2025-11-08 18:03:00
If the answer is over there, then we’re off the hook. If it comes from the future, comes from away, comes from someone else, then our job is to simply wait for it to arrive.
But it could be that your organization already has all the resources it needs to change the dynamic in the marketplace. It could be that your keyboard has all the letters needed to allow you to type the book you have inside you. And the interactions we’re struggling with–the fear is inside us, but so is the bravery and generosity we need to move forward.
The solution isn’t coming. The solution is already here.
Solar and wind are already cheaper than the alternatives. We have the tech in hand to make a serious dent in our climate problem. Medicine is waiting on some silver bullet magic cures, but in the meantime, doctors have developed the expertise and the tools to alleviate the suffering of billions. Off-grid energy for two billion people is a solved problem waiting for distribution and implementation.
In a rapidly evolving world, hope is a natural response when things are always getting better/getting worse.
Acting like we have what we need already, though, gives us the chance to take action right here and right now.
2025-11-07 18:03:00
We can’t change the past.
But the future might be up to us.
It might be best to daydream about what might be, not what already happened.
2025-11-06 18:03:00
Each task brings three options. But first, let’s be clear what we mean by “delegate.”
If I can hire someone to do a task so well that my customer can’t tell, I can choose to delegate this work.
The Uber driver is probably capable of changing the oil in the car, but if the passenger can’t tell, doing it herself is a choice, not a requirement. Same goes for the restaurant that buys pre-minced garlic, or the executive who has her team do much of the work…
If it can be delegated, doing so is a choice and an opportunity.
So, the three options:
Delegate everything. Find people or AI systems to do every delegatable task, reserving for yourself only the work that can’t be delegated.
Delegate some things. Hire yourself to do some of the delegatable tasks. Perhaps it’s to build up insight or skill or reputation that will help you serve people in the future. Or perhaps you are hiring yourself as a way to hide from other, more difficult tasks, or because it’s fun.
(And it might be because you don’t want to support some of the encroaching systems that offer outsourcing–our work and our dollars are also a vote about the future we’re building).
Delegate no things. Do the work with your own two hands, because the craft and the doing are giving you joy and satisfaction.
It’s a choice. Now, more than ever, it’s a choice because access to freelancers and AI lowers the cost and increases the quality of the work we delegate.
The opportunity is to use leveraged delegation to create opportunities that cannot possibly be delegated. To make our craft more particular, more human and more distinctive.
The alternative is to race to the bottom. That’s no fun.
2025-11-05 18:03:00
Landlords collect rent, tenants pay it. Landlords own an asset that increases in value over time. Tenants have the freedom to move on.
If you’re building a business, it pays to own an asset. Your labor doesn’t scale well, and success can be exhausting.
It’s better to be Google than it is to be hoping for traffic from Google. And it’s better to own trust and attention than it is to have to borrow or lease it.
What do you own?
Do you own shelf space? A proprietary technology or machine? A significant reputation? A well-trafficked place online or off?
Is it possible to re-arrange your day to produce just a little more ownership each day?
If we’re busy paying rent, it’s often difficult to find the focus and resources to build an asset, and so the cycle persists.
If you’re not sure where you stand, you’re probably a tenant.
2025-11-04 17:11:00
The second time you install vacuum tubes into a handmade 2A3 stereo amplifier, you’ll know that two of the four pins are slightly larger than the other two. And you’ll know that the tubes go in pretty easily, you don’t have to force them.
You may know these things because the first time you did it, you pushed really hard and wrecked the tube.
Experience has easily measured value. If it’s important, don’t hire a rookie.
2025-11-03 18:03:00
This is not a promise to be made lightly.
It’s not, “I’ve got your back until it becomes difficult or inconvenient for me.”
It puts us on the hook, without exception.
This is a powerful promise, a commitment that can change the life of both parties. Don’t do it lightly, but do it. It’s worth it.
