Reflections 19th February

Mark Making in an age of compliance is a vital skill.

Image: NurseryWorld.

We can access more information faster than at any point in history, and now, we can automate it. We can travel further and faster, including beyond the bounds of the planet, if we have a billion or two of loose change. We can connect to anybody, anywhere, any time at virtually zero (financial) cost. All of it organised by people we don’t know, whose agendas are less than clear.

No wonder we’re confused.

We spend a fortune on leadership and organisational design, trying to turn rapidly obsolescing businesses into something useful rather than letting them go and building something new. We seem unable, often, to harness the compelling logic of sunk-cost fallacies and would rather make up stories about strategies for turning arthritic frogs into youthful princes.

Along the way, we have developed an industry that tells other people beautifully produced stories about what could be done rather than doing it. Storytelling carries little risk; doing stuff does, and we have d…