asserts there are two types of problems: strong-link problems and weak-link problems.

When you have a strong link problem, you want to focus on getting more of the best of the group because these outliers have the greatest effect. When you have a weak link problem, you want to focus on eliminating the worst of the group because those outliers have the greatest effect. Like this:

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You’ve likely heard the adage “One bad apple spoils the bunch.” Have you ever asked why?

I did.

Imagine ranking a bushel of apples on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is rotten and 10 is perfection. After evaluating each apple on a bushel, you give all the apples a ranking between 8 and 10 and have an average ranking of 9.2. Adding anl apple that ranks 10 will increase your average, but the impact will be modest because it’s only slightly above your average. On the other hand, adding a bad apple with a 2 rank significantly impacts your average because the difference between your average and this bad apple is large.

I learned that a bad apple pulls down the rest because it’s typically further away from your current average. Moreover, that one bad apple often has a greater effect than a good apple because the good apple isn’t as far away from your average as the bad apple.

This principle applies to your business in three ways:

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1. People

Your bad apples have an…

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Your team and the people you serve are two sides of the same coin. One cannot succeed without the other.

Let me explain.

*dramatic pause*

With a slight build and common attire, the figure walking into the city wouldn’t register among the other people going about their business inside the castle walls.

The figure turns out to be Merlin. We’ve followed him into Camelot in the first episode of the BBC series that bears his name.

Seeped in Arthurian lore, the twist lies in telling the story from Merlin's perspective (as the name of the show might suggest).

The show wastes no time revealing Merlin’s unique capabilities. For those of you playing for the home team, Merlin has magic — great magic unlike any seen before. *jazz hands*

We also meet Arthur in the first episode. Blond, broad-shouldered, and clad in chain mail, we find him knocking a servant about while practicing his fighting skil…

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"That will be $89.95."

"I beg your pardon?" I shifted the reusable bag strap on my shoulder to relieve some of the pressure. 

"$89.95."

"That doesn't make sense. My birth control has been free for as long as I can remember."

"Yeah. Maybe you want to call your insurance company?” the woman behind the counter asked. “We have chairs over there,” she added, pointing to her left.

I sighed and moved to the side. Taking a seat in a plastic CVS-red chair, I prepared myself to sit on hold. When I finally reached a human, I asked why my birth control was suddenly not covered by my insurance. He disappeared to find an answer.

When he came back, he let me know that my past prescription was for a schedule two drug and my new prescription was not a schedule two drug. 

That seemed random to me. 

He asked if I would like a list of the approved drugs.

"Shouldn't my doctor be the one to decide which medicine I take?"

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Displacing the person se…

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I almost scrolled by an article about a recent innovation in laundry. GE plans to make combination washer dryers.

Yes, you read that correctly — one machine will both wash and dry your clothes.

Why are they making this change? According to GE Appliances, the typical American load sits unattended for more than two hours. This finding was based on data collected from 13 million cycles across 90,000 homes between 2020 and 2022. Remembering to switch our clothes from one machine to another presents an obstacle to getting our laundry clean by way of the dreaded friction, so it is best to do away with the step altogether.

Perhaps you aren't like me. Perhaps this combination machine made you go, "Hot damn, that's going to make doing laundry even easier! No more doing a load of wash more than once because they sat too long and ended up a little smelly…" and went about your scrolling.

My question was, "Is my washing mach…

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I had coffee with a colleague¹ a few months ago and he made the point that so often, what people want is for someone to take the time to care about them and their problems. He’s right. He’s also right that care is often better communicated personally rather than at scale. Read on for a brief example.

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At the deliberately designed break in the story, an ad came on, blaring in what amounted to an affront on my ears. 

Groan.

I stopped what I was doing to turn down the volume and waited a few moments to turn it back up again, a process I find extraordinarily frustrating.

Damn advertisers.

The ad showed a beach. People started to clean it. 

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“And this is Boston Medical Center,” the guide said in a noticeable rhythm. 

He then highlighted two medical breakthroughs: antiseptic and general anesthesia. Both were introduced at about the same time. General anesthesia took off; antiseptic did not. The reason (according to the guide) was that while general anesthesia made life easier for surgeons (imagine not having to hold your patient down to keep them from thrashing about while you try to operate on them), antiseptic bothered their skin (burning, rash, dry skin — I can’t recall the specific issue). 

The surgeons knew that the antiseptic would allow them to become the person they wanted to be — someone who saves lives — by preventing infection. Yet they wouldn’t use it. Were I advising Ye Olde Antiseptic Co., I would recommend that they talk to the…

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Much of what we believe about non-profits doesn’t serve the organizations, the teams that run them, or the people they serve. And despite a lot of people pointing that out, these beliefs persist.

Underpinning these beliefs is the assumption that non-profit businesses aren’t real businesses. They’re a subset of softer, less professional, less sophisticated entities staffed by people who need real business people to help them find their way out of a paper bag. 

In the value economy, both for-profit and non-profit businesses exist to deliver value to the people they serve. They both need to deliver value to their team members and secure the resources required to do what they do. They both need to assess if their actions deliver value effectively and make choices to adjust accordingly.

Non-profit businesses will never be treated as real businesses unt…

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“One of the biggest problems with strategy is that the business doesn’t have one.” 

It's common to read this phrase in articles that aim to identify why a business strategy isn't working.

And yet, every business has a strategy because strategy is about choices — and the team makes choices every day. The issue is that the choices they make do not advance the business.

Effective teams make deliberate choices so every action the business takes drives toward delivering the value the business exists to deliver. 

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Seven common but ineffective business strategies

Whether you’re consciously aware of it or not, you make choices based on something. That something and your choices serve as your strategy. Here are seven common but ineffective strategies you may have inadvertently adopted:

1. You're reactive.

Whether it’s a new idea, a ragin…

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“YeeeUUUUSSSSS. We’re stickin’ with Ficken!”

My mother cheered in the living room like the players on the screen could hear her. Then she proceeded to do some type of dance that doesn’t require one to leave their armchair to get their groove on. It was a moment.

I asked, “Stickin’ with what now?”

“Ficken!” she replied, eyes a flame. The fire fizzled at the apparent lack of recognition on my face. “The kicker.”

About ten years ago, Sam Ficken had a hard go as the kicker for the Penn State Nittany¹ Lions football team. In his first season, he became a household name in Pennsylvania and the subject of Twitter torrents after he missed four field goals and didn’t get an extra point during Penn State's 17-16 loss to Virginia. 

Ficken ended up in the position when the previous kicker got transferred — a transfer that also meant Penn State didn't have the option to put Ficken back on the bench.

The team and the community decided to embrace Ficken. Students made posters to hold in the endzone that r…

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“Sorry, I’m not really sure if I said that okay.”

That sentence follows 94%¹ of the responses I get to the prompt, “So tell me more about you and your business.”

It's hard for people to tell their story. Getting clarity on your own story is like trying to get clarity on your own backside: you lack the perspective to find the points of connection and simplicity that make your story (not your ass) sing. 

We tend to think of our story as a noun, a thing we draft and set like a script. This definition of story makes sense when you take a step back and look at how most of us understand the purpose of our story and how to create one. 

Most people think of their story as a way to sell. When experts talk about storytelling, they inevitably conjure up fantastic narratives. They’ll also break down those narratives into formulas you can follow to nail your story. Inevitably, Apple and the Hero’s Journey show up in the slide deck.

I appreciate that part of the reason you tell your story is to sell. I …

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I leaned over to my right, despite my back’s protest, so I could see in between the heads in front of me. The orchestra painted whole new worlds using emotions like thick oil paint. 

Perhaps if I were more of a classical music aficionado, my thoughts would have rested on the caliber of the music or perhaps wandered to the particular playing style of a given orchestra member (see Dr. Hannibal Lector watching the Baltimore Philharmonic Orchestra, his sharp eye trained on the poor playing of a flutist).

But I’m not. What I noted beyond my own soul’s exuberance for the sound dancing on the night air was the conductor, John Williams — admittedly the man I came to see. 

With works like Star Wars, Superman, E.T., Indiana Jones, Jaws, Schindler’s List, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, John Williams defined the sound of contemporary cinema. In addition to his film work, he’s a concert composer and conductor, including conducting the Boston Pops for thirte…

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Something moved. 

I sat on the couch as the clock ticked past midnight. I saw a shadow scurry along the baseboard in the dim light, and my first thought was, “Fuck…”

I had to investigate, or I’d never sleep.

I put down my laptop, rose from the cushion with my butt imprinted on it, and immediately saw the cockroach slink its way behind my desk. 

Until it was outside my apartment — or dead — I would not sleep. And I really wanted some sleep.

With a sigh, I sought out my shoes. Nothing worse than a bug scuttling across your toes. Then I grabbed my handy blue flashlight and chased the bug around the perimeter of my apartment, eventually cornering it in my pint-sized bathroom.

I stood outside the door wiping the sweat off my face while considering my next steps. I could see the cockroach by bending to the left and looking in the mirror. The devious little menace had positioned itself on the wall near the ceiling, clearly aware that it ruled over the apartment.

For now.

I removed my towels to ensur…

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“What do you mean it’s closed?”

My mother stood air fried on the sidewalk in front of a man in a gray shirt. She appeared to any passerby like a child whose bright red balloon had just been popped. Standing there with only an empty stick, I dare say that tears were imminent. 

The man repeated himself with the addition of “I’m sorry,” to the first half of his statement, as in “I’m sorry, but we’re closed for a private event.”

I’ll spare you more detail and say that her pleading (We came all the way from Philadelphia…) gained us sufficient sympathy and, with our metaphorical red balloon reinflated, entrance to the Boston Fire Museum. 

The Boston Fire Museum has occupied the old firehouse at 344 Congress Street in Boston’s seaport district since 1983. The museum committee, which oversees the operation of the museum, is an all-volunteer group dedicated to informing friends and visitors about the history of firefighting. Since the Boston Fire Department is one of the oldest in …

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I went to a food court last week. Complete with two bars, an outside beer garden, and niche food stands, it was a pleasant work field trip.

Until it came time to actually get food. It wasn’t clear initially that I had to go back to where I ordered my food to pick it up; I had to infer it from the person on the other side of the stone counter by way of their handing me a plastic buzzer (an action done with limited enthusiasm).

Once I finished my meal, I wasn’t sure what to do with my tray or plates. Would someone come to get them? Did I need to take my tray to the magical place where they store and wash the trays? Or should I take my tray back to the person behind the stone counter because every stand had its own special trays and dishes? 

I finally figured it out, by way of stalking another diner and matching their behavior. Of course, this particular stratagem didn’t necessarily result in a correct answer, only in my ability to point and say, “They did …

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“You can pick your nose. You can pick your friend’s nose. But you can’t pick your family.”

Now, I don’t know what type of friends you have, but I cannot pick my friend’s nose.

And while I cannot pick my family, I think family and noses have a lot in common.

Sometimes, your nose does exactly what it’s supposed to do. Sometimes, you can’t breathe. Sometimes, your nose gets burned. And sometimes, things get messy and it runs all over the place.

Even if you choose not to spend time with your family, they're still your family, hanging around like the snot in your nose as a fundamental part of your life.

Your team doesn’t work the same way.

While a good team has your back and can help you grow, they aren’t your family — most importantly because you can pick them.

Leaders can choose whom they bring onto the team. They can also choose who to let go.

Individuals can choose the teams they chase. They can also choose to walk away.

When we see teams as a series of choi…

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I try to avoid using the word should.

There are worse words in the dictionary, but this word occupies a special place for me.

When I use the word should, as in “I should exercise today…” while I’m sinking into my couch, I’m telling myself something I already know. The word should provides space in the form of an out-of-body self that’s trying to convince the sedentary me to make a better choice. 

What I’m not saying is, “Let’s exercise now,” which starts a train of actions that ends with my completing an exercise routine. The should comes with the weight of obligation but allows me to avoid actually making the commitment.

Judging by the imprint on the middle cushion of my couch, this wishful self-exchange reflects that some part of me has determined exercise is the right choice, but more of me would prefer that I not. Since I believe how we think shapes what we do, eliminating the should would drive better actions (in this case, any action would be an improv…

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“I really wanna make an impact, so I’m thinking about starting a nonprofit.”

It’s a sentence I often hear expressed by people looking to solve a problem, make a change, or otherwise improve someone’s life. You know, deliver value to the world.

They’ve come to believe that businesses aren’t about making impact. Nonprofits do that because they aren’t in it for the money (it’s in the name and all).

Unfortunately, that’s a transactional view rooted in the old story about work. The old story says for-profits only care about making money and often leaves nonprofits trapped in a starvation cycle without enough money for the infrastructure they need to serve their people well.

Either way, we’re lessening our impact.

In the value economy, businesses exist to deliver value. The difference between what we currently call a nonprofit and a for-profit lies in the gap between their source of revenue and the people they serve.

If the gap is zero, you’re what we currentl…

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