• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Dastardly Cleverness in the Service of Good

Boots Road Group Logo
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Home
  • Episodes
  • About
  • Contact Us
Home » Episodes

Episodes

Creating Content Driving You Crazy? Here’s How to Write Both Fast and Well (Pt 1)

Stressed-out woman on couch with laptop

(Also published at Huffington Post.) Compared to our pre-digital forebears, we’re expected to produce torrents of writing: emails, text messages, blog posts, social media, presentations.

That’s because publishing all that stuff is easier than ever. The trouble is, the actual writing isn’t — especially if you care about quality.

“Easy reading is damn hard writing,” as Nathaniel Hawthorne said.

So how to write both fast and well?

(more...) about Creating Content Driving You Crazy? Here’s How to Write Both Fast and Well (Pt 1)

That’ll Do, Pig: If You Care About Excellence, Stop Over-Praising

Huffington Post Business

Also published at Huffington Post: In a meeting of nonprofit leaders the other day, I heard an executive praise some recent work done by his staff as “amazing” and “incredible”. I hear this kind of thing so often that, normally, it hardly registers — it’s become the equivalent of someone saying “thank you”. But this […]

(more...) about That’ll Do, Pig: If You Care About Excellence, Stop Over-Praising

Inspiration on the Fly

Palettab

Here’s a great new tool for us creatives – Palettab – available as a Chrome extension. It works like this: Everytime you open a new tab in Chrome,  a new combination of color palette and fonts appears in the browser window. If you see a color you like, simply click, and the hex number is […]

(more...) about Inspiration on the Fly

The World Isn’t Flat, It’s Hollow

World map

This article is crossposted at The Huffington Post.

Back in 2005, Thomas Friedman’s The World Is Flat made a persuasive argument that the globe was coming together on a level playing field, thanks to the equalizing forces of technology and peaceful economic competition.

But nearly 10 years later, it looks instead like the world is falling part.

(more...) about The World Isn’t Flat, It’s Hollow

Shopping Made Psychic: No-Content Marketing Marches On

This article is crossposted at The Huffington Post.

A while back, I predicted the coming of no-content marketing: what comes next after the sheer volume of content drives its value below zero. That’s the point at which we start paying to avoid content, no matter how compelling, shocking, funny, or celebrity- or puppy-laden.

That point is here.

(more...) about Shopping Made Psychic: No-Content Marketing Marches On

How to get a designer’s best work for a logo, website, ad – anything

Wrench

A long time ago, I had to learn from scratch how to manage visual designers, after having started out as a composer and audio producer, with no training in graphic arts — back then I thought of it as “the blind leading the deaf.”

Luckily, I found that most of the skills I’d developed while working with sound carried over to other disciplines, too. There’s one skill above all that I believe managers need to master in order to get the best work from a designer or any creative professional:

Talk about why, not how.

(more...) about How to get a designer’s best work for a logo, website, ad – anything

So how do I hashtag?

Now that you know the correct hashtag etiquette, as seen in my last post, now you are wondering how do I hashtag? Have no fear, Twitter will actually help you hashtag your post with this info graphic.

(more...) about So how do I hashtag?

Leadership Lessons from Obama for America’s COO

Spencer Critchley

Last week I was in Washington, DC for a couple of days, connecting with old political friends — and one new one. The new one turned out to have some very interesting things to say about leadership, from a unique perspective: playing a key role in assembling Barack Obama’s first presidential campaign (this is not to say that the old friends weren’t very interesting, too).

While Henry DeSio was serving as the Chief Operating Officer of Obama For America 2008, I was on the ground working on communications teams in battleground states. I never met him back then, but I’m glad I have now. He’s working on a book about his experiences, and the lessons that can be drawn from them.

(more...) about Leadership Lessons from Obama for America’s COO

A great hashtag, doing good: #ReplaceBikeWithCar

Satire is great. It allows us to critique and discuss topics too challenging to confront directly. Whether it’s Mr Swift’s Irish baby pie recipe or Mr Colbert’s staunch idealization of Bill O’Riley, satire is the tried and true tool of political humor. To that end, last week the meme #ReplaceBikeWithCar was born. To contrast the […]

(more...) about A great hashtag, doing good: #ReplaceBikeWithCar

How Open Should We Be?

People seem to either love or hate the open office concept. Once hailed as a sign of modern hipness, it’s now sometimes called intrusive and non-conducive to productive work. It seems that instead of maximizing collaboration, the open office sometimes just provides interruptions and distractions. At least that’s what Jason Feifer thinks, in his article […]

(more...) about How Open Should We Be?
  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Go to page 1
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 4
  • Go to page 5
  • Go to page 6
  • Go to page 7
  • Go to page 8
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 10
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

About the Podcast

Image that links to rss pageThe podcast of progress: Learn what works from leading social innovators, with host Spencer Critchley. More here.

Subscribe through Apple Podcasts
or any other podcast app.

Apple Podcasts icon  Overcast icon  Listen to Stitcher  Tune In icon   RSS feed icon

Produced by Boots Road Group

Boots Road Group: We Create Impact

Spencer’s Book

Patriots of Two Nations book cover

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Get Dastardly Clever Email

Recent Posts

What History Can Teach Us About the Attack on Democracy

The Attack on Democracy

Zach & Spencer on Election 2020

Mike Madrid of the Lincoln Project

Ryan Coonerty: Facing Historic Wildfires and a Pandemic—at the Same Time

Video: How to Do Social Impact Marketing That Works

Patriots of Two Nations: Why Trump Was Inevitable & What Happens Next

How to Communicate in a Crisis: Lessons from the Pentagon, Homeland Security, FEMA & More

How Republicans Are Beating Democrats Online, With Mark Barker & Jordan Ruden

Tracy Palandjian: Changing How Change Happens, With Pay for Success

- See all Posts -

DastardlyCleverness.com is a production of Boots Road Group, a digital marketing agency for people making the world a better place. Connect with us at bootsroad.com, (831) 612-9200, our contact form, or 348 Roberts Ave, Seaside, California 93955, USA.

All Content © Boots Road Group LLC · Privacy Policy
View Mobile Version