My writing tends to focus on a few key areas and concepts. As a different, non-chronological way of navigating my articles, you can browse them by topic here.
Knowledge
(How we know what we know, how we learn new things)
Beware of geeks’ daring grifts
Selling peaches in a market for lemons
The decisions of dictators
When complexity defuses disruption
Lying for Money
Why revolutions rarely work
Focusing further
Drifting into failure
Doing the genba walk
Unintended consequences
Cadence and speed
The danger of isolated beliefs
An unsuccessful coup
The shamrock organisation
The merits of mêtis
Chesterton’s many fences
It’s not just about the office
The Field Guide to Understanding ‘Human Error’
Your own personal distortion field
Improvement communities
Thickening strategy
Collective IQ and continuous improvement
Simplifying strategy
The thermocline of truth
Going with the gut
Clash of mindsets: puzzles vs. mysteries
A fortnight with Roam Research
Creativity
(Solving problems, flashes of inspiration, how we develop new ideas)
Cultivating serendipity
The simplicity of subtraction
The five-year chunk
Dedicated innovation
The three Xs of innovation
The commoditisation of creativity
Build competence, not literacy
In praise of the idea shepherds
The taste–skill gap in creative work
Communal creativity
A factory for startups
Augmented creativity
Creating creative organisations
Insiders and outsiders
The rise of creativism
Sustainability
(Climate change, business as a force for good)
Brands
(Branding, marketing, direct-to-consumer)
Organisations
(How groups of people work together)
All other topics
technology (23)
politics (23)
food (20)
ruby (13)
ai (12)
culture (10)
coronavirus (10)
sense-making (8)
science (8)
music (8)
crime (8)
film (7)
psychology (7)
social-media (6)
marketing (6)
business (6)
branding (5)
photography (4)
literature (4)
art (4)
economy (4)
data (3)
web3 (3)
philosophy (3)
architecture (3)
transport (3)
environment (3)
travel (3)
publishing (3)
self-promotion (2)
complexity (2)
economics (2)
weird (2)
law (2)
films (2)
comedy (2)
ukraine (2)
crypto (2)
sports (2)
language (2)
games (2)
biology (2)
life (2)
communication (2)
internet (2)
geography (2)
security (2)
sport (2)
writing (2)
statistics (2)
web-development (2)
london (1)
neuroscience (1)
nostalgia (1)
middle-east (1)
media (1)
orso (1)
society (1)
evolution (1)
meta (1)
puzzles (1)
fiction (1)
protest (1)
advice (1)
strategy (1)
toys (1)
gambling (1)
finance (1)
agility (1)
celebrity (1)
gaming (1)
fame (1)
fmcg (1)
driving (1)
biography (1)
climate-change (1)
risk (1)
wisdom (1)
cities (1)
wordle (1)
corruption (1)
drinking (1)
career (1)
notes (1)
design (1)
typography (1)
commerce (1)
health (1)
entertainment (1)
japan (1)
china (1)
reading (1)
urban-planning (1)
software (1)
feminism (1)
books (1)
nature (1)
poetry (1)
equality (1)
diversity (1)
workshops (1)
systems (1)
news (1)
sociology (1)
documentary (1)
journalism (1)
management (1)
talks (1)
ops (1)