creativity, inc
Great passage from our latest company book club selection, Creativity, Inc: Hindsight is not 20-20. Not even close. Our view of the past, in fact, is hardly clearer than our view of the future. While we know more about a past event than a future one, our understanding of the factors that shaped it is severely […]
stimulus withdrawal.
A few days ago I decided that I’d start 2014 with a pretty simple change: To seek less stimulus. I wrote a blog post and a status update sharing my impending Facebook absence. I sent an email at work to no longer expect immediate email responses. The changes ended up being: No more Facebook. Conditions […]
The past is just a story we tell ourselves.
Prodded by the overwhelmingly good reviews, I saw Her last night. The most positive reviews called it was the best movie of 2013. The concept of a human falling in love with a smarter version of Siri sounded kind of ridiculous. But since writer-director Spike Jonze is uber-talented and the trailer looked good, I went. It’s […]
facebreak?
I gave up Facebook for the first few months of 2012. Cold-turkey stopped reading my feed + posting. In the lead-up to my summer of traveling, I got back on the Facebook-train and probably posted too frequently. Since then I’ve settled into a steady routine of trying my best to “like” pictures of friends’ children […]
Healthy campaign; Sick government.
I just finished reading Double Down: Game Change 2012. It’s a tick-tock of the last presidential election. As you might expect from someone who ran for Congress (and is a geek), I’m fascinated by the behind-the-scenes stuff. (Yes, recommended for those w/a similar mindset.) One of the sharpest points in the book was just how finely-tuned the […]
RIP Alex Calderwood
About 18 months ago I was in the “green room” for the Charlie Rose show. I was in NYC working on a friend’s book launch. While he was out there taping with Charlie, I was backstage with the famous folks who were about to be interviewed, including James Fallows. After a few minutes of excitedly […]
september 11th
Today is a day of grace. It’s my opportunity to give thanks for the life I’ve been given, the love I receive, the beauty I see everyday, the suffering I’ve endured & survived, and the bounty of waking up each morning to a day of wondrous possibilities. September 11th is my yearly reminder of how […]
never waste your suffering.
“Never waste your suffering. … Suffering just happens, constantly and randomly, and if you don’t make anything out of it, then it happened to you for no reason. But suffering can also be the greatest possible invitation to transform — but only if you accept that invitation, and only if you go through a complete […]
Google, P&G, and Insidious Interviews
Interesting article in the NY Times about what Google has learned about hiring over the years. The highlights: 1) GPA & standardized test scores were uncorrelated with employee performance. 2) Ability to answer brainteasers was uncorrelated with employee performance. 3) Behavioral interviews were effective in predicting employee performance. In 2007, I shared with Google my […]
america isn’t free.
Freedom isn’t free is a more catchy title, but doesn’t bullseye my point. America isn’t free. We like to pretend that it is. While we might hate to even approach the premise, but here goes: 1) Having a republic requires an informed electorate. While an autocracy like China gets results much quicker, a democratic republic […]