How to have new conversations with familiar people

After a certain point, conversation in most relationships settles in on a consistent set of topics. For friends, it’s catching up: “How’s work? How’s your significant other? How are your parents?” For coworkers, it might be “How was your…

At Peace And In Place

Today was one of those days when the words won’t come easy. I looked for help to Wendell Berry, my favorite poet, and found this:

In a time that breaks 
in cutting pieces all around,
when men, voiceless
against thing-ridden men,
set themselves on fire, it seems
too…

Compound Learning

It was good to take a few days off. As I was reflecting on how the project’s gone so far, I kept returning to the idea of compound learning.

Compound learning is like compound interest for life. When you persist in working on something long enough, everything you learn…

Watching a Friend Take the Leap

One of my best friends is leaving her job to start a company. It’s something she’s wanted to do for years, and I couldn’t be more excited for her to start (after a well-earned vacation, of course). We’ve talked about this next adventure of hers at length, and I know that…

Taking the Weekend Off

After forty-seven posts in forty-seven days, I’m going to take the three day weekend off from writing.

Writing everyday has become part of my evening routine, like brushing my teeth, except that it takes an hour or two. But the posts this week all took longer…

What game are you playing?

A mentor of mine once told me that product management boils down to two things: know what game you’re playing, and know how you’re keeping score. The same concept might apply to life.

Saint Valentine’s Day

America has a love/hate relationship with Valentine’s Day. Mostly, people in relationships enjoy it and people who are single resent it. I understand that; pretty much everyone wants romantic love in their lives, and it can be hard to watch the world explode with hearts and flowers when…

How to Read More by Finding Great Books

In 2016, I roughly doubled the number of books I read, from thirteen to twenty-five. Twenty-five isn’t a big number by any means, but it’s progress, and perfectly attainable for anyone. So if your goal is to read more in 2017, here are a few things I learned…

Political Pinball and the Supreme Court

In 2005, a young D.C. attorney published an article arguing that the left’s reliance upon…