From seths.blog
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We might deserve something. We might be entitled to it. But expectations are a story we tell ourselves, and that story is up to us. The simple life hack is to lower your expectations, regardless of…
5h ago
From seths.blog
Hallucinations are not the same as errors
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I asked my AI about some obsolete card games, and it wrote a 1,000 word essay about Lansquenet. It made up the rules, the strategies, the betting techniques, all of it. Saying that it was raining o…
on Fri, 10AM
From seths.blog
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Doing what? When we choose which job to apply for, what career to commit to, which business to start, it might be worth a moment (or a few moments) to get at the heart of what a day well spent prod…
on Feb 16
From seths.blog
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Perfect is useful. It’s an absolute measure, a north star, a chance to improve our work. But it’s also a shortcut to persistent dissatisfaction. Compared to perfect is helpful when we&#…
on Sep 4
From seths.blog
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Workers have rarely gotten the long end of the stick. The seduction of “do what you’re told and you’ll win valuable prizes” often doesn’t hold up to scrutiny, and so i…
on Thu, 9AM
From seths.blog
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It’s thrilling when someone reads our minds. Sometimes we call it hospitality, or smart user interface design. Sometimes, it simply feels like being seen. The person or the system knows what …
on Wed, 10AM
From seths.blog
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Have you ever made a video that was seen by someone you didn’t know? Or written something that got shared outside of your inner circle? The odds of either of these things happening a generati…
on Tue, 10AM
From seths.blog
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There are two ways of thinking about doing more than is necessary. It can become a really useful marketing tactic. When you deliver more than people expect, your overdelivery creates connection. Th…
on Mon, 9AM
From seths.blog
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One is far more important than the other. Sorting puts our options into two piles. One pile is the don’t-like, not-good-enough or wrong stack. These are the flavors we don’t enjoy, the …
on Sun, 9AM
From seths.blog
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One way to deal with a changing world and new problems is to take yourself very seriously, others not so much. The other way is to take the situation quite seriously, but perhaps not focus so much …
on May 3
From seths.blog
The biggest thing you bring to the project is forward
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Forward motion is an asset, a skill and a job title. Elevators used to need elevator operators. They didn’t go anywhere unless someone got on and announced they wanted to go somewhere. Initia…
on May 2
From seths.blog
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Has a strategy behind it. Often unsaid, undiscussed and hidden. It’s easier to simply play with the tactic of the moment. Tell me what your tactic is trying to accomplish and I’ll be ha…
on May 1
From seths.blog
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The ideas aren’t uncomfortable, we are. You don’t have to like the weather to acknowledge that it’s raining.
on Apr 30
From seths.blog
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There are two ways for an artisan or professional to see the world: Scarcity. This is the idea that if there were fewer photographers, more people would hire me to do wedding pictures. That if the …
on Apr 29
From seths.blog
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When the investment committee is unanimous, it’s unlikely that the idea is a brilliant one. Significant division and strong opinions (and widespread skepticism) don’t cause great ideas,…
on Apr 28
From seths.blog
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Anecdotes are not data. If you’re looking for data, hearing a story about what happened to a friend that one time shouldn’t crowd out your rational decision making. But hope is real. Wh…
on Apr 27
From seths.blog
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It’s impossible to communicate everything. The map is not the territory, it’s an abstraction, a summary and most of all, a conceptual framework. When we share an idea, we can work to ma…
on Apr 26
From seths.blog
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Go to the store, look at the five kinds of mustard on offer, and pick the one that’s best for you. This is not controversial. Go to Amazon and search for wireless headphones. There are more t…
on Apr 25
From seths.blog
Simple and painless productivity
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On the factory floor, productivity increases are relentlessly implemented, often without regard for worker satisfaction. For people working with a laptop, though, they are often seen as optional li…
on Apr 24
From seths.blog
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Not a lack of power, but feeling as though we have none. Some people have been indoctrinated to prefer a life with no agency, as it also brings no responsibility. At the other extreme, some folks h…
on Apr 24
From seths.blog
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Technical debt is easy to incur. It’s unnecessary added features, undocumented code, support for outmoded interactions and anything that slows down your ability to update and upgrade your wor…
on Apr 22
From seths.blog
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Sometimes, in the absence of data or useful experience, we’re left to act on our instincts. It’s worth noting that other people have instincts as well. And in a given situation, their i…
on Apr 21
From seths.blog
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A solid work ethic drives someone to show up, even when they’d rather not. If there’s work on their desk, they’ll take it on. Discipline, on the other hand, is the ability to say …
on Apr 20
From seths.blog
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If you memorize the steps, you have a direct, simple and fast path to obtain the result. Until the world changes. Even the tiniest shift in the system will render your memorization useless. On the …
on Apr 19
From seths.blog
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Teachers and organizations benefit from both, but they’re not the same. Engagement is the delight we have when we lean into the process. Engagement happens when social media is optimized for …
on Apr 18
From seths.blog
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It’s hard to build a house without a hammer. The hammer has been around for a long time, and thanks to its intuitive design, a user can get 70% of the benefit after less than ten minutes of i…
on Apr 17
From seths.blog
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Efficiency + Convenience. Not everything is industrialized. A backyard garden, a freelance editor, even a chef with a hands-on restaurant. These folks are building a practice and producing value, b…
on Apr 16
From seths.blog
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If three people are coming over for dinner, does that stress you out? What if it’s 17? If you’re giving a talk explaining your strategy to four people, does it feel like a high-risk eve…
on Apr 15
From seths.blog
How to win an argument with a toddler
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You can’t. That’s because toddlers don’t understand what an argument is and aren’t interesting in having one. Toddlers (which includes defensive bureaucrats, bullies, flat e…
on Apr 14
From seths.blog
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In a hurried world with infinite content, it’s worth considering that you’re no longer paid by the word when you write, in fact, you should pay for every extra word you use. Be as brief…
on Apr 13
From seths.blog
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It can take seven years to get a PhD. And a month to write a useful business plan or a year to write a book. And yet, when AI shows up, our mistake is thinking that if we can’t find useful br…
on Apr 12
From seths.blog
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Let’s get rid of science class in school. Instead, beginning in kindergarten, we could devote a class to curiosity and explanation. A class that persistently and consistently teaches kids to …
on Apr 11
From seths.blog
Designed, Designy or Well-designed?
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If we create something with purpose, we’ve designed it. It’s not an accident. An axe handle is designed, and so is a symphony. Some things, though are designy. The designer’s fing…
on Apr 10
From seths.blog
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Just because it’s useful, needed or worthwhile doesn’t mean it’s a good business. E-bikes are transforming cities and offering mobility to those who previously couldn’t affo…
on Apr 9
From seths.blog
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Give or take. It’s hard to get the exact count through the sands of time. But it’s at least 10,000 blog posts as of today. That’s 25 years, once or twice a day. Back of the envelo…
on Apr 8
From seths.blog
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We live in a science fiction universe. A $20 dose of penicillin was priceless a century ago. The five cents (a nickel!) we spend to light our home might have been the sort of thing we needed to tra…
on Apr 7
From seths.blog
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You might be fortunate enough to have a hobby. Something you are focused on and passionate about. You might read the journals, develop your skills, collect, connect with others in the field, and co…
on Apr 6
From seths.blog
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When someone makes an obvious mistake, it’s tempting to label then with a term that’s dismissive or even hurtful. A label is permanent, a noun, a way to sort and divide. But of course, …
on Apr 5
From seths.blog
We can agree about schismogenesis
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Anthropologist Gregory Bateson highlighted that often, culture is based on oppositional behavior. And it can spiral. They say “up” and the easy thing is to say “down.” Liter…
on Apr 4
From seths.blog
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When there’s a complex situation that feels foreboding, you might need a manual, a coach and even a system to move forward. Or, it’s possible you simply need someone to tell you, “…
on Apr 3
From seths.blog
That might be the wrong question
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“Will it work?” Along the way, we’ve been pushed to load our decisions with a need for certainty. It’s easier, it seems, to not try than it is to fail. But the question, …
on Apr 2
From seths.blog
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Where do con men come from? There are three conditions that need to be met: First, there needs to be rising societal pressure to get ahead, cut the line and find a win. Second, there needs to be pe…
on Apr 1
From seths.blog
Division is easier than connection
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But connection is where the value lies. Connected, resilient communities create possibility and forward motion. Division is satisfying in the short run, and it might even draw a crowd. But the only…
on Mar 31
From seths.blog
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Really? Which self? The self you were when you were two years old, almost out of diapers? The self you were when you were screaming with the fans at the big game? The self you were after a long nig…
on Mar 30
From seths.blog
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We might not seek it out often enough in our work. It’s a musical term, but we can use it too. The light touch. A way to make a sound without making a commotion. Delicate and graceful. Showin…
on Mar 29
From seths.blog
The name doesn’t matter (that much)
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Busy people in important organizations waste a lot of time naming things. It could be that once a name is good enough, you’re done. That’s certainly true for the logo. Nike is hard to p…
on Mar 27
From seths.blog
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“Nobody wants this” is unlikely. “Somebody will like this” is almost certainly true. “Everyone needs this” is a trap. The work begins with finding the right some…
on Mar 26
From seths.blog
Project ownership (equity and equity)
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Since the days of Atari and Apple, the culture of Silicon Valley has been based on the idea of programmers and early employees owning equity in the startups they took a chance on. The media is alwa…
on Mar 25
From seths.blog
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One way to understand creative work is to think about the time and effort required to do something the first time versus doing it again. A novel might take five years to write. Retyping it takes a …
on Mar 24