Ideas Worth
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Small Ideas, Because It’s Worth It
Back in 1971, Ilon Specht, a fun, 23-year-old New York advertising copywriter, sat down at her desk at McCann-Erickson, one of the big Madison Avenue …
Spontaneity is a Meticulously Prepared Art
In the 1999 book, “The Cluetrain Manifesto,” Doc Searls famously wrote, “Markets are conversations.” Buying a house requires a conversation between the buyer and seller …
We Have No Money, We’ll Have to Think
In his book, “The Practice: Shipping Creative Work,” our old friend Seth Godin, talks about how creativity thrives under restraints. He tells the story of how …
How Much Dumb Tax Are You Paying?
Somebody once asked Scott Adams, the creator of the Dilbert comic, why he was so successful. He must be terribly clever! Adams replied, paraphrasing, that …
What Stands the Test of Time
Back in 1988, the shoe company, Nike debuted what is probably the greatest advertising tagline of the last 40 years, “Just Do It.” It’s still …
When a Butterfly Flaps Its Wings
Adam Smith, in his famous 1776 book, The Wealth Of Nations, uses the metaphor of an “Invisible Hand” to describe the forces in a market …
Have We Opened Pandora’s Box?
Competition motivates us, focuses us, and demands the best of us. But it can also blind us. Sometimes, we can get so caught up trying …
Stuck in the Middle With You
First there was “Big Media.” Big, publicly owned companies like the New York Times, ABC, and HBO. In 2022, The New York Times reported an …
Totemic Power
As we are fond of saying, we humans are meaning-seeking creatures. We project meaning onto everything we can, from star patterns in the sky, to …
What Darwin Can Teach Us About Business
When you think about the world of management theory, names like Peter Drucker, Mike Peters, and Warren Buffet likely come to mind. But the Nineteenth …
Do More, Think Less
Imagine you’re a young, creative person with lots of potential. One day you aspire to be a professional “creative” (whatever that means). Artist, playwright, inventor, …
Let’s Farm Some Water
Do you remember Uncle Owen’s “Water Harvesters” in Star Wars, Episode IV? Water was so scarce on Luke Skywalker’s home planet, Tatooine, that they built …
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