I spent 2016 cataloguing and critiquing the most egregious bullshit statements of public figures. Somebody had to do it. Hundreds of you spent the last three weeks voting. Thanks. On Thursday I will announce the winners in a live broadcast from Cambridge, Massachusetts. There are 11 categories, including bullshitter of the year (both corporate and political)….
When a U.S. administration changes, so does the president’s website. Under Trump, the new whitehouse.gov addresses six issues, each with a short, simple, direct block of text. Unlike the president, it’s focused, clear, and effective. My social feeds were full of protests when the pages for LGBT rights and climate change disappeared from whitehouse.gov. Were you really…
We pay attention to the now. That’s especially true because Facebook spreads it, instantly. But what matters is not the now, it’s the future. The job of the true analyst is make you care as much about that future as the ephemeral distractions of the present. This came into crystal focus for me when I read Austin…
Here’s a statement from Donald Trump about the future: I think we ought to get on with our lives. I think that cars have complicated lives very greatly. The whole, you know, age of the automobile has made it where nobody knows exactly what’s going on. We have speed, we have a lot of other things, but…
It’s been a hell of a year for dead artists, democracy, truth, and corporate stupidity. When I started 2016 I had a plan. I would complete the manuscript for Writing Without Bullshit, HarperBusiness would publish it, and I’d use the bullshit in the election season to promote it. I had no idea that this crazy election would…
Creativity has no boundaries — and the raw material can come from anywhere. Consider this my gift to you along with best wishes for a wonderful holiday and an improved new year.
Just after Fidel Castro died, The New York Times revealed that 16 different journalists had been working on his obituary . . . since 1959. (They keep these things on file, just in case a famous person dies.) It made me wonder about my own obituary and how it would have changed over the years. If…
It’s the perfect holiday present for your hard-working staff and clients: a signed copy of Writing Without Bullshit with a personalized message from you. For less than $15 per person, you can show your workers, your clients, or anyone you value that you’re a no-bullshit kind of person — and make them smarter, too. Here’s how it works: Email…
It’s been a hell of a year. The election didn’t turn out the way I expected or hoped. A lot of people that I admired have died. Facebook is full of angst and fake news stories. It is easy to despair. On a personal basis, I am now a year and half into the experiment of…