Thoughts on education and the burgeoning trophy shortage
It's graduation season, so a few relevant links about school, students and our future: Here's the audio of an interview I did with PlayBuffet My TEDx talk about education And a reminder about Stop Stealing Dreams, a free manifesto that...
Let's start with "sorry"
By the time the phone rings, there's already trouble. When that manager is called or this department is reached, it's because someone is disappointed, angry or stuck. Illness, broken promises or a real urgency have led to this new conversation...
Levels of marketing magic, the placebo effects of desire
ANTICIPATION: Before the product is released, the true fans are buzzing and speculating and waiting in line. The anticipation is self-reinforcing, a placebo effect of desire. UTILITY: The album is good, the software is useful, the book changes things. It...
You should buy the book
Mitch Joel is a generous and perceptive blogger. Well worth the daily read. He has a new book. You should buy it. David Meerman Scott writes an essential blog, daily. His book is a classic. You should buy it. Tom...
Learning by analogy
The story of Hansel and Gretel is not actually about Hansel or Gretel. You are surrounded by examples and lessons and case studies that clearly aren't exactly about your project. There's never been a book written precisely about the situation...
No Signal
At a party the other day, I saw a dead TV monitor. On the screen it said something like, "No signal... check power, cable and source selection..." It doesn't matter at all how hard the DVD player was trying to...
It's Thomas Midgley day
Today would be his 124th birthday. A fine occasion to think about the effects of industrialization, and what happens when short-term profit-taking meets marketing. Midgley is responsible for millions of deaths. Not directly, of course, but by, "just doing his...
Every day is an investment
You're not lucky to have this job, they're lucky to have you. Every day, you invest a little bit of yourself into your work, and one of the biggest choices available to you is where you'll be making that investment....
The Bloomberg Files
Oh the irony of ironies! Leave it to Gawker to re-open the Bloomberg spying debacle with new revelations on just what client information reporters had access to. Gawker's Nitasha Tiku is giving Hamilton Nolan a run for his money in the "make-a-splash" department though it's doubtful she'll ever match his proclivity for profanity.
The river guide and the rapids
It's probably not an accident that rapid (as in rapid change) shares a root with rapids (as in Lava Falls in the Grand Canyon). The river guide, piloting his wooden dory, has but one strategy. Get the boat to the...