Jul 3, 2020 | Anticipation, COVID-19, Strategy, Thinking Tools
The successive health, economic, and social crises of this year underscore the need to be prepared for uncertainty. Follow this Five-Step Playbook to be Future PROOF. Photo by Justin Kauffman on Unsplash 22 years ago, I was staying at a friend’s house in San Diego and...
May 13, 2020 | Anticipation, COVID-19, Mega Trends, Perpendicular Thinking, Social Commentary, Strategy, Thinking Tools
Photo by Alok Sharma on Unsplash We live in the world C-19 has permanently changed. We need to pivot now from a crisis mindset to a coexistence one. Next, we’ll need to figure out how to capitalize on it. In early March (after SXSW was canceled, before the NBA shut...
Mar 31, 2020 | Anticipation, Mega Trends, Modern Life, News, Perpendicular Thinking, Social Commentary, Strategy, Thinking Tools
Photo by Joshua Brown on Unsplash Are you surprised that the whole US economic system has essentially collapsed in a matter of weeks? I am. This is an enormously disruptive shock, to be fair. But the speed with which the health of the American economy has gone from...
Mar 9, 2020 | Anticipation, Mega Trends, Social Commentary, Strategy
Everyone is comparing COVID-19 to 1918 and the Spanish Flu. But I think that the better historical analogy is a century earlier, in 1816. Photo by Jared Murray on Unsplash I went to see a theatrical rendition of “Frankenstein” with a friend last night – in part...
Apr 21, 2019 | Perpendicular Thinking, Reinvention, Routines, Strategy, Thinking Tools
“If you are considering a change, you are past the point where you should have made it.” Tyler Cowen, Economist When was the last time you did something for the first time? When was the last time you took a risk, or even diverged from your usual routine? Don’t feel...
Apr 14, 2019 | Personal Brand, Reinvention, Strategy
Photo by Patrik Michalicka on Unsplash To quote the great urban philosopher Ice-T, “don’t hate the playa, hate the game.” Some people might not like to think that we are “products” that have “brands”, but wishing it away does not make it so. If I say the names “Justin...
