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My Take On 230
A good friend on social media asked for my opinion on why Donald Trump would be so adamantly opposed to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996. For years it is precisely Section 230...
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Getting Better
The Beatles sang it. Now I feel it. I’m not saying things are great. For many they are not. I’m not even saying good. I’m saying better. It’s qualitative. It’s relative. It’s palpable. It’s real. I...
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Why We Should Give More
It’s that time of year for me, another trip around the sun complete. This one is not quite a milestone count, but as good a time as any to reflect on purpose. Age will do that to you. We don’t get to...
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Air, Water, Food
There’s no time like the present to set goals. Here’s a framework I use for myself and those I manage or advise. I generally try to classify projects into three levels of priority before I consider...
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5 Brief Quotes That Keep Me Thinking
Are we turning the corner on a new day of reinvention and reinvigoration, or are we swapping one set of enormously complicated challenges for another? I’ve been think about that a lot as Covid-19...
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The Telephone: A Basic Operating Manual
As we return to work and the workplace in the new order of normalcy, I am reminded of the many bad habits we may have acquired in the discomfort of isolation. Foremost among these vices is the...
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A Childhood Friend Passes
I said a final goodbye to a longtime friend recently. He was intensely private and not at all a fan of social media so I won’t name him here. I do feel the need to write about him, so I hope I am...
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The Upper Hand
Think you’ve got leverage? You might. Now think hard about whether you want to exert it. The success of a business reveals itself over long periods of time. The same is true of a career, even more so....
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Rediscovering Civility
Last month I wrote briefly about the fallacy of the upper hand. The responses I received from people navigating similar bouts of forced will remind me how not normal our lives remain. Over the past...
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The Call Center Launch Pad
All call centers are not equal. I’m not just talking about the quality of customer service. I’m talking about the opportunity a company’s customer service department offers to its employees. Sure,...
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I’m Out On Meta
“Someone has to tell me why we keep allowing social media and our very lives as social creatures to be dictated by the most socially awkward person in history.” — Bill Maher I have the same nagging...
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Separately and Together
With the holidays upon us and two extraordinarily difficult years behind us, I’ve been reflecting on the impact of long periods of isolation many of us have experienced. Curiously it’s not all bad,...
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Don’t Look Up
I don’t often write about movies. The last few times were out of concern and offense. That’s not the case this time. Don’t Look Up is an honorable accomplishment, brilliant in aspiration if not...
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The Root Word of Contemporary Is Temporary
Sometimes I wonder if the advancing of age and a leaning toward old-fashioned values are a hindrance to relevancy in our contemporary workplace. Then I remember who taught me the most about workplace...
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Moments of Clarity
I just finished another trip around the sun (they seem to come annually for some reason), and to the extent it was a bit of a numerical milestone, it certainly got me thinking about things that...
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My Will Smith Reflection
So much has been written about “the slap heard ’round the world” in such a short time that it already seems a tired target. It is all of that, but I would feel I missed a moment if I didn’t share my...
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Are You Smarter Than Elon Musk?
I’ve written before about Elon Musk. He’s impressive on many levels, but he needs a bit of humbling on behalf of his peer group. He knows what he knows. He doesn’t know more. I don’t need Elon Musk to...
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Finding Firmer Ground
As our nation approaches another birthday, I find myself like many Americans feeling unsteady, shaken, and increasingly uncomfortable in holding onto a sense of connection to beliefs I never thought...
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The Difficult and the Daunting
You may have heard recently that Amazon is pulling back a bit on hiring and warehouse space. With all their vast resources in strategic planning, the executive team there overshot on leasing square...
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The Thing About Vin
This month I suspect the nation is accidentally divided into two unsuspecting camps: Those hearing the beloved name Vin Scully for the first time, and those who feel the world has lost a soul whose...
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David Milch Pens a Curtain Call
It’s called Life’s Work. It’s anything but a simple title, as only to be expected from its incomparable author, David Milch. It’s not so much a play on words as it is an enunciation of intent, a...
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Ten Bad Reasons Not to Vote
It’s easy to convince yourself not to vote. While the 2020 presidential election had a record high turnout for the 21st century, that still represented just 66.8% of citizens 18 years and older who...
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The Trust Quandary
I spend a lot of time in airports. If you look around the airport, endless dramas are playing out. People coming, going, hugging, saying goodbye sometimes forever, welcoming home friends and family...
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When Friends Rally
This will be a bit messier and less polished than my normal work. It’s timely and a moment is upon us. I may edit or add to this later, but I want to share it now. It was a curious Christmas Eve....
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Be In The Room
Over the past weeks, several major companies have announced various return-to-office policies. That means a requirement to be in an office some number of days each week. Thus far I have resisted...
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Cold Call Catastrophes and Catalysts
As the economy comes under increasing pressure, I find myself wading through an email inbox increasingly filled with clutter. I am being too polite. It is filled with garbage. Sadly, much of that...
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A Letter Regarding Financial Faith
Dear Financial Community: The failure of Silicon Valley Bank is enormously troubling. Call it an isolated circumstance all you want, but it has further stressed our nation’s dialogue. An echo of other...
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The Pros and Cons of Generative AI
Generative AI refers to the technology that can generate new content such as text, images, music, or videos. Like any technology, it has its advantages and disadvantages. Here are some of the pros and...
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The Uplifting Wisdom of Fred Smith
I recently enjoyed the privilege of participating in a small group online discussion with Frederick W, Smith, the founder and longtime CEO of Federal Express. Imagine being at the helm of a global...
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Big League Debuts
I get choked up when a baseball player makes his first official appearance in an MLB game. When I say choked up, I mean I viscerally feel what is taking place on the field. I was in Dodger Stadium...
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Critics Don’t Carry The Bag
Those distant from decisions often have many opinions to offer. Sports journalists tell team managers what they should have done in yesterday’s game and what trades are worth making for the second...
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Days of Empathy
Recently I was reviewing a difficult business situation with one of our company’s top problem-solvers. The challenge he agreed to tackle was similar to another he had turned around, and I asked him if...
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The Throes of Attention
Some people suck all the air out of the room. You know the kind. Some people try to suck all the air out of the internet. You also know the kind. What do we miss when the signal-to-noise ratio is...
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Making Sense of the Senseless
It’s a strange time, stranger than any I can remember in the second half of my life. If you try to summarize the number of global issues our nation faces, it begins to feel unprecedented. There is...
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Weak Thinking
I’ve been a student of philosophy for most of my adult life. It’s a passion, it’s an indulgence, at times it’s an obsession, and it’s a driving force in many of my most consequential actions. Digging...
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David Coon: An Appreciation
The end of each year is a time for reflection. We often look back on the past year and try to summarize our milestones. Sometimes we set New Year’s resolutions with the best of intentions. At the...
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Why We Focus
There’s a theme running through our workplace this year. It’s as simple as it is profound. It’s not revolutionary; it’s more of a reminder. It’s all about focus. Focus matters. Focus works. Focus...
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The Miracle of 18 Years
This tribute to the life of David P. Coon was delivered live by the author on February 4, 2024 in St. Alban’s Chapel at ‘Iolani School in Honolulu. I’m standing in his spot. I remember sitting in any...
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Wishes for Spring
Spring offers a time time of hope. The metaphor of winter cold easing to the warmth of spring is powerful, with leafless branches returning to bud break and darker days becoming brighter. It is a time...
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Sniff for Myth
The mantra of modern business decision-making is often tied to the basic concept of data-driven reasoning. If you hold a leadership position within an organization, you know that understanding data is...
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Staying Forever Young
May you build a ladder to the stars And climb on every rung May you stay forever young Those lyrics were written by Bob Dylan around 1973. I was in the sixth grade when it was released, so hey, I fit...
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Easing Up on Advice
When I started writing this blog more than thirteen years ago, I never intended for it to be an advice column. The tagline has always been “Ideas, Business, Stories.” Sometimes it’s not about...
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Getting Your Shot
This month Kamala Harris got a step closer to one of the most coveted jobs in the world. It was anything but a predictable path. The preceding weeks were filled with anxiety and uncertainty. Through...
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A Brief Reflection on Hope
One of the most rewarding moments of my life came when my wife started teaching one of my books in her college classroom. It wasn’t something I asked her to do or ever expected. She decided on her own...
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How Sure Are You?
Lately I’ve been struck by a surprising phenomenon finding its way into all kinds of discussions. That would be the expression of certainty. It seems increasingly in many of the conversations I’m...
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You Must Vote
This post will be short and to the point. If you haven’t voted already, you must do so before Election Day. Who am I to tell you what you must do? I’m your fellow citizen. Your vote is equal to mine....
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Insist on Honesty
I have learned with age that part of life is navigating past disillusionment. With humility we recommit to resilience. The rules have clearly changed on us. What we thought we learned was dependably...
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Rage On
It’s a strange way to end a strange year. About a decade ago I wrote a book about an internet uprising in support of a pair of unlikely criminals who kidnapped a pair of executives after accidentally...
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Knowing You Are There
It has been a harrowing start to 2025. The change in Presidential administrations has further divided the nation. My own sense of the shared values that I presumed were unquestionable leaves me...
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What Does Winning Look Like?
If you’ve ever been in a planning meeting with me, you are familiar with this question: What does winning look like? This is how I like to frame decisions around initiatives we are considering. If we...
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