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Teenage years, interfaces, and classic technology
When I was a teenager, I spent hours trying to improve my computer’s interface. I can’t tell you how many times I changed my Windows XP interface to try to look like a Mac. When Windows Longhorn was out in beta, I spent many afternoons trying to get it to work too—even partitioning my hard…
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Sometimes, you just gotta wait
In 2019, Jay-Z and his company Roc Nation partnered up with the NFL to advise on the social justice initiative Inspire Change and advise on the Super Bowl halftime show. That year, the Super Bowl drew in 98.2 million viewers. It’s a coveted event for recording artists to play. Before working with Jay-Z, the NFL…
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What do you need?
This is worth being curious about. But for starters, you need to be mindful and not distracted—sometimes, bored—in order to remember to ask yourself this question. “Our changing moods and energy levels, and how inspired we’re feeling on any given day, are part of the hard reality we must accept in order to take effective…
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You vs. the package of you
Personas are packages for people. But of course, they’re not actually people. When you see someone with a crafted persona, you don’t actually know who that person actually is. Sure—you know that they’re ambitious, chasing status, wealth, and power. You could say that they are “moving up in the world.” But without living up to…
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Meeting people with cold emails
An extraordinary professional moment happened to me in a very ordinary finance class. Instead of paying attention to what the teacher was saying, I read an article in HBR and emailed the author asking for advice about how I could find my passion. They graciously responded with valuable advice—essentially, to try a lot of things!—and…
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A path to consistency
An earlier blog post I wrote has been bouncing around my mind lately: consistency starts with inconsistency. If the fear of commitment—or the avoidance of hard, consistent work—prevents you from getting started on something, the best solution is to find another way to see it. What could make the work easy? Do you need to…
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The right to make a classic
An architecture student asks her professor for advice. As they review her work together, he challenges her, “Is your design as good as the Chartres Cathedral?” The student grimaces in confusion, looks out the window, and responds earnestly, “Of course not, I could never do that.” A few seconds pass, and she glances at the…