Some time after midnight on Black Friday, a woman I know (for simplicity’s sake, I’ll call her Bailey) was waiting in line to ask a question at a well-known retailer. A woman in a Muslim head-scarf (call her Sally), clearly not recognizing there was a line, stepped up to the attendant and said, “I just […]
A trash can on its side looks a lot like a cornucopia. A cornucopia stood on its point looks a lot like a trash can. I struggle, sometimes, to see the cornucopia–to recognize that, whatever happens, things are probably going to be OK. My kids have plenty to eat; we aren’t wearing somebody else’s castoffs; […]
Former South Africa leader Nelson Mandela. How many of us could forgive our enemies, time and time again? How many of us could spend thirty years in prison and emerge ready to make peace? How many of us could allow a small group of people to oppress our own, larger, group, sometimes brutally, then when […]
Seth’s Blog: Authority as an excuse for complacency. Every single one of us is guilty of this. It’s in our nature to look to the folks we think know what they’re doing and trust them. For a very long time, this was the only option. Any time a group of people gets bigger than a […]
When the Truth Is Your Only Chance « Peter Bregman. Peter Bregman is a business writer who does a lot of work for the Harvard Business Review (warning: link will take you to one of those annoying “skip this screen” ads before you can read the article). This article says a lot of the things […]
Notes to Inspire. Safe is good for sidewalks and swimming pools but life requires risk if we are to get anywhere. Another daily message from Simon Sinek that resonates with me. To win, we must risk. To risk, we must have courage. It’s not optional unless we want to live our lives without really accomplishing […]
We have more control over our lives today than ever in human history. We live in heated and cooled homes with reliable electricity and water, we drive cars that allow us to travel in almost any conditions to obtain food from stores that are constantly stocked with anything we might want, we have high-tech clothing […]
Seth’s Blog: Perfection or exploration. If you are in business on the web (or anywhere else), and you don’t know Seth Godin, you need to get to know him. He is probably the Internet’s foremost marketing genius–but his work really isn’t about marketing. It’s about producing great work, surprising and delighting your customers, making whatever […]
Martha’s Daily Inspiration. I don’t remember where I first learned about Martha Beck, but I get a daily message of inspiration from her. Yes, I receive a lot of inspirational messages daily and weekly. For me, a big part of maintaining a positive outlook is consuming positive messages. The Internet makes that easy. Unfortunately, it […]
It’s become fashionable in this country to take the old-school approach to disagreement: I believe x, and if you do not, you are wrong and must be corrected. The facts at issue can only be interpreted one way, and failure to interpret them the way we do means our adversary is at best stupid, at […]