Triple inspired by a film: Girl Walk All Day
I’ve said before we live in the best age in history to be a creative. It has never been…
Latest Blog Posts
I’ll be on CNN at 12:40 EST today
During Suzanne Malveaux’s first hour, I’ll be on CNN for a short segment about commencement addresses. 12:40 EST / 9:40…
The best thing this year: a list
My friend Dan Shapiro stared a mailing list called TBTTY: The best thing this year. Anyone who joins the…
The Idiot Theory of News
One of the simplest stories for a reporter to tell is “An important idiot did something stupid.” This can…
my NPR interview about great speeches
Yesterday I was interviewed on NPR about great commencement speeches, and presentations in general. They had me on for…
What makes a good commencement speech?
I’m being interviewed on Wed on NPR about commencement speeches. Update: I was interviewed yesterday on NPR about this. You can…
Speaking in Chicago: Monday May 21st 2pm, Creativity
I’ll be in Chicago next week to keynote the 2012 STC Summit. Thanks to Brian Fitzpatrick, I’ll also be…
Why Common Sense is Not Common Practice
Knowing and doing are not the same thing. We think because we know a platitude we know how to…
Quote of the week
Mark Twain on where ideas come from, in a letter to Helen Keller after she was accused of plagiarism:…
Everything is a Bubble
A “bubble” is when you don’t own, or no longer own, what kept going up in price. -Nassim Nichol…
How To Get Paid To Speak
Many people attend lectures at events and think: “I could do better than that” or “I have an amazing…
Quote of the month
When asked what surprised him most about humanity, he said: ‘Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to…
What are the superstitions of our age?
In 1848 Emerson wrote a list of the superstitions of his age. He didn’t mean literal superstitions, like ghosts,…
How to Make Things Happen
This is an excerpt from Making Things Happen, the classic bestselling book on leading project teams, decision making and everything…
Lessons on Failure From the Jetpack Joyride game
At Failcon 2012 Luke Muscat, the designer of the game Jetpack Joyride, talked about learning from failure. His thoughts…
How to discuss politics with friends and family, Version 2.0
My good friends and I like to discuss big questions. Two friends and I realized we avoided topics, mostly political, for…
What To Do When Things Go Wrong
[This is an excerpt from Making Things Happen, the bestselling book on leading project teams] There are 8 steps: 1.…
Jiro Dreams of Sushi: movie review
This film Jiro dreams of Sushi models itself on its subject, a legendary sushi chef at Tokyo’s Sukiyabashi Jiro.…
Ideas vs. Time: how long does an idea take to develop?
People often ask writers and filmmakers how long they worked on their most recent project. The mistake made is…
Mindfire: Typos wanted
I’m working on a 2nd edition of Mindfire: Big Ideas for Curious Minds, to clean up some typos and…