This article originally appeared in my weekly newsletter, Damn the Best Practices. Get one new story every Monday morning to be better than best practices. Subscribe here. Alec Brownstein was miserable. He was working his butt off at a lesser-known creative agency in New York City. At night, he’d dream of working for one of the biggest firms […]
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Today on The Maker Channel, a distant memory, a mad fisherman, and a metaphor for creative work. I’m cracking open my Monday morning newsletter to perform one of its most popular stories in audio form for you. If you like what you hear, consider subscribing to the weekly newsletter. You’ll get a new story and idea […]
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In this episode of Org Uncharted, we talk to Mathew Sweezey, Principal of Marketing Insights at Salesforce, about his unusual job and how positions like this can be a huge benefit to companies. Through his research and speaking, not only is Mathew putting his company in front of audiences around the world at zero cost, but he […]
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“It’s a long time to spend on something that means absolutely nothing. But that’s what I do.” This is how Jerry Seinfeld explains his development process for a bit in his act. As a standup comedian, you might think that Seinfeld is great because of this innate gift to articulate something in a funny way. […]
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In audio, I abide by a Golden Rule: Get them to the end. When you click play, my one goal is to ensure you don’t hit stop. But then I consume most business shows, and they frontload the worst parts of their episodes … for some reason. They forget the Golden Rule. Instead of hooking you […]
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In this episode of Org Uncharted, we explore how IDEO developed and lives by their values. “Values” are so often treated as nice-sounding, well-intentioned ideas that companies use more as internal marketing than actual guidelines affecting their behavior. In this episode, Sally Sosa, the Global Talent Director, Culture and Communications, at IDEO takes us inside […]
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I used to think that the very best creators were the very best at identifying problems to solve. That’s what made them so special and so effective: They’d say, “This is broken, and it must be fixed!” That seems like a reasonable assumption to make, right? You have to be adept at noticing problems […]
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This article originally appeared in my weekly newsletter, Damn the Best Practices. Get one new idea or story every Monday for being better than commodity work. Subscribe here. Every month, I like to do a handful of 1:1 video calls with people who support my work. I spend the first half asking questions to try […]
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This article originally appeared in my weekly newsletter, Damn the Best Practices. Get one new story every Monday morning to be better than best practices. Subscribe here. My grandfather eyed the man who was eyeing me. I was young, maybe 6 or 7, and my Poppie had proposed we walk down to the water while my […]
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This is an excerpt from the weekly Unthinkable Mondays newsletter: one new story or idea for being better than best practices. Subscribe here. Ever encounter an awful attempt at winning your attention or loyalty that you immediately and viscerally hate? (“Wait, Jay, from marketers? Never!”) You’re right, it’s impossible, but suspend your disbelief so I […]
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