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Blog archives

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• Traction Heroes Ep. 24: Listening

  A conversation about the importance of paying attention to what others are saying — and how to do it.

• Traction Heroes Ep. 23: The Lindy Effect

  A conversation about remaining resilient in a time of rapid change.

• Traction Heroes Ep. 22: Thresholds of Change

  A model for acting skillfully when things are changing.

• The Omni Show Ep. 164: How I Use OmniFocus

  An interview about a software tool central to my work life.

• Traction Heroes Ep. 21: Social Traps

  A taxonomy of five kinds of traps that can keep you from gaining traction — and how to avoid them.

• Traction Heroes Ep. 20: Gumption

  Unpacking a trait essential for gaining traction.

• Traction Heroes Ep. 19: Pruning

  Exploring a key question: How do you decide when it’s time to let go?

• Traction Heroes Ep. 17: The Inner Game

  A conversation about the risks of overthinking and how to avoid it.

• Traction Heroes Ep. 14: Authentic Efforts

  A conversation about getting stuck by investing on seeming to be the thing you want to become.

• Traction Heroes Ep. 13: The Power of “No”

  A conversation about the importance of maintaining focus — and how to do it.

• Traction Heroes Ep. 6: Chesterton’s Fence

  Harry and I explore the risks of tearing things down before understanding why they exist.

• Rosenfeld Review: “Traction Heroes”

  An interview that delves into the backstory of “Traction Heroes,” my podcast with Harry Max.

• Traction Heroes Ep. 5: Strategic Priorities

  Harry and I explore the relationship between what to do next and what it’s in service to.

• Solsbury Hill

  Celebrating a classic song about the excitement and apprehension you feel when changing paths.

• Traction Heroes Ep. 3: Beyond Data

  Harry Max and I discuss how to make good decisions when data isn’t enough.

• Traction Heroes Ep. 2: Unprecedented

  Harry Max and I discuss how to act skillfully when facing the unfamiliar.

• New Podcast: “Traction Heroes”

  Presenting my latest venture: a podcast with Harry Max that explores how to get results.

• Book Notes: “On Grand Strategy”

  Overview of a book that imparts timeless lessons on the art of balancing means and ends.

• The Informed Life with Joey deVilla

  A summary of my conversation with tech veteran Joey deVilla about what to do when you’ve been laid off.

• No Year’s Resolutions

  Reflections on the start of the year, and the only New Year’s resolution that’s stuck with me.

• Book Notes: “Surrender”

  Three lessons from Bono’s memoir, which tells the story of his life in songs.

• Automating Jekyll Builds and Deploys

  Notes on a new, more effective, workflow for building and deploying my website.

• Things I Was Wrong About: 280 Characters

  Five years ago, I thought Twitter was making a mistake. I was wrong.

• The Informed Life with Hans Krueger

  How emotions affect our state of being, and how we can better manage them.

• My Videoconferencing Setup, October 2021

  Details about the equipment I use to achieve good video/audio quality in conference calls.

• Wikimedia's New Leader on Preventing Misinformation

  Wikimedia's new leader on how her background might inform her approach to managing discourse.

• An Idea from Computer Science That Can Change Your Life

  An unexpected principle that can improve your relationships with other people

• Jimmy Wales on Constraints for Bad Behavior

  How could we minimize the impact of bad behavior online?

• Ted Lasso and Twitter

  The TV show Ted Lasso offers a model for a more dignified approach to our troubles.

• Crowdfunding as Market Validation

  Thoughts on Amazon's new Build It crowdfunding platform.

• Saying No

  Reflections on how hard it is to turn down requests.

• Book Notes: “Loonshots”

  Notes on a book about balancing innovation and exploiting those innovations.

• The Last Illusion

  Embracing uncertainty can give you more agency and power to evolve.

• How to Use Social Media Without Losing Equanimity

  Applying Postel's law to interactions online.

• The Informed Life with Alla Weinberg

  A summary of my conversation with Alla Weinberg about her book, ‘A Culture of Safety’.

• Book Notes: “How Innovation Works”

  Notes on Matt Ridley's books about innovations and the conditions that enable it.

• The Informed Life with Kat Vellos

  An overview of a conversation about friendship on The Informed Life podcast.

• Book Notes: “The Revolt of the Public”

  How the internet broke governance and what it means for the future.

• The Assault on U.S. Democracy

  What it means to be an American in the wake of an attempted insurrection.

• My Favorite Reads of 2020

  An overview of my favorite books of the year.

• The Iowa Idea Podcast, Ep. 58

  In my conversation with Matt Arnold, we roamed from Disneyland to why I stay away from extremes.

• Appreciating Device Upgrades

  My devices improve through free software updates and minor hardware tweaks.

• Possibilities for Greatness

  Tackling insecurity and imposter syndrome can unlock growth and greatness

• The Informed Life with Brian Breslin

  How Miami’s tech scene grew through tight-knit community building in a world without borders.

• Conformism ↔ Independent-mindedness

  On a continuum that influences our lives.

• Worth Your Attention

  Links for the week.

• The Informed Life With Nataly Restrepo

  A conversation with a food designer about her craft.

• The Informed Life With Arvind Venkataramani

  How rituals can give meaning to everyday experiences.

• Software and Dematerialization

  Software is changing cars, and that’s good for people and the planet.

• The Informed Life With Andy Polaine

  How shifting perspectives on service design can help organizations create more holistic experiences.

• Worth Your Attention

  Links for the week.

• The Shortcomings of Online Events

  How online events fall short of in-person conferences — and why it matters.

• Book Notes: “High Output Management”

  How a book from the 1980s about running factories is still the best guide to management.

• Addressing Systemic Racial Injustice

  How two former U.S. presidents and I are starting to address racism.

• Five Lessons From the Pandemic

  What I learned from living through a difficult time.

• Laying Foundations First

  Machiavelli's advice to keep projects from crashing and burning.

• The Informed Life With Matt Nish-Lapidus

  Navigating art’s role in a world shaped by the pandemic and climate change.

• A (Very) Brief Message to the Class of 2020

  Finding inspiration during tough times

• Effects of the Pandemic on Podcast Listening

  How podcast listening changed during the pandemic.

• Worth Your Attention

  Links for the week.

• Remaining Relevant When Markets Disappear

  How companies keep you dreaming of travel when planes are grounded.

• “We Will Meet Again”

  How the Queen’s historic speech about COVID-19 reminds us of the power of long-term perspective.

• A Tune For These Times

  How a timeless song about loss and hope feels more urgent than ever.

• Facts Are Stubborn Things

  How to stay grounded when your wishes and passions cloud your vision

• Reevaluating How We Use Social Networks

  Thinking about social networks under lockdown — and learning from each.

• Worth Your Attention

  Links for the week.

• Relief in Philosophy

  How Marcus Aurelius’ “Meditations” can be a guide for navigating today's chaos.

• Leading in Information

  How I've been thinking about leading when remote work gets real and your employees need direction.

• The Informed Life With Nicholas Paul Brysiewicz

  A conversation about long-term thinking at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

• The Politics of Innovation

  How the work of designers and innovators always shapes society, whether they realize it or not.

• Coronavirus and Remote Collaboration

  How the COVID pandemic accelerates the shift to remote collaboration.

• Book Notes: "Shoe Dog"

  How Phil Knight went from running track to founding one of the most successful shoe companies in history.

• A Year of Podcasting: Recording Gear

  Recommendations on audio gear for recording podcasts.

• Worth Your Attention

  Links for the week.

• Climate Change and Company Prospects

  The world’s largest fund manager says sustainability matters.

• How Social Media Warps Democracy

  How social media's design warps society.

• The Name of the Bird

  How the name of a thing changes our relationship to it.

• You Are Being Tracked

  How your smartphone might be exposing you to unwanted attention.

• Five Books I Enjoyed in 2019

  My favorite books from 2019 — from designing for big changes to how Disney turned around.

• Mind Your Manners Online

  How we can learn to be kinder online by paying attention to our digital manners.

• Book Notes: “Disney’s Land”

  A fascinating history of Disneyland's creation.

• Back Friday

  How my family turned Black Friday into a day of repair and play, instead of mindless consumption.

• Preserving Open Source Software for the Long Term

  The long-term preservation of open-source software in case of a digital dark age.

• The Capital and the Village

  How two worlds view order, and how it shapes their cultures.

• Alternatives to 32-bit Apps on macOS Catalina

  How I kept my old scanner going after a disruptive OS upgrade.

• Book Notes: "The Everything Store"

  A book about how Amazon became a force in retail.

• The Idea That Information Can Be Stored

  Why information loses value in a changing world.

• Worth Your Attention

  Links for the week.

• Being Open to Unsettling Changes

  How technology is changing storytelling.

• Binge Faster

  Hollywood is freaking out over Netflix’s plan to let users speed up shows

• Worth Your Attention

  Links for the week.

• Collaborating by Default

  How new productivity tools are rethinking collaboration for our always-on world.

• Book Notes: "The Ride of a Lifetime"

  How Bob Iger turned a flailing Disney into a media juggernaut.

• The Business of Making Something

  How making something great is the key to business success, according to Disney's Bob Iger

• John Cale on Victimhood

  How John Cale overcame the ""victim"" mindset that almost derailed his life and career.

• Progress Studies

  How studying progress can help us make things better and minimize downsides.

• Neal Stephenson on Social Media

  How algorithmic social media erode our shared understanding of reality.

• Apollo 11 at Fifty

  My favorite moon landing story is an inspiring tale of unity.

• On “Content”

  How the web’s power to connect is being squandered through soul-sapping banality.

• Hitched to Everything Else

  How everything is interconnected influences personal growth and societal progress.

• The Power of Any Orthodoxy

  How orthodoxy hides in plain sight — and why you should care.

• When Everything is Connected

  How connecting everything changes everything — and why it matters

• The Informed Life With Donna Lichaw

  How to find your story so you can share it it with power

• What a Paradox Is

  How a Nobel laureate’s insight can help you deal with contradictions in life.

• Introductions in the Age of Social Networks

  Navigating online introductions: why vetting connections and direct outreach matter more than ever.

• From the Digital Town Square to the Living Room

  How Zuckerberg's plan for a private Facebook might actually make us less secure.

• Possible Future

  Reflect on how life's narrowing possibilities demand active care for your future.

• The Informed Life With Andrea Kates

  How Andrea Kates’s ability to see anomalies helps orgs explore new avenues for growth.

• We Are Tradesmen

  How genuine interest and aligning with client needs create deep value.

• Anxiety About Results

  How calm surrender can ease anxiety in producing better work.

• Brexit Explained

  Highlighting a video that makes sense of the UK's current predicament.

• Bertrand Russell’s Advice for Future Generations

  Timeless wisdom on facts, truth, love, and tolerance.

• The Informed Life is Now in Apple’s Podcast Directory

  Celebrating my podcast appearing in Apple's directory.

• How to Subscribe to a Podcast by URL

  How to listen to my new podcast before it hits directories.

• A Bold Example of Semantic Pollution

  AT&T muddles tech terms by renaming 4G as “5G E,” confusing clarity and meaning.

• How to Measure Network Effects

  Nuanced metrics to measure the impact of network effects.

• Where Innovation Comes From

  Why innovation thrives in environments that foster connections.

• An Economy of Deception

  In today's information environments, distinguishing bots from humans poses challenges.

• Facebook’s Reverse Halo

  The erosion of trust in Facebook's data handling threatens the value of staying connected.

• Good Advertising

  How effective advertising shapes public desires and beliefs beyond mere information.

• The Role of Advertisers in Shaping Digital Ecosystems

  On the ethical dilemmas of ad-supported online media.

• Fritjof Capra on Ethics

  Ethical behavior evolves from individuals contributing to the community's benefit.

• Five Books I Enjoyed in 2018

  Discover engaging reads for yourself or others through books I loved in 2018.

• Kranzberg’s Laws of Technology

  Insights about technology's complex impact on society.

• Craft and Inspiration

  Craft drives success when inspiration falters, a lesson in reliability and skill.

• How To Frame an Argument

  Master the art of persuasion by exploring 12 techniques to craft compelling arguments.

• A Stowable TV

  How we turned screen time into a family event with a projector.

• The Possible and the Practical

  Why your flying car fantasies remain grounded.

• A Strong Body for Strong Workshops

  Facilitating workshops is like athletic work; it calls for training.

• The Allure of Novelty

  As tech allure peaks, ask if you need the latest gadget or stick with your current gear.

• Innovation and the Test of Time

  Balancing innovation's allure with the timeless utility of technology.

• Book Notes: “Stubborn Attachments”

  Tyler Cowen's vision for fostering long-term societal success.

• Accordance With the Truth of Things

  How mindful language drives clarity and success.

• Goodbye Google+

  Google+ shuts down, prompting my move to other platforms.

• A Good General

  The role of luck in leadership and what it means for personal growth.

• Mortar

  The connection between values matters more than the values themselves.

• The Practice of Principles

  How practicing values can shape and strengthen their true significance.

• Book Notes: “Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now”

  Jaron Lanier’s critique challenges social media’s impact on our autonomy and empathy.

• Service Design Show Episode 54: "Ask Harder Questions"

  My chat with Marc Fonteijn covers why asking harder questions is key in service design.

• What is a Healthy Society?

  Rethinking community systems for a just, sustainable, thriving society.

• Optimism

  Why optimism isn't naive: it's essential for clear thinking and effective design.

• A Self-Saving World

  A call to action for contributing to a world capable of saving itself.

• Amusing Contradictions

  Roland Barthes on why contradictions bring delight and reveal gaps in perception.

• On Notices of Privacy Policy Updates

  On the fragmented state of our digital identities.

• What’s Your Story?

  On the trap of victim mentality and how to overcome it by shifting your self-narrative.

• Getting at the Real Meaning of Things

  How focus and simplification reveal meaning.

• The Courage of Despair

  How closing off safe choices can inspire decisive leadership in uncertain times.

• What a Medium Is

  Neil Postman reveals how technology shapes culture and society.

• Quality is a Direct Experience

  Experience quality firsthand, beyond intellectual confines.

• Craft and Philosophy

  Balancing craft and philosophy is crucial for meaningful design careers.

• What If This Were Easy?

  How questioning traditions and assumptions can transform difficult tasks into easy ones.

• Book Notes: "Enlightenment Now"

  A provocative call to embrace Enlightenment ideals amidst challenges from tribalism and extremism.

• Reports of My Death

  Google thinks I’m dead. The mix-up highlights “trust, but verify” in business.

• Seeing Clearly

  Navigating bias and gut instincts to truly understand our context and decisions.

• Responding to Undetectable Signals in the Environment

  How unseen signals influence our choices.

• Design and Implementation Trade-offs

  Why understanding code's potential and limits helps designers make better decisions.

• Exercising Patience

  Discover how meditation teaches me to build patience through resistance and stillness.

• The More You Can Escape, the Worse Things Get

  How evading harsh realities can make them spiral out of control.

• The End

  How endings — triumphant or not — offer moments for reflection and growth.

• Compromises and Constraints

  Charles Eames shares insights on embracing constraints without compromising integrity.

• Integrity

  Uniting moral principles and purpose to drive coherent action.

• The Most Dangerous Strategy

  Leaping chasms requires decisiveness; hesitating can be the most dangerous move.

• Corporations and the Golden Lotus World

  Why we must see corporations clearly and work to enhance their role in society.

• We Are Not Stuff That Abides

  We're not static entities.

• Invisible Technologies

  How ""invisible"" tech shapes our interactions and sense of agency in augmented contexts.

• Internet Sabbatical 2017 Edition

  Taking a break.

• Leaping the Inventory Wall

  A holiday checkout surprise reveals how smartphones empower users.

• A Thought on Christmas Morning

  Christmas is more about than gifts.

• My Favorite Reads of 2017

  My top reads of the year, including books on tech and personal growth.

• Vaguely Right

  The value of embracing ambiguity over potential certainty.

• Self-image Ideals

  How self-image ideals shift with societal changes, from UV exposure to digital age agency.

• Third Places

  Exploring how ""third places"" like Starbucks fulfill essential social functions in our digital age.

• Through the Looking-Glass

  How our collective presence is altered by the allure of glass screens during commutes.

• Turmoil and Wonder

  Reflecting my great-grandfather's journey through a century of challenges and marvels.

• Bad Terminology

  Discover how bad terminology clouds clear thinking, with insights from Warren Buffett.

• We'll See

  An old Taoist parable suggests true leadership lies in equanimity amidst uncertainty.

• Towards a More Resilient Internet

  How we might secure internet neutrality when profit motives challenge its resilience.

• Form and Context

  How design forms intertwine with context to shape behaviors and environments.

• Listening to Women

  How I strive to truly listen to women's voices, acknowledging societal biases.

• Begin With the Unmeasurable

  How design makes the unmeasurable tangible.

• Less

  How embracing ""less"" can amplify leadership and personal effectiveness.

• How to Change Things

  Fuller's wisdom on change: build new models, don't fight old ones.

• The Problem Is Not Social Media per Se

  The real issue isn’t social media but the ad-driven attention economy shaping our discourse.

• Community-owned Local News

  Could community ownership revolutionize the sustainability of local news?

• Vision and Action

  Guiding actions with shared vision creates systems that drive meaningful change.

• A World Run by Synthesizers

  In a world flooded with data, synthesize wisely.

• Nature Optimizes for the Whole

  How nature's holistic optimization offers insights for systems and philosophy.

• Acting Skillfully

  Navigating high-stakes decisions requires clarity and a framework for skillful action.

• Your Attention, Please

  The power to direct your attention defines the life you'll lead.

• Can We Build Community by Selling Our Attention?

  Can we truly foster community on platforms that profit by selling our attention?

• ​Double Dragon

  Playing Double Dragon with my son transformed nostalgia into a shared adventure.

• Prototyping the Future

  My conversation with Peter Morville on the core of planning effectively for the future.

• Of Molders and Dancers

  A letter to my kids about the importance of adaptable thinking in a changing world.

• Who is Jorge Arango's Hero?

  Wherein I reveal one of my heroes and core principles that have shaped my views.

• Going Global... Or Not

  Is geographic restriction on global media limiting cultural influence in the digital age?

• Getting a Sony Reader

  How an eink device could change my reading habits.

• The New iPods: A Further Blurring of Physical and Online Spaces

  How Apple's iTunes and Starbucks deal hints at location-specific digital services.

• Sad for Venezuela

  Venezuela’s press freedoms erode as history’s lessons go unheeded.

• Goodbye CNN

  Reflecting on CNN’s change from trusted news source to celebrity gossip channel.

• Book Notes: "Worldchanging"

  Exploring the disconnect between the beautiful design and values.