Guarantees are indeed an interesting topic. I’ve noticed a trend of premium online courses starting to put limits on the money-back guarantees. For ex, you have to complete the exercises in order to qualify. I like this approach as it adds yet another layer of accountability. The person really has to think twice about whether they’re committed. Making a commitment to authenticity is powerful because it is so flexible, and yet so unwavering at the same time. You can honor your word (by renegotiating your commitments when needed) even when you can’t always keep your word (doing exactly what you said you would do no matter what, at any cost). We tend to evaluate performance using standards and ideals, when principles and values are far more powerful.

Couldn’t agree more about unique personality and states of mind being a key competitive asset in coming years. Have you read my post Productivity for Precious Snowflakes? It’s in the archive. Talks about this and what it could mean for productivity.

I think the online/offline mix is very powerful. I think there’s going to be yet another bifurcation: just as commoditized, non-personal online courses pealed off the lowest-value content, leaving the premium end of the market for STEVEs, the same thing will happen with live trainings. The bottom tiers of what today is done in live trainings will be “disrupted” by STEVEs, leaving the premium end to focus on very high quality, very personally meaningful, and very interactive experiences, more than lectures. Things like skydiving, escape rooms, meditation retreats, hackathons, design sprints, obstacle courses, bodywork, etc. will become more prominent. Looking back at the experiences that had the biggest impact on my thinking and acting, it was these sorts of experiences. But they remain highly exclusive, especially among companies willing to pay for it. I think there also must be much better ways of connecting and translating these experiences to corporate life and productivity.

Would you consider doing a paid STEVE in the future? Your profile fits the bill basically perfectly.