It took me thirty years to populate the bookshelf that’s behind me in most of my videos. Most of us don’t have the time or patience to do that.
At the same time, the wonky computer-generated background many people use on Zoom calls undermines the impact and authority you might be seeking. I just discovered these grey backgrounds and using one creates an instant upgrade for many users. $55 well spent. Sample down below.
As I was writing this, I saw the announcement from ElevenLabs that they are now supporting dubbing in dozens of languages. It’s not perfect, but it’s sort of a miracle.
It’s possible you use social media to grow your business. Or to enhance your career. Or maybe it’s to find delight and joy.
When you add up all the tikking, tokking, tweeting and clicking, what’s the return on that investment? Is your vacation more fun when you spend it taking photos for your Instagram followers? Are you feeding Linkedin or is it feeding you?
Labor is work that we get paid for. It’s work we wouldn’t do for free. And for most people on social media, it’s unpaid labor on behalf of the platforms.
If it’s paying off for you, keep going!
If it’s not, it might be worth reconsidering.
The simple test: when you do it more, do things get better?
Instead: If you were willing to be on the hook for the responsibility (if it works out) and the disappointment (if it doesn’t), which one do you actually want?
Moore’s Law was stated 60 years ago, but it only became a law once its predictions came true.
The reason that your laptop doesn’t cost as much as your house is that computer chips get relentlessly cheaper and more powerful. Just as Gordon Moore predicted.
But perhaps it wasn’t a prediction. Perhaps he wasn’t imagining what would happen. It might be that it was a prescription. That computer chips get faster on his schedule precisely because he said they would. We build fabs and new business models in anticipation of the drop in prices, and that causes the drops to happen.
We’ve seen this happen with economic forecasts, bank runs and even, with Joe Namath at the helm, football teams.
Eric Ries has a new book, Incorruptible. It’s based on the clear truth that our economic system is filled with incentives that cause well-meaning people (especially bosses) to make short-term, selfish and toxic decisions. It also describes a different way forward.
It’s easy to point to the power of selfish extractive capitalism and imagine that there’s nothing to be done about it. But perhaps we’ve been waiting for a map, one that can be a scripture and a Baedeker to people seeking coordinated change.
Systemic change requires systemic action. And the prescription is often a good place to begin.
To quote the great Steve Wozniak, “Actual Intelligence.” The kind we’re born with and can develop if we choose. It’s worth more now than ever before. Alas, it’s rarely taught in school.
The difficult work of making choices.
The act of curation.
The responsibility of putting your name on it.
The judgment to ask the right questions and skip the other ones.
The imperative to ship useful work.
The pursuit of good taste.
The patience to sit with the right problem rather than solving the wrong one.
The generosity to create for someone specific.
Seeking justice.
Offering dignity.
Knowing when to stop.
Investing in deep empathy, not a shallow substitute.
Taking initiative and doing the reading.
Being patient, or impatient, depending on what’s needed.
If your toaster isn’t working, this is the first place to start. A combination of an easy first step and also the likelihood that it’s the problem.
The troubleshooting for things not working in our interactions with others isn’t as obvious, but we can think about it in a similar way.
The first question: Is it working for anyone? Is there someone in a similar situation who is finding clients, shipping the work and accomplishing their goals?
If so, then the next two questions might be:
What story am I telling the world?
and…
What story am I telling myself?
These are harder to diagnose than a toaster, but it might be a good place to begin.
It’s useful and satisfying to have people go along with your wishes and your taste.
But hoping that they’ll be delighted to do so and thank you for pointing out their previous errors might be asking for too much.
It’s one thing for people to act as if you’re right. It’s a whole other thing for them to acknowledge that they are wrong. It might not be worth what it costs to achieve.
May 22, 2026
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