Episodes

Also published at the Huffington Post. There's a story often told in nonprofit circles to inspire hope. It's the one about the starfish, which in one version goes like this:A man is walking on a beach and comes across a little girl tossing stranded starfish back into the water. Seeing the multitudes of other starfish, he asks, "Does that really make a difference?""It does to … [Read more...] about Are Nonprofits Designed to Fail?

Also published at the Huffington Post. Every super-villain has a lair.And in every super-villain's lair, there is a gorgeous companion, a weird sidekick, and... the desk.The sleek, perfectly uncluttered desk, from which our super-villain will rule the world. On it may be a sleek computer, the desktop of which is itself perfectly uncluttered, aside from the Go button for the … [Read more...] about I Want a Desk Like a Super-Villain’s: Will Intelligent Agents Give Me One?

Also published at the Huffington Post. Recently, I've been thinking about what comes after the current rage for content marketing. As I argue here and here, I think that over the long term, the over-abundance of content will lead to "no-content marketing." But even now, we're seeing the next step along the way: what we can call "meaning marketing." Meaning is what people … [Read more...] about Why Meaning is the Future of Marketing — and How These 3 Companies Are Pointing the Way

Also published at the Huffington Post. Content marketing is all the rage right now, and for good reason. In a digital world, people's attention is divided among a nearly infinite range of media choices. That means it's harder and harder to push a message at them, the way you used to with traditional advertising and PR. So instead, you pull, by creating compelling content that … [Read more...] about What’s Next for Content Marketing: No Content

(Also found at Huffington Post.) In five seconds, you will be creating better-looking documents: Five, four, three, two --Stop centering your text!-- One. There, now your documents look better.Centered text looks OK for some special uses, such as page titles or formal invitations, but not much else. Here's why:Centering creates jagged line edges,which can make a layout look … [Read more...] about 5 Seconds to Better Looking Documents: Get Un-centered