Month: November 2019

We tend to worry too much about blank spots on our resume instead of focusing on our large body of work.

Instead, what if we focused on:

What is the arc of the change you seek to make?

How are you doing it?

Show someone.

What if instead of a resume you could show someone your portfolio of all the designs you have made or a blog with 2,000 consecutive posts about your insights or how about a list of referrals of the last 100 customers you worked with.

Much better than spending our time fixing the typos on your resume.

When we can build a narrative of how we are making a difference, every day, regardless of what our resume says, we have a better chance of being seen.

Producing over polishing.

When you throw a ball in the air, you know it is going to come down. Because that is how gravity works.

You can test it and observe it. There is absolute proof that when I do this that will happen.

On the other hand, smoking has never been proven to actually cause cancer. We don’t actually know the total extent of the human contribution of climate change.

I think we spend too much time (and put far too much stock) into proving such things.

Absolute proof, while important, is not always necessary in these situations. Because proof isn’t what changes people’s minds. Speaking to the heart and to our guts has far greater impact.

Humans are emotional creatures.

Sometimes, 99% is good enough.

Sometimes, we feel enough to believe enough.

Here is the thing about compassion:

You can’t run out of it. 

No one ever sits there and says, “I’m so tired helping all these people that needed our help.”

Of course not.

Unlike other finite resources that burn, compassion never runs dry.

Compassion begets more compassion.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Thank you to all of you that work so hard to make a difference.

For the amateur rebuilding her kitchen, they say you should plan for the project to take twice as long and cost twice as much as you think.

Starting a business has felt that way.

And really, anything that is important that you are doing for the first time will follow a similar path too.

Transactions that fall apart, fall apart for one reason:

Expectations did not match reality.

It is worth over-communicating, working really hard at the beginning to getting on the same page with someone before you begin. Rather than, hoping for the best.

Hoping for the best is a lousy strategy if you haven’t put in the initial investment.

It is way easier to be generous to someone who fits in our lines we draw for integrity.

Meaning, it’s easier to be compassionate to someone we believe is acting in our accordance with our beliefs.

But…

When someone is operating outside of what we believe to be right, then we are much less likely to help them.

The thing is, it isn’t compassion when we are filled with abhorrence. When we are reluctant to help others because they don’t fit into our code of conduct then we are missing out on what it truly means to serve.

It’s easy to act quickly when someone is drowning in a pool. Much harder when someone continues to make mistakes over and over again. Especially when they are inconveniencing us.

School has trained us to become hyper-focused on finding the “right” answer.

But there are no right answers—there are many answers.

Here’s the thing: The answer isn’t a means to an end. No, answers lead to the next question.

If the answers you are getting are not good enough, you might want to rethink the question.

[Better questions lead to better answers.]

Before 1989, no one had ever walked on the moon and then, suddenly, someone did.

As Malcolm Gladwell has pointed out, there are three things you need for ideas to reach critical mass.

The first, change doesn’t happen with a lot of people, but with a specific group of those who are the true believers.

Second, small and simple acts make a big difference.

The third is one that I think most people misunderstand. Change often doesn’t happen little by little, but in actuality, all at once.

If we are to make things better, this is the best blueprint to follow. Quit seeking out the masses and instead look for a small group of people that need your help.  And then, go to work.

Tipping is a 40 billion dollar industry.

That is double than NASA’s budget and larger than the fitness industry.

Why does one tip at say a Hyatt but not at McDonald’s?

How come we tip in some situations and not in others?

Here’s the thing: Tipping has nothing to do about service. Tipping is all about status roles. Who’s up? Who’s down?

Tipping sends a signal to everyone around you that I can afford this.

We know now that tipping doesn’t actually increase employee’s pay.

And so, we are seeing people like Danny Meyer change the way we think about tipping.

Status roles play such a big part of everything we do. Once you begin to see it, you begin to see it everywhere.

HT Freakonomics

In one study, scientists asked which word you associate chocolate cake with.

For the French, the word was celebration.

For Americans? It was guilt.

If we are to fix our diets, we are going to need to change the narrative of what we think of food.

In his seminal work, Michael Pollan decodes this by pointing out:

“No people on earth worry more about the health consequences of their food choices than we Americans do—and no people suffer from as many diet-related health problems.”

Quite the paradox.

Here’s another:

When the food industry is focused on selling quantity or quality (to boost profits), it begins a destructive feedback. “The more one eats, the more one wants to eat.” Empty calories do nothing to fill us.

Not to mention that this fuels the healthcare industry. Each year, we spend $250 billion dollars in with diet-related illnesses. Or the environmental consequences to fuel the meat and dairy industry.

So, who blinks first?

Instead of working so hard to keep people alive with heart-related illnesses (we have become quite good at it), it’s worth asking how we got here and how we are going to change it.

Make no mistake, capitalism is a miracle. We benefit so much from it. Yet, capitalism has a cost and that debt eventually must be paid.

The point of culture isn’t to improve capitalism. The point of capitalism is to improve the culture. It remains one of the most important subjects of our time. Improve capitalism and you will improve healthcare, food, diet and our planet.