...

Photo by Djim Loic on UnsplashI feel trapped in the present.At least, that's the conclusion I reached while thinking about the future over the last few days. The present seems to stretch on and on, a state of relentless activity without progress toward a different...

Photo by 2H Media on UnsplashBack when I was first learning the ropes of making a living outside traditional employment, I learned that I'd developed a scarcity mindset. In this case, a scarcity mindset is a set of beliefs and heuristics that shape decision-making...

I seem to be plagued by ads for incontinence products. My guess is that Depend and their ilk figure that if you advertise to women over the age of 40 long enough, they’re going to have bladder control issues. They’re probably right—like shooting fish...

When rethinking work or business, many instinctively seek a path that is less ego-driven, less competitive, and less hierarchical. And rightly so. Yet, I wonder how often these alternative paths end up leading to a familiar place—a priority for the...