It’s easy, for anyone thinking these days, to start wondering about what is happening in America. On the surface, we seem more divided than ever. After years of decline, violent crime is on the rise. There’s a real-enough conversation going on about whether or not our democracy will survive its current set of turmoil. Our…
The Future
I like to think about big stuff and especially about things that are hard to change. I believe we need more long-term thinking, and less day-trading. Too many of our important institutions and big systems are broken; I believe we need to fix them, not blow them up. I'm fascinated by people who take on these big challenges.
Joe Biden’s America
2020 certainly has been a year and it’s not over yet. I spent most of last week glued to CNN. Mostly watching John King at The Magic Wall talk about the last 5 or 10 votes coming in from Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia or Nevada. Yes, there were probably better ways to spend my time but,…
Can We Still Count on America to Do The Right Thing?
There’s a quote often attributed to Winston Churchill – “Americans can always be counted on to do the right thing…after they have exhausted all other possibilities.” Unfortunately, in all of Churchill’s voluminous writings and speeches, no one can find the quote. But, if Churchill didn’t say this, he should have. Because, in many ways, it…
What Can We Learn from the Pandemic?
What Can We Learn from the Pandemic? The last three months have been hard for everyone. I’m fortunate to not be a front-line worker; nor am I an essential worker. I can stay home whenever I want and, aside from running and a few trips to coffee shops and grocery stores, that’s mostly what I’ve…
How Innovation Happens: Six Keys to Making Innovation Work in Your Organization
I spent several years focused on innovation inside technology companies, small and large. Every organization I worked in grappled with the question, “how do we really make innovation happen?” These questions undoubtedly apply to all business, but especially in software companies you get either grow (innovate) or die. There is no such thing as a…
Big Ideas 2019
Meaningful Work Movement. People want work that matters to them. Even with the recent decline of the stock market, labor markets are very tight and wages are rising. Millennials aren’t instinctively inclined, for good reason, to give over their loyalty to large companies. Attracting and retaining talent will be harder than ever. Opting-Out of the Grind. Increasingly,…
Fear and Hope
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about fear and hope. At the risk of dividing the entire human race into only two types of people, humans seem to be driven primarily by either fear or hope. Those who are driven by fear focus mostly on security and protection; on resisting change. They tend to start…
How Civility Affects Us
My father was a racist. Thankfully, that was not his only notable feature — he worked hard, he loved his kids, and he was funny enough that my friends thought he was the best Dad around. But that didn’t stop him from being really suspect of anyone with a different skin color than him. He wasn’t a…