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A few months ago, the woman behind the counter at a grocery store asked me if I was wearing a nametag for any particular reason, or just to be ironic. “Actually, I always wear it,” I smiled. “Makes people friendlier.” She shrugged and handed me my receipt. And on the walk home, I thought to myself, “Ironic? Why would wearing a nametag be ironic? And if so, does that…

Any idiot can take notes. But if you want your voice to reverberate through people’s bones, if you want to make an impression that matters, you have to be more than a listener. Be a translator, a courageous interpreter of the world’s vagaries, adding facets, angles, new dimensions and refractions of light. Be a craftsman, using the source code as inspiration to create your own form of art that…

Word of mouth drives most of our country’s economy. Not because traditional marketing sucks, but because human beings, a species whose prime feature is its social nature, rarely do what they do by their own volition. The agent of decision making is interaction, not interruption. If we’re going to buy something, it’s because somebody we know already bought it. The catch is, few silver bullet solutions exist for getting…

Changing the world has never been easier. We have the tools, we have the power, we have the resources, we have the connections, we have the initiative, we have the people and we certainly have enough problems that need to be solved. What’s missing is a beacon to guide us, give us hope and show the way forward. A manifesto that serves as the poetry of a revolution. It’s…

The point isn’t to consume the content. The point is to be the first to comment on it. The point is to be the best at publicly deconstructing it. And to the point is to outdo everyone else in making fun of it. That’s why the volume of comments far exceeds the volume of content. Because that’s what nerds do, they obsess. They have hyperactive internal monologues passionately deconstruct…

Innovation isn’t about reinventing the wheel. It’s about taking two wheels that already work well on their own, but haven’t met yet, and helping them intersect in a novel way. The first step toward innovation is combination. Which of your two ideas need to have a baby?

It’s not a nametag, it’s a magic trick. Think about it. In the past thirteen years, I built a successful publishing and consulting enterprise out of nothing. Nothing. I authored dozens of books, did hundreds of interviews, published thousands of articles and got paid big money by big companies to travel around the world and share my story with millions of people, despite having no job experience, no resume,…

Let’s travel back in time. Fifty years ago, everyday activities like landing on the runway, shopping for clothes, taking bread out of the oven or receiving a package from a friend, were just ordinary, fleeting experiences. And then the world flipped. Now, thanks to the beauty of technology, thanks to the connection economy and thanks to the new social norm of digital sharing, the concept of the moment hasn’t…

The product is only the beginning. What’s evolved is the ecosystem around the product. Now, it’s not just the product. It’s joining the community that the product is a badge for. It’s redefining the industry the product is part of. It’s shaping the generation the product is a symbol of. It’s building the tribe the product is the symbol for. It’s listening to the voice the product is an…

What image would you rather project: Charisma or authenticity? Charisma comes from the Greek word kharisma, which means “gift” or “divine favor.” According to Wikipedia, is often used to describe the ability to charm or influence people. It also refers to a quality in certain individuals who easily draw the attention and admiration of others due to a “magnetic” quality of personality and/or appearance. Big deal. This is 2013….