Same room. Different maps.

We sit in the same meeting. We hear the same words. We leave with different ideas and necessary actions in our heads. That’s not a failure of intelligence. It’s not even a failure of trust. It’s something quieter and more dangerous: the assumption...

Strangers don’t lie

Something shifts in a city when a team wins after 53 years. We don’t just celebrate the trophy. We talk to strangers. We make eye contact on the subway. We feel, briefly, as if we are part of something larger than our own ambitions. The New York Knicks...

Decided before the storm

We like to believe strategy is something we adjust as we go. The market shifts, a competitor moves, and we update the plan. Agile. Responsive. Smart. But the teams that win Le Mans didn’t write their strategy during the race. They wrote it before, including what...

The meal was the plan

Landed in Milan early, jet-lagged, bag still in my hand. My friend, whom I hadn’t seen in years, met me with a hug, then insisted I needed a proper espresso. Then he laid out the plan. Not a plan for sightseeing. Not a plan for meetings. A plan for eating, two...

Convincing wrong

Most persuasion fails before it starts. Not because the argument is weak. Not because the data is wrong. Because the persuader never asked one question: where is this person right now? The founder pitching alignment to a skeptical board. The sales rep pushing a...