Essays on creative leadership,
culture, and the human side of work.
Published weekly, with an original illustration. Two series: Becoming and Advisory Notes.
“Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore…” –Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz” A damp, wet drizzle shrouded the view in the low light. Steam seemed to drift up from the trees. Old man MacNelly had the car running and was wiping the fog off the windshield as the boy climbed up…
Brie completed the introduction. Elizabeth stood and walked briskly to the front of the room. She paused. The entire Overture team and a group from Circle City filled the room. They waited quietly for her to begin. “To understand what has happened, it’s important to recognize that slow-moving changes have more social weight than fast…
You ain’t got no money, you just ain’t no good Hit the road, Jack, and don’t you come back No more –Ray Charles Morning coffee at Overture was usually a warm time of catching up, reconnecting. This morning was different. They’d all spent the night reconsidering yesterday’s events. A sleepless night for some, a restless…
“Where do the leads come from?” I’d been worried about Anna since she’d left the co-op to take the sales job. We’d been in the planning stages at the time, and had no revenue. In fact, we hadn’t even put in any startup money yet. Anna was an industrial designer who’d worked mostly with exhibits.…
Angry that my creative energy has been used to build, sell and enable things that don’t make the world better. Angry that we helped create an idealized reality that isn’t sustainable. Angry that I and all creatives have been getting an increasingly smaller and smaller portion of the wealth this economic system provides. Angry at…
Marcus, standing, still wet from the storm… “The Amazon is burning. The Amazon is gone. The oligarchs are taking over. The oligarchs own us all. “Tommy, Tommy! Didn’t you see this coming? Why didn’t you do more? You Boomers let them burn the world. “You burned high-octane. Laid the rubber and the girls. Felt no…
It’s all about becoming a better writer. A more compelling writer. Tapping into your best, to become better. A series of short exercises, linked together with warmth and kindness. Longer exercises that helped us think deeply. Collaboration that allowed us to tap into the best of ourselves and each other. All in a matter of…