Make Time Count.
Photo by Rishad Tobaccowala
Life is a journey through time in search of meaning.
A definition of success is the ability to spend time in the way that gives one joy.
To understand what is important before it is too late.
Some ways to make the most of one’s time:
1. Eliminate: Many of us recognizing the limitations of time tend to try to do as much as possible. We multitask and run around in a frenzy. Usually all we achieve is more multi-tasking and more frenzy. Doing more stuff is not the same as achievement.
Activity is not productivity. Showing how busy one is does not indicate much other than we have lost control of time.
2. Focus: The key to doing less is to focus. Here are two filters to help one decide what we should focus on.
a) Comparative Advantage: One should spend our time doing things that we can do better than most people. Some focus areas are easy like being a spouse or a parent, since by definition we should be able to do this better than other folks.
However, for many of the errands we run and the assignments we take on at work, it is important to ask if we consider outsourcing or delegating to a person or colleague who is better than us in getting that task or expertise delivered.
Today increasingly that may be an agentic collaborator.
b) Positive Outcome: We should only do things which give us a positive outcome. Either we 1) earn a financial reward, 2) learn something new, 3) help someone else ( sometimes this is a difficult and hard but it creates a positive outcome for another person) or 4) the experience itself feels good.
If it is not at least one or more ideally a combination of these four outcomes why are we doing it?
3. Scale: We can scale ourselves and our impact and therefore have a great impact with our time. Two ways to do this is to use “leverage” and “momentum”.
Much of what we do as white-collar workers are the 4Cs: create, cogitate, communicate and convince. Basically with a few exceptions our success is based in large part on how we operate as creators and sculptors of ideas and points of view.
a) Leverage: Today technology and scheduling allow people to leverage. We can use social media, good writing and speaking skills to reach many people that we need to communicate and convince. We are not limited to small meetings and groups. Today one can move between continents with the flick of a button.
b) Momentum: The trend is our friend. We need to understand the underlying trends that are driving our firm or our business and, in most cases align with it.
Globalization is here to stay even if the flavor has moved from a US dominated to a multi-polar world. AI is unstoppable given the power of open models which are not under the control of any company. Dario may hope to close the gates but the cow has left the barn. Most countries have declining and aging populations.
Similarly when we focus on changing the culture of our firm or correct a relationship it is key to aware of the difficulty, the time and the setbacks we will face and the multi-year persistence that will be needed.
4. Do new things. Tattoo the moment: While the first three behaviors of elimination, focus and scale are logic driven, this one is more emotion based.
In the movie “Into the Wild”, there is a line about how the core of existence are new experiences. Often what we remember, and which slows time and delivers depth of feeling are new experiences. These do not just have to be travels, new relationships or new jobs but could be as simple as walking down a new street, eating at a new place and going to a new cultural event. If there is a way to tattoo the moment into your memory we should try too.
“The business of life is the acquisition of memories. That is all there is.”
5. Give time to others: One of the best ways to use our time is to use it not on ourselves but on others.
To feel better focus on making others feel and get better.
Nothing is as rewarding as helping other people, mentoring younger people, paying attention to those who cannot help or give us much in material or career gain.
A key is to forget about oneself in our time equation. It is in the giving and not the getting, in the helping and nurturing, that many people find the deepest joy.
Respect other people’s time. A big gift is to give people our undivided attention.
6. Be aware of time: If we think not of the lack of time but the beauty of time, we will find that the time we spend is magical.
Life does not have to be lived forward and understood backward if we decide to pay attention.
Be aware of the fading moments of now.
Look around. Watch the special quality of light or listen to the hiss of the air duct.
Treasure the conversations and even the repetition and lack of differentiation of day after day.
Because one day it will not be so…
And in the end, it is the time that we do not measure is the most meaningful of all.
One Single Thing.
Imagine some of the most talented people in the world with a $150 million dollar budget who create a work which fails to clear $10 million in its first weekend despite being exhibited on 3,000 screens.
Most people call it a failure and a sign of hubris.
Digger is actually very good because it is so audacious in risk taking.
It is like nothing one has seen before even if there are strains of everything one has seen before from Wes Anderson to Kubrick’s Dr Strangelove.
It is amazing to behold since so few artists give everything they have to a work.
This was a movie that did not involvE focus group testing, a/b optimization or a multitude of meetings second guessing every move. Just a bunch of amazing talent giving it everything they have.
Acts of madness forged “Apocalypse Now” from Francis Ford Coppola and in time despite the mixed reviews and the deplorable box-office this will be a movie that will age well.
If you can go see it in a theater do so.
What Makes Great Leaders?
Across time, nations and industries the best long-term leaders have exhibited the same six characteristics:
1. Resilient Effort: There is no substitute for hard work. Talent matters but is not enough. Hard work, focus and persistence are what makes for success. They never “call it in”. Tim Ferris and all those books of 4-hour workweeks and stuff are fantasies. If one want to do well, one has to work one’s butt off. Period.
Even if one is wickedly smart.
When we see people we admire do things effortlessly, it is because they have practiced, continuously iterated, and learned. As a result they have sculpted intellectual and emotional muscles that now make their performance second nature.
The effort is also sustained.
They are relentless and constantly resurrecting after setbacks.
2. Growth Mindset: The best leaders are perpetual students constantly growing utilizing three tactics:
a) Exploration: They explore new areas outside their category knowing that the future of their industry is likely to come from outside of it. They seek guides and experts to help them navigate what they do not know. They travel to meet start-ups and to different nations to understand other perspectives and new approaches.
b) Engaging provocateurs/ jesters: Often it is only the clown that can convey the truth to the Crown. Rather than have “yes women and men” chant about the greatness of the dear leader they retain challengers and people who question them.
If they wanted somebody to reflect what they say, they know it is far more cost effective to replace a senior manager with a full-length mirror.
c) Setting aside time for learning: Their calendars have time set aside to learn. Usually they are prolific readers and intensely curious. As Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, notes they display a “learn it all” mindset versus a “know it all” mindset.
3. Integrity and Trust: Integrity is when what one says, what one believes and what one does are aligned.
Integrity is a way of doing. It is a behaviour.
And one does not build a reputation for integrity without principles and sticking to them even if it is inconvenient to a career.
Build reputation by speaking truth to power if appropriate.
Sometimes this may mean going against the grain and what is majority opinion.
By being fearless and calling things out (politely, calmly and often with humor) versus bending the knee to the powerful, the moneyed and the in-fashion.
Among the best compliments one can get is that one is a person of their word.
Integrity is the bank that prints trust.
Trust is the critical currency in business and relationships.
Trust is a way one is perceived. It is a feeling.
Trust is speed because it removes friction and accelerates decision making and risk taking.
If trusted as a leader, our colleagues, our partners, and our investors are open to being innovative, taking risks, moving fast, speaking up, and continuously improving.
Outside of a few cases, leaders give trust to those who work with them till proved wrong rather than get them to earn trust. Trust is often earned and kept by showing the data one is using, being clear about one’s intent and goals and being transparent about the decision making process.
4. Accessibility: Regardless of how powerful or famous or busy they are, leaders find ways for people to get to them easily and feel safe and free to speak what is on their mind and in their hearts.
Whether it be a student, a startup, someone who sounds like a nitwit with a crazy idea, they know it is important to find time to meet these folks. They are wary of over relying on a bevy of executive assistants to filter and shoo away people. To grow it is essential to meet new people, to listen, and to be available.
They encourage people to challenge them. They work to be respected and admired, not feared.
5. Stewardship: Leaders recognize that success is due to those around them.
The talent that delivers the products and services which they need to attract, retain and cultivate by giving them opportunities to build and grow their skills, reputation and wealth.
They recognize that the company they lead is bigger and greater than them. There were leaders before and there will be leaders after. Great leaders never believe they are the company.
They focus on the ensuring the long term success of their customers.
Leaders recognize that it is about others first and not them first.
6. Results: One does not stay a leader without delivering a spectrum of results.
Financial results are a key but they are built on other key deliverables including insights, ideas and imagination to re-think one’s business and help customers re-invent theirs.
The best leaders do not just keep their companies up to date but up to tomorrow and here is why a growth mindset becomes key.
Just as is the reputation for integrity, trust and stewardship since the only way to get from here to there often is convincing investors, customers and talent to go to a new world which feels risky, scary and often lacks clarity.
One Single Thing.
Every picture tells a story…
© Paula Hornickel: Waltraud × Navel Emma
If/Then
All we need is less?
If all we needed is less.
Then why would we pursue more?
All the frenzy of movement and meetings and much more remind one of William Wordsworth …
The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers
Among the best if not the single best book on wealth is Morgan Housel’s “Psychology of Wealth”. If you have not read it you are truly missing out on a combination of wealth and life wisdom written with such a fusion of intelligence, insight, illumination and inspiration that you are unlikely to look at money, finance and wealth in the same way ever again.
There are many many lessons and practical applications in the book but a key underlying message is simply one word.
Enough.
Here is one story:
“At a party given by a billionaire on Shelter Island, Kurt Vonnegut informs his pal, Joseph Heller, that their host, a hedge fund manager, had made more money in a single day than Heller had earned from his wildly popular novel Catch-22 over its whole history. Heller responds, “Yes, but I have something he will never have … enough.” Enough. I was stunned by the simple eloquence of that word—stunned for two reasons: first, because I have been given so much in my own life and, second, because Joseph Heller couldn’t have been more accurate. For a critical element of our society, including many of the wealthiest and most powerful among us, there seems to be no limit today on what enough entails.”
― Morgan Housel, The Psychology of Money
And if you need less or can make do with enough you may be able to pursue the dream rather than funding your a lifestyle or pursuing a number.
We should not allow ourselves to be priced out of our dreams.
The Importance of Speed.
If speed is indeed a competitive weapon and moving fast provides one an edge in hyper fluctuating and reacting markets.
Then why do companies not push for espresso action rather than have every decision lovingly percolated like at high tea or Japanese tea ceremony? Months pass between sending a Request for Proposal (RFP), receiving responses and an actual decision being made. Where more time and money is spent evaluating a decision than if the decision had been made and market reaction gauged, and a program adapted with real world data to determine its viability.
The Cost of Differentiated Inputs.
If there is abundant evidence that the difference in productivity and impact between an excellent talent and an average talent can be 10x in knowledge industries because AI provides amazing leverage. That many leaders understanding this justify significant multiples in compensation for their top talent versus that of the average worker.
Then why is then focus of many an organization is to zero base budget costs and find the lowest priced suppliers to whom they can pay the least in the slowest way possible way. This approach may impact who is placed on their business, the attention it gets and the quality of suppliers who might work with the firm.
Indeed , if one believes an hour of input is an hour of input one would also buy meat in volume since after all there is no difference in what part of the cow is purchased since the hoof should have the same quality as Kobe beef !
It’s the quality of the archer not the cost of the arrows that is the point of difference in an AI age.
The Importance of Time.
If one has 75 years of a physically healthy life. Someone in their mid-forties therefore has less than 10,000 days left and someone turning 60 is dwindling down to less than 5000.
Then why is time is taken for granted? By us or by others. When people ask for time for no or little compensation (earning, learning or joy of helping) they are advertising their disrespect while whispering sweet nothings!
When one delays, procrastinates, dithers, and lingers. Or accepts procrastination, dithering and lingering.
All we are losing and paying with is our life.
Walk away from those who suck the time of your life for paltry promises. Most will panic when you do!
The definition of Success.
If the definition of success is to have the freedom to spend time in the way that gives one joy? This joy is often accompanied by a sense of flow when deeply immersed in doing, a feeling of grace and serenity when feeling as one with all around and often excitement and ecstasy of pleasurable pursuits.
Then living in other people’s minds trying to ensure they think highly of us makes little sense.
As does focusing the plumbing and process of life and forgetting the poetry and passion.
Watching the scoreboard and losing track of the ball.
One Single Thing.
The power of HUMAN Story telling
The Moth is a global storytelling nonprofit. Their mission is to inspire people to listen and share openly, think and feel deeply, and expand their understanding of one another.
Founded in 1997 by novelist George Dawes Green, The Moth was inspired by sultry evenings of storytelling in Green’s native Georgia– nights when moths were drawn to the porch light as friends gathered to share true stories. What began in George Plimoton’ds NYC living room quickly grew into a phenomenon, spreading to larger venues throughout the city.
Today, The Moth has presented more than 70,000 true stories — told live and without notes — across 11 countries and 4 continents, in grand theaters, cozy community spaces, prisons, hospitals, and even a graveyard. Through workshops for students, educators, adults, advocates, and professionals, it guided thousands of new storytellers each year in finding and crafting their own stories.
Live shows are at the heart of The Moth. With over 600 shows annually, ranging from open-mic StorySLAMS to curated Mainstage touring shows, they have featured stories by Salman Rushdie, Elizabeth Gilbert, Hanif Abdurraqib, Rachel Dratch, Padma Lakshmi, Mike Birbiglia, Brittney Cooper, Tig Notaro, an astronaut, a pickpocket, a voodoo priestess, a hotdog eating champion, and thousands more.
Most people first encounter the stories through the Peabody Award-winning show, The Moth Radio Hour, which airs on over 540 public radio stations nationwide, and The Moth Podcast, which is downloaded by tens of millions of listeners annually.
The Moth is also a publishing home for stories. They published five critically acclaimed books — four best-of anthologies and the New York Times bestseller How to Tell a Story — as well as a storytelling card deck, and most recently its first guided journal, My Life in Stories (Clarkson Potter, 2026).
Check it out.
Emotional Data.
Between the data and the reality falls the shadow.
The shadow is the emotion, the stories, the messiness that humans have contained within us.
Today in the idolatry age of data and ai, those who rely on only on numbers and computation get it wrong and wrong and wrong.
People do not compute.
We choose with our hearts and then use numbers to justify what we just did.
Brands exist because humans are not computational, rational or decisive.
If it was just about data why would we buy expensive cars, luxury products and pay for experiences when we can watch the same experience for free on television?
Brands do not differentiate on the data but on provenance, design, story-telling, cultural resonance, mindset relevance and a spectrum of emotion.
Marketers who only believe in data will soon be unemployed since machines will do all the optimizing, personalizing and modelling better than any of us.
Even in an age of Agentic buying, humans will feed their desires and their dreams and a whole lot of constraints into our agents. Otherwise we would have to accept a 6 am flight on the now defunct Spirit Airlines since it was the most rational decision.
Our very existence and those of our children is a reminder of the power of emotion over data.
The ROI of children in mathematical and numerical terms makes no sense.
On a data driven basis, Russia should long time ago have overwhelmed Ukraine and Iran should have folded. The numbers were all superior on the side of Russia and the US. But the emotion, the raw need to survive and the asymmetrical thinking that a David brings against a Goliath spits in the face of data.
Data centers need gigawatts of energy while a human needs a cup of coffee and two slices of toast.
Our lack of logic will overwhelm the machines.
The love of a mother for a child and the power of desire overwhelms all rationality.
People vote not on data and facts but rather because of fear, hope, worry and vulnerability all of which machines fail to understand even though they may feign such understanding.
Taste, judgement, curation, sensitivity which people believe humans will need to differentiate are primarily emotional rather than rational.
Two different teams can interpret the same data in completely different ways so was it the the data or the people that came up with the recommendation? The most successful will not emit data but provide perspectives, provocations, points of of view and plans of action that fuse data and humanity.
The future is as much story as it is spreadsheet.
Artificial Intelligence or Cleverness will be a commodity like electricity.
Human Insight, Human Imagination, Human Inventiveness, Human Interaction and Human Inspiration will be the differentiator rather than the data.
There will be data data everywhere and so much AI that we will sink. We need insight, imagination, inventiveness and inspiration to help us think.
Like money, data is a great servant but a terrible master.
The math is already in the AI.
It is time to infuse the feeling.
Sir John Hegarty has described “Creativity is an expression of self.”
It is time for data that resonates with the human soul.
It is time for emotional data.
One Single Thing.
I have had the opportunity to learn and work with Sir John Hegarty and his team on some programs and I believe this conversation between Sir John and myself is worth a read and listen. The entire story is linked below but do read the how Sir John describes creativity at a minimum.
One day someone told Sir John Hegarty that the greatest art of all might be music.
Sir John believed it might be the second greatest art for and the greatest of all art is human life.
Human life is an act of creativity.
Sir John defines creativity as follows: Creativity is an expression of self.
Listen to the greatest creative people and you will hear them saying:
“Here is what I wanted to say”
“This is what I wanted to show”
“What I am trying to build”
There are two types of creativity one is pure and the other is applied.
Pure creativity is a spark that leads to the iPhone, creating the Simpsons or designing the Guggenheim in Bilboa. and also drives the greatest iconic works of art, product design and brand building.
Applied creativity is creating the next version of the iPhone, a new episode of The Simpsons or designing the stairs inside the Guggenheim.
Pure creativity is the greatest wealth creator and generator of growth ever.
Creativity drives innovation and the best creativity does not come from A/B testing, mathematics or focus groups.
It feeds on curiosity, instinct, exposure to differing perspectives, feelings and things that do not compute.
This AI versioning is not creativity that builds brands and growth but a smart way to get variations of a theme cost effectively get the lower funnel sale of a Brand that was which was built due to a different form of creativity.
A human creativity of self expression and not a machine variation of optimization and data co-relation.
AI will unleash human creativity but will not replace human creativity.
Read and listen to the entire piece here.
Navigating Career Bending Times.
Created by the author using Midjourney
These are career bending times.
A fusion of forces are reshaping the contours of our careers.
Whether we are early or in the middle or more senior in tenure.
Whether we work for a small, medium, or a large firm.
Whether we are self-employed, a free-lancer or a “full-time” employee.
Regardless of our industry, our country, or our expertise.
The Forces.
There are six forces each of which alone might have changed the contours of our career but now they are all occurring at the same time, are intertwined with each other, and are becoming increasingly powerful:
1. Demographic and Societal Change: Four generations at work. Major mindset differences between youngest and oldest generations. Aging and declining populations everywhere but Africa. Today the largest increases in working populations are over 60 years old. And 62% of Gen-Z have a side- gig, side-hustle or passion project while working full-time! In most countries there is a severe push back against immigration which is impacting the economics of different industries in different ways.
2. Technology: While AI is the significant driver of technology today it is not the only one. Blockchains are creating new financial instruments and trust marks.Biotech breakthroughs are coming fast and furious. Robotics manifests AI in physical ways. All of these are roiling every industry from manufacturing to services.
3. Multi-polar globalization: Globalization but with different centers of power versus a US dominated world order is underway. While the US and China are the dominant economies by far ( their combined GDP of 50 trillion accounts for 40 percent of the total GDP of the world) we are seeing the shape shifting of different alliances with Europe, Japan, and India among others combining in different ways. There is no steady state.
4. The Unbundling of Work: Work is being uncoupled from jobs and from the office. Jobs are a phase that work is going through. Companies and careers will soon be optimized around getting work done versus the filling of jobs. This will have huge societal impact but is inevitable. In addition the office will be a museum. A monument to the past, a place where the history and culture of an organization is shared and a proof of solidity and continuity projected. But real work is being done everywhere.
5. Work/Life Reset: One long term impact of the 2020 to 2022 post Covid trauma was as someone wrote: “And isn’t this the whole point, post-Covid: to actually live your life?” Many people who believed work was life now believe work is an important and key part but just one part of a well-lived life. Companies who believe Covid changed our mindsets on where we work still do not understand that what it did was make us ask why we work and who we work for?
6. The melting, decaying, and liquefying of industry shapes and boundaries: With Apple offering 3.5percent interest on a FDIC insured savings account up to 250,000 dollars that you can fund with one click and loaning you funds from their balance sheet with their Buy Now and Pay Later program ( now through Klarna) they are for all purposes a bank. The New York Times is a global multi-media life-style business with a third of their revenue coming from non news products. Volkswagen recently announced lay-offs of 50,000 workers as new technologies ( electric and self-driving) and new competition (Chinese in particular) is decimating the proud German auto industry. The categories we work in are shapes shifting.
Each of these forces are intertwined with each other. Modern technology and marketplaces allow for side-gigs and side-hustles and unbundled work. AI powers Biotech and re-configures jobs. New trade barriers move jobs and manufacturing to different countries as does the rise and fall of population.
Created by the author using Midjourney
The Career Implications.
While the future is often hard to predict one can be quite sure that in the next few years the current waves of change will grow into a tsunami, and everybody will be impacted in some way or the other.
1. We are now going to have 50-year careers: Extended life spans, limited government pensions, incentives for elder people to stay in the workforce, machine enabled work will have us working for multiple decades versus a 30-year career. Ageism will soon be seen as a prejudice against our future selfs.
2. Life-Long Training and Education: Even three decades into a career well into the 50’s one may need to go back to school, re-skill and re-tool. And the days of saying “We will be retired before all these new things happen” will not be realistic. Investing in continuous learning will be key to stay relevant. Most companies who are cutting people thinking that AI will replace them should actually invest in retraining their people since AI will be like electricity a commodity that every one has versus a competitive advantage. In fact for every dollar spent in AI companies will need to spend the same to upgrade their talent.
3. We will increasingly be working like gig workers and there will be many other changes to the design of organizations: A job will not be a title, a position and a static role but a constantly changing number of tasks, outcomes and deliverables In a globalized and connected marketplace of unbundled and distributed work we will all become gig workers even if we spend long time in a firm since all firms will become increasingly agile and connected, looking to put the best people on the most appropriate tasks very much like the way Hollywood or TV production works.
4. We will be work in tandem with machines: Almost every job will leverage AI or will be infused with some other technology. The productivity increases of modern technology will mean anyone trying to avoid it will be intriguing to talk about but unlikely to be able to compete.
5. We will work in smaller and delayered companies with many of us operating as “Companies of One”: a) AI software, b) Platforms that enable access to marketplaces and talent ( Shopify, Fiver) , c) a need for shapeshifting agility as categories re-invent themselves ( Finance, Auto, Healthcare, Education at a minimum which account for half of US GDP), d) a demand for flexible cost structures in a high velocity world, e) a work-force where free-lance workers are greater than full-time workers (2027 in the US) and f) scar-tissue of over hiring (see tech and media companies today) will significantly reduce the size of most companies, eliminate multiple layers and focus on experts and deliverables versus generalists and process. We are likely to see an eco-system of some very large companies in every industry (the whales) and millions of smaller firms ( plankton). AI has turbocharged the number of new businesses started in the US to almost 6 million!
6. Leaders and Coaches and Learners versus Bosses and Manager and Know it Alls: In this new world people will likely value, ask for and measure three things:
a) what does an individual help make, build, ship, change or impact?
b) what value do we add to the machine or how do we collaborate with other people or plug into a role on a project so that 1+ 1=3 ?
c) what creativity, vision, empathy, or imagination do we bring to inspire and grow people and business ?
The key will be how one can lead, train, and grow talent to unleash their potential.
The big corner offices, the gauntlet of handlers, receptionists, and other awe-inspiring fear mongering scaffolding of the pre-2020’s will all be seen as the crutches of the insecure and the fearful causing most talent to rapidly re-route around such blockages and blockheads.
People’s “zone of influence” and “zone of impact” will be far more important than our “zone of control” or “size of kingdom”.
Created by the author using Midjourney
Re-inventing and Staying Relevant.
A complete re-imagining and re-thinking is underway which is why all of us feel some combination of fear, challenge, excitement, and even horror!
The drumbeats of a changing reality are beating in the marrow of our blood even if we do not wish to listen to their forceful thump-thump…
We will all need to bend ourselves into new forms, skills, and shapes.
A few keys to remaining relevant will be:
a. Plan for the long term: Plot careers over phases recognizing different eras as well as our own differences as we age with a look both ahead and behind. Read Career Lessons Revisited a distillation of usable and actionable learnings on re-inventing over time.
b. Build expertise. Hone a craft. Be known.Learn and earn a niche or niches. Have a voice and learn to tell a story. Read Career Turbocharging for an exercise if you are looking for a job, thinking of switching jobs or re-inventing yourself and a job.
c. Do not outsource your career growth to anyone else:Be responsible and control the upgrading of your mental and skill operating system to keep on learning.Here is one way: Learning to learn.
And here is one page with thoughts on a dozen topics to thrive in the future you may wish to bookmark. Look at Section 1, 2 and 10 in particular.
It will be a career bending time.
Which is far better than a career ending time!
One Single Thing.
To imagine where the world of AI, surveillance and data driven marketing is taking us read this incredible story. It will blow you away and you will never think of your marketing job, your data job or AI the same.
The entire story has been made available for free by the author Suzanne Wang here:
https://suzannewang.com/mall-of-america
It is amazing.