Hello Reader, Your competitor launched three features last quarter. You're still debating org structure. They pivoted twice in six months. Your product roadmap has seventeen stakeholder sign-offs. You diagnose: "Our organization is too complex. We need to streamline. Simplify. Flatten the hierarchy." Wrong problem. Your organization isn't complex. The market is. And you're blaming the ant when you should be reading the beach. This is Simon's Law of Complexity—and it reveals why most...
13 days ago • 3 min read
Hello Reader, You're researching vendors for a major decision. You compare features, check reviews, and build a spreadsheet. Three months later, you discover a critical requirement you never thought to ask about (and it's going to cost you). The problem wasn't what you didn't know. It was what you didn't know you didn't know. That's the Rumsfeld Matrix, though most people remember the quote without grasping the framework. It's about recognizing that the most dangerous territory in any...
19 days ago • 3 min read
Hello Reader, I spent three months building integrations that eliminated paper workflows in our organization. The metrics confirmed success: digital adoption was climbing, automation was working, the transformation was real. Then I walked into a center and saw reality: employees still printing forms—wet signatures on documents we'd digitized. Paper trails shadowing the digital process we'd built. My first thought: They're not using it right. My second thought: I'm not seeing it right. The...
26 days ago • 3 min read
Hello Reader, I heard a new term in a podcast, "parasocial relationship," and suddenly it was in three articles, two conversations, and a thread I scrolled past that evening. My first thought: This must be a trend. My second thought: Maybe the algorithm is listening. The truth is more straightforward and more unsettling: my brain just handed control of my attention to whoever planted that seed first. That's the Frequency Illusion, also called the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon. Once you learn...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Hello Reader, There’s a reason the cliffhanger works so well. A task left undone—or a story left unresolved—sticks in the brain. Psychologists call this the Zeigarnik Effect: our minds latch onto incomplete tasks more than completed ones. It’s why unfinished to-dos create low-level background stress, and why a half-written idea can feel louder than a finished one. This mental model isn’t just about memory. It’s a practical lever for motivation, creativity, and focus. That’s why it’s included...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Hello Reader, Most people think the job of a toothbrush is to clean their teeth. But if you studied what people do, you might discover something else: some rinse or sanitize their brush every time. That behavior isn’t about plaque—it’s about reassurance, about feeling clean and safe. Unless you ask the right questions and observe the job behind the job, you’d miss it entirely. That gap, the one between what we assume and what people need, is exactly what Jobs to Be Done helps reveal. While...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Hello Reader, The other day, I looked at the long list of contacts in my phone. Hundreds of names—many I hadn’t messaged in years. It struck me that for all our digital reach, the people I keep up with, the ones I’d call when something big happens, still fit in a small circle. That’s Dunbar’s Number in action. Dunbar’s Number is a mental model that suggests humans can only maintain about 150 meaningful relationships at once. It’s based on brain size and the cognitive limits of tracking...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Hello Reader, Last year, I was prepping for a talk about mental models. I loaded up on research, took detailed notes, and felt ready. But by the time I rehearsed a week later, half of it had vanished. Not because I didn’t care—but because I hadn’t reviewed it. That gap between effort and recall? That’s the Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve at work. The curve describes how memory fades over time without reinforcement. The drop is steep at first—most of what we learn is forgotten within days unless...
2 months ago • 2 min read
Hello Reader, In 2004, scientists at MIT observed thousands of simple robots, each with only basic programming, begin to self-organize. Without central control, these machines formed coordinated patterns, completed tasks, and adapted to new conditions. The complex behavior didn’t come from any one unit—it emerged from their interactions. The system took on a life of its own. That’s emergence: when complex behavior or meaning arises unexpectedly from simple parts interacting. You can’t predict...
2 months ago • 1 min read