Which is a cop out, so here are 4 things to do if that person is you — In the storytelling world, there are things called “tropes”, which is a fancy way of saying “a set of circumstances that seem to happen enough for us to notice”. There are plot tropes, character tropes, narrative tropes, even literary tropes for the snooty intellectuals among us. As you might imagine…

Here’s how to look back, look forward, and make both worthwhile If you’ve ever been an employee, the term “annual review” has probably ignited your anxiety and taken from you a chunk of time you would have been happier to spend on something more worthwhile, like waiting in line at…

and The Idea Enthusiast Weekly, July 17 2019 “That’s one small step for [a] man; one giant leap for mankind.” Neil Armstrong There’s a scene in “Knocking Down the House”, the Netflix documentary that just happened to catch the rise of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, where AOC the candidate talks about promotional…

and The Idea Enthusiast Weekly, July 3 2019 — “Comparison is the thief of joy.” Theodore Roosevelt Why we have fireworks In advance of the 4th of July, I’ve been reading up on the origin of fireworks. You’d think it would be an American story, seeing as how we love our rockets and bombs (as George Carlin used to say, we have the…

and The Idea Enthusiast Weekly, June 26 2019 — “I don’t look to jump over seven-foot bars. I look for one-foot bars that I can step over.” Warren Buffet My little “June Jaunt” continued last week with a trip to Lansing to work with the Michigan Dental Association and its Foundation board on two consecutive days. It’s been interesting…

and The Idea Enthusiast Weekly, June 19 2019 — “Death is the price you paid for being born.” Gloria Vanderbilt Thanks to the Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs for having me present a design sprints workshop (“The Idea-Driven Organization”) as part of their annual member meetings. Happy to report that with 3 teams, 2 decided to do…

From The Idea Enthusiast Weekly, June 12 2019 — “Any place is good for eavesdropping, if you know how to eavesdrop.” Tom Waits The second lives of ideas Culture House is historic neighborhood church in the southwest quadrant of Washington DC that was relaunched as a psychedelic arts collective a few years back. Built in 1886, it’s one of the oldest buildings in SW…

Best reads for experiments and creativity, June 5 2019 — “The creative adult is the child who survived.” Ursula Leguin Here’s what’s underappreciated about drawing Just imagine if you were able to draw your thoughts. You have an image in your mind, but the words don’t quite do that image justice. Being able to translate that image from visually in your head to visually in…

Best reads for experiments and creativity, May 29 2019 — “If it’s important to you, you will find a way. If not, you’ll find an excuse.” Ryan Blair, author Cleaning up ahead of the “big move” Before every big group project or new initiative, there’s a moment when a little cleaning would make a big difference. This “cleaning” comes in alot of forms: Talking about prior efforts…