Insights
A dose of truth for misguided audiences.
The list of subjects you don’t bring up in polite conversation is growing. The adage about not discussing religion or politics is now insufficient. We can add vaccines to the list of taboo topics. It’s too difficult to predict where someone stands. And it can be terribly divisive to find out.
What to do when you’re stuck and struggling.
I’m a painter. I paint because you can’t think about anything else while you do. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Our work, be it art or changing behavior, follows a consistent arc with three phases. If we know where we are in the process, we can facilitate our way through them.
As seen on TV, marketing for good and evil.
Shills, pills and five essentials for fighting the good fight.
Behavioral change communications and other things I learned at the gym.
It finally caught up to me. For most of my life, I’d been able to eat pretty much what I want and still fit the description “tall and thin.” Then one day, my pants were too tight in the waist. It was so gradual I didn’t notice. Until it became too uncomfortable not to notice.
How to speak to your clients’ future self.
If your cause is a long haul rather than a quick fix, this post offers some important considerations.
When free money isn’t enough: notes on perilous program design.
If your work feels like an uphill battle, remember this — big problems don’t have simple solutions. And the societal issues most of us are working to address are complex. But that doesn’t mean they are insurmountable. Program design is key.
How to motivate a collective around a common agenda.
I recently attended the Collective Impact Forum’s Action Summit. There were a thousand attendees in the business of change gathered for a three-day agenda packed with multiple sessions during any given hour.
The fallacy of long-term consequences.
Reminding your audience that immediate actions have long-term consequences is a waste. Right now is all that matters.