I used to think that there were two types of people – bears, and bunnies. Bunnies are vulnerable, kind, and quiet. Bears are aggressive, intimidating, and loud. I came to realize that I was a bunny in a bear suit – someone who wanted to be sensitive and kind, but […]
Month: September 2020
Compliance Vs. Culture
Getting your team to show up to meetings on time is one thing. You just have to put into place an enforced rule that if you’re late more than once, you’re fired. Building a culture around showing up to meetings on time requires much more work. It’s creating incentives to show […]
Scary Stories
Given the state of the world and the monetization of clicks, scary stories live all around us. Reading the news or looking at social media can easily provoke that fear response and then send us into doom-scrolling.
I’d like to talk about a different kind of scary story – the kind that introduce each episode of my new podcast – The Inner Monster Podcast.
Hot Food
I almost refuse to heat my leftovers up in the microwave. Sixty seconds feels like too long when I could be eating something right now. I think hot, delicious food is great, but especially for a snack or for lunch, I’d rather eat quickly (even if the food is cold) so […]
Bloody Stool Flowers
Shakespeare, in Romeo and Juliet, asks “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Romeo might still be as handsome in Juliet’s eyes if his name was Romulus the Hideous, and I think a rose would still smell like a […]
The Day Job
People talk smack on day jobs. We’re enamored with people who can quit their jobs and do what they love. We celebrate brave entrepreneurs (those that have been successful in making lots of money). We write click-bait articles about celebrities that have fallen from stardom (note this language) and work a […]
Hard Water
Hard water leaves traces of minerals all over everything, especially faucets and kettles. The minerals are basically harmless, and easily break down if you keep cleaning it up constantly and focus on making sure it doesn’t go too long without addressing the issue. It’s sort of a pain. But if […]
Trusty the Trust Bear
It seems like it’ll never fit with the consultancy I’m building, but we have this idea (thanks to my business partner’s romantic partner) of a giant mascot bear called Trusty who sells “trusticles”- trust popsicles – like a used car salesman. It’s not very trustworthy image, nor is it really […]
Hustle, Hustle. Hustle?
American culture is thick with the notion that if you hustle hard enough, anything can be yours. There’s the 10,000 hour rule, where if you just spend enough time, you can be world class. 60 hour work weeks are seen as God-tier status, and all-nighters are humble-bragged about and worn […]
The Game
Imagine you’re playing a game that has a difficult win condition. You’re in a room where you’re flipping coins, and only the last person standing who has managed to flip heads each and every time will win. You can measure your success by whether or not you win. Or you […]