Daily Reads

Daily Reads “Thinking It Through Is Not Working It Out” Interesting article that makes you think... Are you in love with knowledge (or theories) so much that you’re trapped in a delusion (or excuses)? Or are you practicing wisdom—applying your knowledge and experience to solve problems in life? “Your Child Needs Poetry in His Head” Consider the perspectives, skills, and values that memorizing a po...

Daily Reads “Who Can You Trust?” “...enduring reciprocal obligation.” Another way to paraphrase it could be with one word: Honor. Generosity with honor builds trust. And the response you get to your generosity and honor reveals who you can build trust with—build a relationship with. “Two reframes to help you steward your time and talents in the context of building relationships.” First reframe, fr...

Daily Reads “New magic mushroom makes users see tiny ‘gnome’ people — scientists have no idea how it’s doing that” Why does this happen? Are there subconscious cues leading to these hallucinations for the study participants? Does this benefit the fungus in some way? Interesting to consider how the mind works. “The Evidence Around UAPs Is Getting Harder to Ignore” The evidence is there, and yet we...

Daily Reads “You don’t always have to eat the dog food that your BigCo customers serve you.” This applies to interpersonal relationships. And reminds me of negotiation-persuasion. “It seems like finances are important to you. I understand as a small business owner—90 days is a long time. If you don’t pay us, how am I supposed to do that work?” “Expert Design: An Introduction” The “attention is glu...

Daily Reads “How to Get Lucky by Doing Less” Some of the best advice I’ve ever received: “Don’t expect anything good or bad, but let God do what He wants to do.” (And still at-peace-expectantly faith filled for God to be faithful.) A faith-based way to say, “Putting in the work, result agnostic.” “The ‘I Do Hard Things’ Lie” Being intense enough to do a hard thing while failing at everything else...

Daily Read “On Watchful Dragons, A Starving Culture, and Why The Subtle Knife Wouldn’t Cut It” Excellent article by Plain Runner on story telling about spiritual experiences. Some say describing a religious experience takes the reader out of the suspension of disbelief... But I wonder how much of that is something real stirring inside the reader? Get full access to Creativity & Culture at www.crea...

Daily Reads “You need to be delusional if you want to succeed” A safe goal gives you the uninspiring comfort of failing without risking anything. A “delusional” vision you either accept or don’t, and if you accept it, you have a mission. Also, parallel “how to” steps: 1. Reframes 2. Systems 3. Steward your energy “3 Reasons Why Looking Foolish Can Be Good for Your Brain” Being willing to look “foo...

I was a sophomore in high school, sitting in a “Bible as Literature” class, when our school made an announcement to turn on and watch our classrooms TVs. I remember seeing the second plane hit the second tower live on the news, behind the news person who wasn’t yet aware. Called it out to my class. They though I was being a horrible person and making a joke—they hadn't seen it yet, either. A few m...

Daily Reads “How to get Better Service Skills and Submarine Sandwiches” In negotiation terms, this question works because it uses a label and empowers the other person to say, “No.” An alternative: “It feels like you’re annoyed by my order [label]. Would you like me to take my business elsewhere [no question]?” Low and slow. “Farming-Games or High-Intensity Games; Which Are We Playing?” Love the n...

Daily Read “Stop trying to retain employees” Retention is a critical skill. And one of the most often missed. Team builders who can recruit a team but can’t keep a team. People who get new opportunities but don’t stay in them long enough to see potential realized. Automation (systems) can help. Get full access to Creativity & Culture at www.creativityandculture.com/subscribe

Daily Reads “Don’t Give Your Kids an Allowance. Give Them a Wall to Knock Down.” The hammer is waiting for you to pick it up. Put on gloves if you have to—remove the excuses. Envision what’s on the other side of the wall that’s stopping you, and swing through it. Learn the proper form—be consistent. What does this look like for you? “Earn Momentum, Don’t Chase It” Once you pick up the hammer and b...

Daily Reads “nothing lasts forever... not even a bad haircut” Having the right perspective on life (and on eternity) is an unlock for enjoying life. And having gratitude is the unlock for the right perspective. Gratitude is glue—it’s what holds things together. “Your Heart Can Actually Build Its Own Bypass After a Heart Attack” The capillaries are doing most of the work here. Drawing a parallel to...

Daily Reads “The $60 Billion Question Nobody In Leadership Development Wants to Answer” “How” is often the piece missed. “Why” is inspirational and sells. “What” is the outcome everyone wants. (Hopes and Dreams...) “How” is the path to get there. It’s the system to run that makes the vision reality. Feel (Why), Flow (How), Function (What) “Most creative people aren’t creative anymore” Interesting...

Daily Reads “All for one and one for all!” The Three Musketeers of Persuasion assembled in a Spaces last night. The American Debunk , Doc Hypnosis , and not-on-Substack Jeff Callahan. While it is politics focused (and my live stream is not), you can learn a lot about people and persuasion if you can take a step back. The way these three discuss politics is great for that. It also got me thinking a...

Daily Reads “Chinese humanoid robots smash human records in 100m sprint and high jump at Beijing robot games” Seems like just yesterday when some people were saying robots could never do this. But they’ll keep on improving... For now, this new robot record feels like it could be beaten by a man within the next 100 years. “Two national laboratories on Long Island have successfully used quantum enta...

Daily Read “Why The Latebloomer Always Overachieves and Outperforms Everyone” Ed and I are the same age, and we both come from unhealthy family environments... It can be tempting to compare yourself to others who have been forced to overcome, but you move forward by keeping your focus. Make the most of every opportunity. Get full access to Creativity & Culture at www.creativityandculture.com/subsc...

Daily Reads “Scientists Discover a New Organ Hiding in The Skull” If we’re still discovering organs inside our bodies, what else have we missed? And imagine the innovations yet to be developed from these discoveries... “Scientists just discovered a big limitation in lab-grown minibrains — they have a skewed ‘sense of time’” When things don’t work as we expect, it’s an opportunity to learn somethin...

Daily Reads “Man Obliterated When Court Obtains His ChatGPT Transcripts” AI continues to improve, but it’s output is still reflective of how it’s used. Even if (when) it becomes smart enough to produce the right output for the outcome needed (not stated), the human input—and human output utilization—will still differentiate. “What the Aldi Quarter Teaches About Getting Unstuck” There are a lot of...

Daily Reads "Solving a Solved Problem” A lesson here on seeing open opportunity where everyone else sees closed solutions. And great examples of leadership development (her dad negotiating with her), strategy (where the solution was offered), and innovation loops (year over year adjustments). “Your Customer-Centricity is a Corporate Ritual” Excellent take on innovation from an engineer’s filter. H...

Daily Reads “Your Next Opportunity Is Already Coming. Will You Be Ready When It Arrives?” Making the most of every opportunity means preparing ahead of time: Stewarding what’s in front of you, setting a vision for the future, and talent stacking. Talent Stacking = Opportunity Stacking “‘Probably’ Is the Loophole Every Scam Walks Through” “Probably” can be an opportunity or a warning. If the opport...

Daily Reads “Showing Up Changed Everything” Giving yourself a personal challenge can be a key to personal innovation, and a hack for overcoming other challenges through the growth you’ll experience. Make it a system and face the challenge every day. “What is ‘erfolgssangst’ and why is it sabotaging your career?” When you’re facing fears of failure or success head on, a challenge can help clarify t...

Daily Reads “Déjà Vu Has a Stranger, Lesser-Known Opposite – And Scientists May Have Just Found Where It Starts” Is this the opposite of feeling like you’ve experienced something before? I would think that would be experiencing anything for the first time. Regardless, “Meditation at Lagunitas” by Robert Haas is an example of using jamais vu as a poetic device. “I Think I’m Having a Reverse Midlife...

Daily Reads “The Greed of Being Busy” Too many put their identity into being busy, and are greedy with their time as a result. Their greed is selfishness put into action. This article offers a great perspective on stewarding time and what’s important (people). “Build for The Love of Building” Excellent article with a creative take on stewarding your talents to make a difference. It’s ok to build f...

Experiment day 132: A conversation on turning big picture “delusions” into actionable vision by running the mission. And discussing what you measure—aligning output and outcome metrics with your mission. Daily Reads Great article on leadership development in context of vision. The difference between a daydream delusion and a big picture vision is being able to reverse engineer it into an actionabl...

Experiment day 131: A conversation on strategic frameworks and systems using the Book-Reader Buying Cycle as the example. Plus the benefits of “weighing” your system (and yourself, literally) everyday. Enjoy! Daily Reads If looking to publish a book, you need to read this article. And if you’re only looking to read books, you need to read this article... A lot of transferrable principles to system...