Summary In today's episode, I explore why representation and ambassadorship are two sides of the same coin and how being a member of any minority group carries an implicit duty to represent it well. Here's what this means for you. You gain a sharper awareness of how your everyday conduct shapes other people's perceptions of…
Judi asks, “In a recent NY Times article on analytics in media, they make a distinction between being data informed as opposed to data driven, prizing human judgement over data and not letting data like pageviews dictate content strategy. What are your thoughts?” Data-informed and data-driven to me are largely semantics; both indicate we are…
When you want to hit a target, do you walk up to it with a large hammer and hit it? Or do you nock an arrow and pierce it with a well-aimed shot? When you want to amplify the flavor of a dish, do you add more of every ingredient? Or do you find a…
Before we get to some thoughts, give this a watch: Admittedly, as a hardcore World of Warcraft nerd, this made me happy. For those who are not fans, I won’t bore you with the interesting plot twists from that universe (or multi-verse, technically). What I do suggest you think about is this: that cinematic (as…
Here’s another obvious but overlooked aspect of communication: you’re selling emotion. We are emotional creatures. We feel first, then think – and this is wholly right and as it should be, because to feel primal fear is to ensure survival. You don’t analyze how many claws the lion has, you feel the fear and run…
Resonance: Mechanical resonance is the tendency of a mechanical system to absorb more energy when the frequency of its oscillations matches the system’s natural frequency of vibration (its resonance frequency or resonant frequency) than it does at other frequencies. It may cause violent swaying motions and even catastrophic failure in improperly constructed structures including bridges,…
A tweet from Amber Naslund this morning reminded me of an interesting lesson. @ambercadabra: Ah, o’Hare on a Monday AM. So many friendly people. Ahem. @cspenn: Watch footfalls. It’s an easy way to pass time in crowds. What did this mean? Footfalls are, simply put, how people walk. Some people walk as if they’re gliding…
The crash in Qazvin, Iran (July 15, 2009): Flight 93, Pennsylvania (September 11, 2001): Bear in mind the plane that crashed in Iran was a TU-154, roughly the same size as a Boeing 727 (slightly larger). 157ft long, MTOW 220,000 lbs. The Boeing 757 is is 155ft long, MTOW 255,000 lbs. Shouldn’t the Flight 93…
Do you know what happens when you set foot in the ocean? In that brief moment, you touch the world, all of it, because every drop of water that touches your feet has touched every shore, every beach ever. So it is with the Internet, with social media, and with the news. When you check…
Attention is incredibly scarce. Why? There are so many ways to divert it. Father Roderick Vonhogen once famously said that the Catholic Church isn’t competing with Islam or Judaism – it’s competing with ABC, CNN, YouTube, and Facebook. The same is true for you, your company, products, or services, and your industry. You are competing…
