Essays on creative leadership,
culture, and the human side of work.
Becoming
These are personal essays about growing up as a fostered, then adopted child — and about what that does to a person over the course of a life and career. The passivity you develop to survive. The shame that shows up uninvited in elevators and conference rooms decades later. The moment you finally recognize the bully pattern, in a boss, in a father, in yourself.
The most-read piece opens with a meat cleaver. My wife, coming down the hall. Me, curled under the covers at thirty years old, having just been fired and not yet told her. It’s not a comfortable essay. But by the end, it explains — more directly than anything else I’ve written — why I understand what happens to people when they’re made to feel small at work, and why that understanding is the foundation of everything I do professionally.
These essays aren’t separate from my advisory work. They are the source of it.
Advisory Notes
These are essays about the emotional realities of creative professional life — the anxiety of leadership, the psychology of negotiation, the particular ways creative people get in their own way, and the particular ways organizations let them down.
One of the most-read pieces, “Why Creative Firms Break Differently,” argues that creative firms don’t fail from bad strategy — they unravel from the inside, through fatigue, misalignment, and a gradual loss of trust no one can quite name. That piece captures what all of these essays are reaching toward.
I write from four decades of experience inside creative firms, but I write the way I talk: directly, without jargon, with stories. Each piece includes one of my own illustrations. If you work in a creative firm and ever feel like the game is rigged against you, this series is for you.
The world is messing with one of the greats. When bad things happen to creative organizations, I try to understand what happened and how to learn from it. So, what lessons can creatives learn from IDEO’s dramatic drop in revenue and massive layoffs? My take is that two primary things changed at IDEO. First, leadership changes…
Join us in Bellingham to discuss the state of creative professionals in our current fast-shifting reality. As always, we’ll talk about all things that affect our lives as creative professionals. What are the best ways to self-promote so prospects seek you out and past clients return? How are the current layoffs in tech and games affecting…
A client shared this with me (details changed to protect my client’s privacy). I was struck by the raw emotion of the experience. A Google Doc holds my future. The email said, “A self-introduction will be required.” When I read stuff like this, I automatically go into ‘run for the hills’ mode. I know how…
A client told me this the other day (details changed to protect my client’s privacy). It struck me as classic. Sometimes, you gotta go with the flow. After ten years in Dallas, my wife applied and got accepted into the master’s program of her dreams at Washington State University. I’m in advertising. Spokane is the…
Saturday, March 2nd, in person, in Bellingham, limited to ten people, from 10 until Noon, $25. Coffee, tea, snacks, and personal connections. We share successes and failures as creatives who sometimes thrive and sometimes struggle to make ends meet. Three have signed up as of February the 17th, More info and sign up here.
Three spots still open. Join fellow creative professionals and share your thoughts As always, we’ll talk about all things that affect our lives as creative professionals. The topic of getting new clients or more business from existing clients never gets old. It comes up weekly with my clients. What are the best ways to self-promote…
Next session: Saturday, February 3, 10 to Noon Five have signed up as of today, Tuesday, January 23rd. We’ll talk about… The upside and the downside of being addicted to the work. Collaboration with clients and teams. Negotiating fees, deliverables, and schedules. Building a community that appreciates and supports us. Mutual Mentors is a moderated…
New essays, every week.
With an illustration.
No noise. Just the writing — delivered to your inbox when it's ready.
"*" indicates required fields
Also available on Substack.
You never cease to amaze me with your willingness to make your life an open book — especially the more hurtful parts. And I'm amazed by the lessons you draw from all of it.
— Larry Coffman, PublisherYour writing has revealed some very intimate, powerful lessons. You are a source of inspiration both professionally and, increasingly, on a personal level.
— Rick GoreWe can discuss the ugly, uncomfortable truths while always circling back to what matters: the people, the underdogs, the work we get to do, and the magical existence we get to share as creatives.
— Sarah EskandarpourI loved your article about how clients' emotions affect briefs. It's a huge part of the creative industry and it's always good to see somebody so knowledgeable write about it.
— Vuk Bojovic, JKR Account Director, Singapore