That’s not what usually happens.
If there’s at least one unicorn in the world, it’s likely not the only one.
And if one can make a valid English word from seven Scrabble tiles, it’s likely that more than one word can be found.
“Impossible” is a very large set of situations. But once something is possible, it’s unusual for there to be only one way.
If you’re looking for an interesting project, a useful shortcut is finding someone who has already done something similar and then altering or improving it.
No extra points for being the one and only one in your category.
February 28, 2025
Tolerance is an engineering term. When the parts of a car are made to a low tolerance, that means that they fit perfectly. A modern Lexus is a better car than a 1976 Nova because relentless improvement means that the parts are more exact.
Tolerance is a design term. When a system can tolerate non-perfect users and interventions, the interoperability increases and so a high tolerance design is often seen as more successful.
Tolerance is a systems term. When we build a community that can thrive when everything isn’t exactly the same, the community is more likely to produce connection, health and well being.
Tolerance is a personal-interaction term. If our dealings with someone don’t go well, we’re still able to recover and even produce useful work or play together if our tolerance for frustration is high.
Tolerance is a disability term. When a user brings different skills, languages, boundaries and skills to a system, a tolerant solution allows them to thrive.
And tolerance is a climate term. When the built world becomes more resilient, it not only survives the unexpected, it doesn’t make things worse.
Low tolerance manufacturing takes dedication and skill. And it permits us to be high tolerance in the rest of our processes. An organization that tries to limit incoming participation and has rigid rules probably doesn’t trust the tolerance of their underlying stack.
It’s interesting to put all this together and think about Lego blocks.
For generations, Lego pieces have been made to low tolerances. They stick together and come apart with precision. This allows them to work extremely well with any other part the company has ever made. And because of their long-lasting simplicity, they can be used in ways the creators of the toy didn’t expect… to furnish an aquarium or to build life-sized sculptures, for example.
People aren’t toys, and the variations we deal with are a bit harder to predict. And changing systems and climate are less predictable than most toddlers, so there are surprising variations there as well.
The thing is, tolerance is achievable. And tolerance creates value. But it helps to name it, measure it and seek it out.
February 27, 2025
Getting to the conference in Santa Fe isn’t difficult. Someone will drive/fly you there. The hard part is deciding to go. And yet, it might take 8 hours to arrive.
If they invented teleportation and offered it for free, it would be very clear that where we went would simply depend on where we decided to go, not the mechanics, cost or time it took.
But physical presence is not the driving force in our world now.
In 2025, if you want to learn something, you can. Probably for free, and faster than ever before.
That statement has never been as true as it is now.
Beyond that… with an app like cursor, if you want to write computer code, you can. The hard part is deciding what to build.
But it turns out that deciding is only half of it.
In order to actually make a difference, we have to move no faster than the speed of trust.
Who is giving us the benefit of the doubt? Who have we earned enrollment with? Where is our agency?
Making good decisions with and for a group of people who believe us is called leadership.
We’re often afraid to lead. Afraid of the responsibility. Indoctrinated to let someone else take the wheel and to take the blame.
The easiest way to avoid leadership was to blame all the heavy lifting and resources required.
But in more and more ways, we can lead with nothing but judgment and trust.
If we care.
February 26, 2025
Whenever we make a choice, we do our best. We make a decision based on our interests. In other words, it’s selfish.
So what makes a choice a selfish act worth addressing?
There are two circles: the circle of us and the circle of now.
A selfish toddler keeps both circles very small. They care about right now, not later. They care about their parents or whomever is in the room. That’s it.
The toddler who draws all over the couch in black marker is having fun right now, and selfishly causing a problem for others, and for the future.
Smoking cigarettes is short-term selfish. The you of the future is unlikely to thank teenager-you for starting.
And raising parrots in your small apartment is a different sort of selfish. It’s not surprising that your neighbors will hope you stop.
You may have noticed that the world keeps getting smaller and it keeps going faster, which means we can see the circles we impact more clearly.
We admire adults who lead, who take the long view, and especially, who consider a larger circle. And thriving organizations and communities create the cultural conditions for people to choose to make their circles include more people and longer time frames.
Successful cultures embrace bigger circles.
February 25, 2025
But that’s not why it’s your project.
Lots of things are important. Countless problems need to be solved, people need to be connected, a living needs to be made.
But this work you’re doing now, the work you’re doing instead of everything else–it’s your project.
When we talk about whether this is the project for you, we’re not demeaning its importance or questioning whether it needs to be done. Instead, we’re discussing whether you’re the one to do it, whether it serves your particular needs and skills and assets. Priorities must be set, no matter how important each option might be.
We choose a project because our assessment of the situation leads us to believe our effort might pay off. Talking about our priorities with clarity celebrates our potential, it doesn’t diminish the urgency of what you were doing yesterday.
February 24, 2025
If you want to be a great painter, perhaps you could reverse engineer what made the Mona Lisa such an important painting.
You could move to Italy. You could learn about shadows and light and technique.
The problem is that the Mona Lisa isn’t the most famous painting in the world because of all of those things. Lots of paintings have those things.
The Mona Lisa is the most famous painting in the world because it was stolen a hundred years ago, was missing for a year and was featured in the then brand-new medium of big newspapers and color printing.
In other words, right when the world was ready for an icon that stood for ‘famous painting’, there she was (or more accurately, wasn’t).
You can’t step in the same meme twice–the second time, the culture is different.
Making the next version of something is a completely different project than creating the conditions for the first version to happen.
February 23, 2025
Those three words unlock our understanding of innovation and of biological evolution.
Successful outcomes often follow unpredicted actions.
If we allow ourselves to do things that might not work, we’re far more likely to discover the things that do.
And then we can repeat them.
February 22, 2025
An expensive watch isn’t purchased to tell time. We already know what time it is.
The food at a wedding isn’t really there to keep guests from going hungry. A cookie could do that.
Our focus, energy and money are often spent on transactions that are disguised as something else. What we’re really doing is buying affiliation, status or the freedom from fear.
February 21, 2025
A great intern brings positive energy, a relentless work ethic and doesn’t cost very much. They ask a lot of questions, and the most useful questions will help you see an existing situation with fresh eyes.
Of course, you’ll expect them to make mistakes, and a professional needs to double-check all of their work. If you skip these steps, don’t blame the intern.
You’ve already guessed that your new best intern is an AI like Claude or Perplexity.
Treat an intern with respect and don’t look for experience. You might learn something useful.
February 20, 2025
The tenured philosophy professor at Princeton might not even be half as effective a teacher as the adjunct at the community college.
The head of surgery might be relatively better at meetings and politics than they are at actually helping patients.
Having a lot of social media followers doesn’t mean you’re really good at making pizza.
Choose accordingly.
February 19, 2025
