What if organizations had a division that simply did the bad stuff? The people who were responsible for creating system updates that slow down old computers, that cover up bad behavior by employees, the people who dump pollution into the river when no one is watching…
If all the folks who invent dark patterns, lobby in secret, and gaslight whistleblowers all worked in the same department, we could watch them a lot more carefully.
After all, the lawyers have a department, and so do the customer service people. Couldn’t we have a VP of dirty tricks?
Alas, mixed incentives and short-term thinking mean that it’s unlikely we’ll ever be able to narrow it down to just a few people…
May 21, 2022
In 1993, when I was raising investment for one of the first internet companies, there weren’t any firms that specialized in this sort of thing. They were VCs from a different era, looking for the next Fedex or pharma company.
I pitched dozens of them, and the answer was consistent, “get back to us when this is irresistible and then of course we’ll say yes.”
The same thinking is applied to many new products, from vegan burgers to online services. None of them are perfect at first, just as none of the things we’re reliant on today began as perfect.
And yet, some folks went first. Some, like Jerry and Fred, started a VC fund that had record returns because they invested in internet companies that weren’t perfect (yet). And some consumers bought things from the local store when version .5 wasn’t quite ready yet.
If you want to leap forward, you’ll need to ship things before they’re perfect, mostly to people who want to buy them before they are.
May 20, 2022
Just because they’re easy to measure doesn’t mean they matter.
If they appear in round numbers and are easily compared to those from others, we’re tempted to compare.
But something that looks like a useful metric might not be.
If you’re working with people who say they care about measurement, it might not pay to persuade them to stop measuring.
It might make more sense to give them useful numbers to measure instead.
May 19, 2022
And that’s the paradox, because the closer possibility gets to reality, the more it engages with the unforgiving edges of the real world.
As we begin to imagine something better, it’s important to have some insulation, room to believe and a chance to fill in the missing pieces.
But then we have to allow the constraints of reality to intersect with our beautiful new conception.
And when that happens, it’s easy for all of our imaginings to simply evaporate.
But fragile doesn’t mean impossible. Possibility looms around every corner if we’re willing to bring resilience and iteration to the dance as well.
Yes, it might not work. But deciding that in advance undermines the value of the gift we intended to bring people.
This is a common sort of feedback/criticism/brainstorming, and it deserves a name.
Show up toward the end, when most of the work has been done and it’s almost time to ship…
Make a suggestion that would require changing a great deal of what’s been done. It might even be a good suggestion on its face, but it’s hard to tell…
Contribute your suggestion without having built a body of work, without evidence of significant expertise and without being willing to take responsibility for what happens next.
It’s a form of yelling from the bleachers.
The fact that your idea is fresh or innovative doesn’t change the role of Resistance. This sort of suggestion is a great place to hide. You’re helping, aren’t you? And if they ignore you, well, that’s on them.
The grandstander wants to be part of things, but isn’t showing up to do the hard part.
This might be the guest who shows up half an hour before dinner and suggests you change the menu.
Or the publicist that wants to weigh in on the product’s design a week before launch.
Or the good friend who wonders out loud if you should marry him, right after your four-year relationship turns into an engagement.
The alternative is to get out of the bleachers and into the field. Do the training. Show your work. Engage early. Own the outcomes.
We need that more than ever.
May 18, 2022
Krispy Kreme grew to become a doughnut behemoth in the US. The formula was simple: Scarce supply, high short-term taste satisfaction, and a dozen priced almost the same as just four.
As a result, most people bought a dozen. But few could eat a dozen, and you can’t really save them, so you realized that sharing a warm doughnut was the way to go.
Carmine’s restaurant in New York was the hot ticket for decades. One reason was that the only way to get a reservation was to come with five other people. So you needed to talk about it.
I’ve learned in sharing galleys of The Carbon Almanac that sending two is far more useful and beneficial than sending one. Because when someone gets two, they immediately decide to share the other one. Organizing around ‘please share’ is a choice.
We’re building a Wall of Fame on our website to celebrate companies that care enough about our future to share copies of the Almanac when it comes out. Small companies can easily find a good use for five or ten copies, and we’ve made it easy and cost-effective to pre-order. The form is to sign up is here. All participants get a link back to their site and a chance to make an impact in the world.
Please share with someone who trusts you.
ALSO! We’re inviting you to join our worldwide group of volunteers as we prepare to launch the Almanac in June. Our launch team is forming now, and it’s a chance to be part of something and make a difference. Please check out this page for the details. Thank you.
May 17, 2022
The paradox of most tightly-knit communities is that they have an internal culture.
And that culture often makes it difficult for a new person to join. It’s hard to have insiders if you don’t have outsiders. This is true for guilds of copy editors, fans of anime or branches of science.
The key transition point for any cause or tribe or movement that seeks to grow is to shift from an insular desire to keep things as they are to a willingness–or better, a desire–to water things down by getting bigger.
It’s hard to have it both ways.
May 16, 2022
Well, not everyone. Just most people.
When you do something that everyone else is doing, you’re likely to get what everyone else is getting.
But in almost every population, “everyone” leaves out the people who go first, who change things, who are weird and who challenge the status quo. That’s an option, even when it doesn’t seem that way.
Mass culture gets us more mass culture. It’s not the only choice.
May 15, 2022
Data is everywhere, but turning it into information isn’t free.
It takes focus, effort, consultation and time.
More information is only useful if it helps you make a decision. Knowing the temperature on Saturn isn’t useful. Knowing it to even more accuracy is less useful. That’s because we’re not making any decisions that involve the temperature on another planet.
We’re surrounded by data that our spreadsheets or networks or cohorts seem to want us to be aware of. How many people clicked yesterday, or what someone wrote in a comment, what a backlist book sold or the foot traffic in that store vs. this store.
But if you’re not going to use the data to make a decision, don’t spend the time to expose yourself to it. It’s resistance at work.
If you can’t do anything with the data, it’s never going to be information.
May 14, 2022
When we’re close to an answer, there are two easy paths–name it, right now, and move on. Or avoid the answer and the responsibility that comes with it and stall.
The best path is the third one. Wait for five beats.
Kneejerk is not an admirable trait.
A few breaths before we rip into someone. A few questions before we issue a diagnosis. A chance to do a bit more research or consultation.
And then, yes, we have to name it. No stalling.
Five beats of tension open the door for connection, accuracy and insight. And then we ship.
May 13, 2022
