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The glue that holds all of our relationships together
We all have the desire to be seen, heard, listened to, and treated fairly; to be recognized, understood, and feel safe in the world. Some time ago I worked with a company to help build a narrative to diminish turnover and create lasting impact. It’s the kind of work I love to do—help a team…
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The economic value of culture and creativity
Arts and culture add value beyond economics—how do we value those benefits? With all this talk and excitement around AI, we overlook the role of the arts and creative industries and their positive impact to human health and well-being. Two decades of research found that the arts and creative activities provide direct and indirect benefits…
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How seemingly senseless acts make life worth living
The value of rituals in life… and in commerce. Carrie walked into her mother’s home to find her sitting on the floor, surrounded by relatives and friends. She was wailing after having just buried her son. Nobody seemed to be able to offer any consolation—in fact, any attempt had her cry harder. “Why don’t you…
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Get ready to face resistance for your originality
Most people embrace new ideas only after they’ve become widely accepted. There’s a reason why you keep seeing the same posts throughout social media. Different avatars and logos, similar stories. If you’re a student of history, you’ll see the phenomenon more clearly with the benefit of distance. Paradigm-shifting ideas have always encountered resistance. Because they…
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Humans’ tool to make the infinite comprehensible
Saints, armies, medicinal plants, treasures, book titles, nature collections, survival kits—the essential nature of lists. Swiss businessman Jean Henri Dunant was traveling in northern Italy when he spotted the aftermath of what became the decisive battle between Franco-Sardinian and Austrian forces. 40,000 troops dead, wounded or missing near the small village of Solferino. On June…
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Between us…
How emotions are “stories in the world.” I ordered a couple of items from Amazon. It’s an option of last resort when I cannot find something going direct to companies. Sometimes Amazon is the only way to order a product. Free shipping is another reason why I might order from Amazon. Since I’m not a…
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Living closer to your friends would make you happier. Why don’t you?
Three ideas why. We change. Life changes us. When I moved to America many years ago, I was thinking expansively—it would be great to immerse myself in a new culture. And that it was. I thought I could make new lifelong friends. What I didn’t understand is that beyond growing up together, lifelong friends in…
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Stereotypes
The soundtrack that flattens culture to amplify margins—the gain temporary, the collateral effects long-lasting. But it doesn’t have to be that way. It’s what you get when you try to compress a whole idea into a formula. An attempt to capture a category of things with a simple, generalized belief. You declare: ‘I expect you’re…
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Overflow
Sensibility and capacity for receptivity are the qualities that allow us to pay attention to, learn from, and act in the world—they are sources of wealth. There are many ways to be as a person. Each of us expresses their appreciation for being alive in different ways. But one of the ways some people express…
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Love: the Most Fundamental Market Principle
How duty, learning, and friendship contributed to the foundation of trust. You’ll forgive the Franciscan for owning only one tunic. Clothing was a sign of wealth in Italy’s flourishing economy of the 13th Century. Even expensive vellum manuscripts were frowned upon. Books were alright, but purely as tools for learning. Though it was alright to…