How long ‘til my soul gets it right? Can any human being ever reach that kind of insight? Indigo Girls About forty years ago I stood in front of a room full of people and gave another commencement speech. It was both like and unlike this one: in person rather…

I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship. — Louisa May Alcott I’ve been running every day for a year. More than a year — I started at the end of last October. I don’t remember why I started. It seems like it…

“…to wish was to hope, and to hope was to expect.” ― Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility One spring, not too many years ago, I was sitting in the parking lot of a McDonalds in Hawaii, trying to save an angry customer. Yes, I was on vacation in Hawaii. And…

No one has ever become poor by giving — Anne Frank Being kind to others has lost its broad appeal. The news daily reports about closing borders to asylum seekers, separating families, and Catholic MAGA schoolboys mocking Native American elders. Racism and nationalism have become almost acceptable in polite company. …

Every great advance in science has issued from a new audacity of imagination. — John Dewey Product management is, at its best, a form of hacking. Many companies still expect product managers to produce fully formed and detailed product specifications, sometimes right down to the level of saying exactly how…

“I don’t paint dreams or nightmares, I paint my own reality.” ― Frida Kahlo Protect your mojo! If you are employed by a company that is siphoning off your mojo, either a little or a lot, run. Recently the Twittersphere got pretty lively when someone said they consider frequent job-switching…

Humans are allergic to change. — Grace Hopper Today I read about a horrifying study showing that violating gender norms makes you less successful in your career. For women simply being smart is enough to violate gender norms. And that leads to women not getting promoted. “For women in science…

Imagination and fiction make up more than three quarters of our real life. — Simone Weil Knowledge engineering is making a comeback. You might be wondering why, what is it, and why you should care. The wikipedia explanation of knowledge engineering isn’t as helpful as it could be. So here’s…

The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. ― Mahatma Gandhi You join a startup and they have some really cool technology and no customers. What do you do next? Of course, a blog post alone will not be sufficient to help you…