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Even Steven
I’ve never been a huge fan of Seinfeld but the episode I best remember and probably most like is the one where Jerry realizes that he always breaks even in his life. In self-describing as the paradigmatic “Even Steven,” this episode is the usual Seinfeld reductio al absurdo, but, also as always, with a foundation of truth. In the episode, whenever Jerry loses something, another something of equal value comes to him. The funniest moment is when his girlfriend breaks up with him and he casually responds with a “No...
read more< 140 Leadership Primer
If something doesn’t feel like leadership, it’s not. Leadership is the most overused term in business. Few know what it looks like. Imagine explaining a leadership concept to your grandfather. If you see him looking sceptical, so should you. Reading books about leadership is an infinitely less valuable exercise than reading books about lives well-lived. If a leadership concept doesn’t fit the world, it won’t fit your home either. A true leader rarely thinks about the term “leadership.” Leadership is always...
read morePack Like a Champ
Okay. A quick and fun little post as I sit at ORD waiting for my very early morning flight to SFO. I’ve traveled two MILLION miles with carry-ons. It’s not as difficult as you think, though I did kind of bend the rules a bit in the old days. When I used to need to “dress up” (thankfully, with my work now, I wear whatever I want, whenever I want) I had several home bases around the world. So I’d store clothes there. When I arrived in Beijing, for example, my hotel room closet would magically have my...
read moreHow to Build Anything From Scratch
Yeah. ANYTHING. It’s simple: just learn to deal with the fear of starting from zero. And, to help you out, I have the perfect training tool: Snakes and Ladders Yes. THAT Snakes and Ladders. You remember the game. You roll the dice, move your piece and head up the levels of the game board. If you land on a ladder, you move up to where the ladder ends. If you hit a snake, you slide down to where it takes you. Basically, like working with any startup in the world. The beauty of the game is that it sucks you in. Things appear to be going...
read moreBe
Let yourself BE in 2012. Please, just let who you are shine through next year. I don’t want you to make any New Year’s Resolutions aside from this one: “I will allow myself to BE.” By allowing yourself to be, you will allow yourself to become. That’s it. Its beauty is in its simplicity. When you stop being the one who not only builds but actually (and kind of insanely, when you think about it) guards the roadblocks in your life, you’ll be opening the avenues to a new world. I know. I don’t usually...
read moreSlow Information
2011 was the year of information. It seeped into our consciousness over the year, this idea that the volume of information now available in the world truly was overwhelming. Fifteen years ago, few people used the Internet. Not many used email and even if you actually did, you couldn’t assume that even a small fraction of the people you knew did. So it had little currency. Today we live in a state of daily information overload. But, I would argue, the fundamental problem remains, that of finding meaning and relevance. When I was a kid, I...
read moreWhat’s a Startup?
I’m seriously sick of getting into arguments, all over the world, really, about what the hell a startup is. A startup is ANY newly-created company or, if you want to get more technical, one with a relatively limited operational history. Yeah, actually, that’s the definition of startup. People almost never use the term “tech startup” anymore, which is a shame, because the massive number of startups in this space has resulted in tech startups taking ownership over the entire nomenclature. But, and this is entire reason...
read morePop Everything Up
It was late 2007 and I was sitting in the Presidential Suite that was my insanely ridiculous upgrade at the Sofitel Wanda Beijing, a place I pretty much called home for the better part of three years. I had a big paper photocopy of a map of the world and I was drawing on it in permanent green marker my plan to create a massive pop-up school. Why, I reasoned, could I not open a school brand in China for Chinese kids and then build a series of global relationships all over the world so that these high school kids could study in other countries....
read moreAnd the Damage Done
In the prologue to “The Needle and the Damage Done,” Live at Massey Hall (right here in Toronto, where I’m writing this today), Neil Young talked about how his generation lost so much talent to hard drugs. Then he sang one of the most visceral songs I’ve ever heard: I caught you knockin’ at my cellar door I love you, baby, can I have some more Ooh, ooh, the damage done. I hit the city and I lost my band I watched the needle take another man Gone, gone, the damage done. I sing the song because I love the man I know...
read moreA complex relationship
I’m writing this from the edge of an airport runway. Having taken off from and landed at this airport more than 500 times (seriously) and taking into account the weather, I calculated that, today, this is an exceptional spot to park, recline the driver’s seat, open the sunroof, and look at planes. My relationship with airplanes is very complex, as are most of my relationships. It’s no secret that I’ve traveled two million miles. It’s also no secret that I’m not only ashamed of that carbon footprint, I also...
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