Episodes

  • EP 484: The Freedom to Buy

    EP 484: The Freedom to Buy

    · What Works

    So, health insurance is in the news. And so is Americans' feelings about it. I got to wondering how we ended up with this terrible health insurance system in the United States. I uncovered a fascinating story about the marketing campaign that sunk Truman's national health insurance program in the 1940s. I also discovered some interesting parallels to popular marketing messages among today's influencers, gurus, and marketers.

    Today's episode is a little trip through history that will hopefully put some of our current issues in perspective.

    Footnotes:

    Gallup's survey data on healthcare"The Lie Factory" by Jill Lepore, in The New YorkerInterview with Leone Baxter in the American Archive of Public Broadcasting"Campaigns, Inc." via the California State Archives"The deprofessionalization of medicine. Causes, effects, and responses." by RR Reed and D Evans"Professional Identity Misformation and Burnout: A Call for Graduate Medical Education to Reject “Provider” by Deborah Ehrlich and Joseph Gravel"White Privilege and Professionalization: A Decolonial and Critical Feminist Perspective on Professional Nursing" by Natalie Stake-Doucet"Why Doesn’t the United States Have National Health Insurance? The Role of the American Medical Association" by Marcella Alsan and Yousra Neberai"Oli London & the Right Wing Grift" by Matt Bernstein

    Find an essay version of this episode at whatworks.fyi!

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  • EP 483: Avoiding Acquiescence Bias

    EP 483: Avoiding Acquiescence Bias

    · What Works

    A problem, question, or challenge is often more than meets the eye. But we're biased to accept how an issue is initially framed. We acquiesce to the original terms. That's called acquiescence bias. When we don't counteract our acquiescence bias, we miss opportunities to get to the root cause or think creatively about a challenge.

    Today, I share 3 ways to resist acquiescence bias as you consider your next moves, goals, or plans.

    Footnotes:

    "In Your Spare Time" from No Time to Spare by Ursula K. Le Guin (read it or listen on Spotify)"Don't call it a Substack." by Anil DashMore on why podcast metrics were so screwy this yearA skeet thread on the difference in referral traffic from Bluesky and X ★ Support this podcast ★

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  • EP 482: Seeing Software

    EP 482: Seeing Software

    · What Works

    Do you see your software?

    Do you see how it influences how you run meetings, brainstorm ideas, fulfill your responsibilities, and communicate with others? Do you see how its text boxes, radio buttons, tabs, search results, and menus train you to think? Do you see it, or do you just use it?

    Footnotes:

    "The impossible dream of good workplace software" on Decoder "Practico-inertia" by Rob Horning ★ Support this podcast ★
  • EP 481: Preservation in the Post-Information Age with Sari Azout

    EP 481: Preservation in the Post-Information Age with Sari Azout

    · What Works

    Stop me if you've heard this before: we're overloaded and overwhelmed by information. There's more content than you could ever hope to consume. More scientific theories, philosophical concepts, and art forms than you could ever hope to engage with.

    Enter personal knowledge management (PKM). It's a modern term for an ancient practice—how one collects, preserves, and utilizes knowledge worth remembering. In this episode, I speak with Sari Azout, the founder of Sublime, an app for personal knowledge management (but that description truly doesn't do it justice). We talk about the philosophy behind the product and how that plays out in the product's design.

    Plus, I dive into how Sari's PKM philosophy is part of a long lineage of practices people have used to remember what's worth preserving.

    Footnotes:

    Check out Sublime or get started right away with an invite!Too Much to Know by Ann BlairMore about Sarah Mackenzie & Read-Aloud Revival"The Glassbox and the Commonplace" by Steven JohnsonMore on John Locke's commonplace book index systemWhat do you want to preserve?More on Corita Kent at the Corita Art Center

    Every new episode is published in essay form at WhatWorks.FYI!

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  • EP 480: Exceedingly Complex Systems

    EP 480: Exceedingly Complex Systems

    · What Works

    In management cybernetics, there are 3 types of systems: simple, complex, and exceedingly complex. The systems we pay the most attention tend to be, you guessed it, exceedingly complex. In this episode, I explore what that means for how we do our work and run our businesses—and what happens when we forget that people are exceedingly complex systems, too.

    Footnotes:

    Cyberboss by Craig GentThinking In Systems: A Primer by Donella MeadowsEmergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown"Practicing the Future: 3 Ideas for Rethinking Change" at What Works

    Every episode is published in essay form at What Works and delivered in my newsletter—check it out and subscribe!

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  • EP 479: A Theory of Resourcefulness

    EP 479: A Theory of Resourcefulness

    · What Works

    You've probably heard of a scarcity mindset. Maybe you've even been accused of having one!

    In this short, I explore the false binary of scarcity and abundance mindsets to propose a third way: resourcefulness.

    Footnotes:

    "Thought-terminating cliché" on WikipediaAdam Tooze on The Ezra Klein ShowInformation on the US tax gap"Breaking boundaries to creatively generate value" in The Journal of Business VenturingBraiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall KimmererThis is a significant revision of a piece originally published in 2021

    Essay versions of every episode are published at whatworks.fyi!

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  • EP 478: Data Never Speak For Themselves

    EP 478: Data Never Speak For Themselves

    · What Works

    We're constantly bombarded by data. And it's easy to think that with the right clues, we could answer the ultimate questions of life, the universe, and everything.

    But data aren't facts. They're not a secret code. Data are media—they mediate our interactions with the world around us. To make them useful and meaningful, we need a critical framework for working with data as media. That's what I've got for you today—a deep dive on how predictability, relevance, and actionability can help us see data for what they are and for what they're not.

    Footnotes:

    Anytime I talk about data and how it mediates our lives and work, I'm referencing the work of philosopher C. Thi Nguyen and his concept of value capture. I've written about his theory previously hereI also make use of Byung-Chul Han's The Crisis of Narration, specifically his critique of a 2008 Wired essay by Chris Anderson about the end of theory

    Get written versions of all new episodes at whatworks.fyi—where you can also become a premium subscriber for just $7 per month and help support the work I do at What Works.

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  • EP 477: Here's a tip

    EP 477: Here's a tip

    · What Works

    Today's episode is about tips. As in gratuity. Wait, wait, wait! Where are you going?

    I know, you probably don't receive tips for your work. Maybe you don't live in the US, and you're thinking, 'What is this American BS about tips?'

    Well, when I first heard about Trump's (and then Harris's) proposal to eliminate federal taxes of tipped income, my brain went a hundred different places: how many people would it impact, how much savings are we talking about, what will this do to the proliferation of tipped work, and how much could this accelerate re-proletarianization?! You probably weren't expecting that last one.

    Here's the thing: tipping is a class issue. Which means it's also a social justice issue. And it's also an issue that intersects with frustrations with the way all of us work. To find out how, you've got to trust me—and listen.

    Footnotes:

    Information on the federal tipped minimum wage'Tip baiting' Instacart drivers via CNN"The Economic Logic Behind the 'No Tax on Tips' Policy" by Jadrian WootenTipping: An American Social History of Gratuities by Kerry Segrave"'It's the Legacy of Slavery': Here's the Troubling History Behind Tipping Practices in the U.S." via Time"Tipping is a racist relic and a modern tool of economic oppression in the South" via the Economic Policy Institute"Errand Runners of Digital Platform Capitalism" by Ä°sa Demir"Defending Hierarchy: The Conservative Impulse" by Matthew McManusThe Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord"The problem is proletarianization, not capitalism" by Solange Manche (about Bernard Steigler)Capitalism is Dead: Is This Something Worse? by McKenzie Wark"The Practical Utopian's Guide to the Coming Collapse" by David Graeber

    Find essay versions of every new episode at whatworks.fyi!

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  • EP 476: Cult Value

    EP 476: Cult Value

    · What Works

    If a chatbot writes your novel, did you really complete NaNoWriMo?

    Two niche internet panics caught my eye over the last couple of weeks: a bungled AI policy by the organization that promotes National Novel Writing Month and a viral story about people hiring Strava surrogates to run for them so they can claim the kudos. And those two stories got me thinking about the ways that we delegate away the intrinsic value of other activities.

    So with the help of a 1935 essay by Walter Benjamin, let's unpack the cult value of novel writing, running, and social media.

    Footnotes:

    "NaNoWriMo Says Condemning AI is 'Classist and Ableist'" via 404 Media"Some Thoughts on NaNoWriMo" by Sarah GaileyChannel News Asia on the Indonesian Strava jockey trend"People are paying 'Strava mules' to do their runs for them, but why?" via Women's HealthVelljko's Strava mule confession on TikTokLeigh Stein on the internet's difficult with satire on TikTok"The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" by Walter Benjamin"Unpacking the Attention Fetish" on What Works"In Defense of Inefficiency" on What Works"Why AI Isn't Going to Make Art" by Ted Chiang via The New Yorker


    Essay versions of every episode are posted at whatworks.fyi, where you can also become a premium subscriber and support What Works for just $7 per month.

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  • EP 475: Values aren't chains; they are wings

    EP 475: Values aren't chains; they are wings

    · What Works

    Inspired by the current vibe shift, I'm interrupting my rebroadcast of the Self-Help, LLC series with an interlude about values—personal values, business values, American values, even Christian values. And it's about what is so often misunderstood about values. Values aren't chains; they are wings.

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  • What Does Power Sound Like?

    What Does Power Sound Like?

    · What Works

    This is the 6th installment in the Self-Help, LLC series, which originally ran in October 2022. Today's episode has been revised and re-engineered!

    We form an impression of our voices early in life. While it might shift some as we age, those impressions tend to stick with us. For many of us, what we learn about our voices is how they don’t quite measure up to the ideal: too high, too low, too soft, too loud, too this, too that. This is especially true for women, queer people, transgender people, non-native English speakers, Black people, people of color, indigenous people, and really anyone whose voice doesn’t fit into the white, male baritone mold.


    So what do we do? We try to sound more like everyone else. And that can not only mess with our ability to use our physical voices, but it messes with our ability to use our metaphorical voices and confuses our sense of self.


    Samara Bay, a Hollywood dialect coach who’s worked on blockbusters like Wonder Woman and Guardians of the Galaxy, is on a mission to help everyone find “permission to speak.” In this episode, we dig into how the self-help imperative to “own your voice” might be more complicated than it sounds.


    Footnotes:

    Find out more about Samara BayGet Samara’s book Permission to Speak“I still have a voice” by Alice WongSamara Bay on Anna Sorokin and Elizabeth Holmes’s voicesWomen and Power by Mary BeardMore about African American Vernacular English on Pause on the PlayCollege students talk about their relationships to their Southern accents on Dolly Parton’s America“The Magic of Voice Transitioning with Nicole Gress” on Camp Wild Heart with Mackenzie Dunham“Me minus me” on This American Life (Sandy Allen’s vocal transition)“If you don’t have anything nice to say” on This American Life (complaints about female voices)More on the mid-atlantic accent

    As always, find the essay version of this episode at whatworks.fyi

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  • The Spectacle of Influence(rs) with Sara Petersen

    The Spectacle of Influence(rs) with Sara Petersen

    · What Works

    How influencers, well, influence the way we see the world, our work, our families, and ourselves? And how does the spectacle we immerse ourselves in daily contribute to our perfectionism, anxiety, or fear? In the fifth installment of Self-Help, LLC, I talk about all that and more with Sara Petersen. This is an edited version of an episode that originally ran in October 2022.

    There’s an influencer for every thing these days. Camping equipment? Sure. Nutritional supplements? You bet. Miniatures? You know it. College admissions? But of course. In this episode, though, we’re going to focus on one of the original influencer niches: MOMS.


    The rise of the influencer ushered in a new outlet for self-help. Now, not only are there motivational books and talks, there’s a product endorsement to help you live your best life. Influencers give us, perhaps, the direct line between personal growth and consumer capitalism. I talk with the author of Momfluenced, Sara Petersen, about all of that and more.


    Footnotes:

    Subscribe to Sara Petersen’s newsletterGrab your copy of Momfluenced“Life After Lifestyle” by Toby Shorin“The Rhetoric of the Image” by Roland BarthesThe Society of the Spectacle by Guy DebordEpisode 393 with Kelly DielsEpisode 395 with Steph Barron Hall“The Influencer Industry: Constructing and Commodifying Authenticity on Social Media” by Emily Dean Hund


    New!
    Join me for an 8-week seminar called Making Sense starting in September! I'll guide you through how to use the process of sensemaking to make media that helps your audience better understand the world.

    If you're bored by your current content strategy, tired of coming up with new how-tos or advice posts, and want a fresh and impactful way to approach how you write, podcast, speak, or communicate in any way, this seminar is for you. You'll work week-by-week through on-demand learning, office hours, workshops, and small assignments so that by the end, you have the draft of an essay, script for a video, outline of a podcast series, or slide deck for a presentation.

    Learn more about Making Sense!

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  • What's Your Type? with Steph Barron Hall

    What's Your Type? with Steph Barron Hall

    · What Works

    This is the 4th part of my series Self-Help, LLC, which I'm replaying over the summer! Enjoy!

    If your Instagram feed or Explore page looks anything like mine, then you likely see a preponderance of posts about personality types, conditions, or other self-knowledge. We’re hooked on learning about ourselves! And perhaps even more hooked on sharing what we’ve learned—which means that the Instagram algorithm (as well as TikTok’s and Pinterest’s algorithms) has learned to love this kind of content, too.


    In this episode, I explore discovering ourselves versus making ourselves, why self-knowledge is big business on Instagram, and how creating viral personality content can wreak havoc on the creator’s psyche. To dig into this with me, I invited @ninetypesco creator, Steph Barron Hall, onto the show.


    Footnotes:

    Find Steph Barron Hall on Instagram (@ninetypesco)Learn more about working with StephHow to be Authentic by Skye ClearyLearn more about the Enneagram and find your typeThe Nine Types of RestSelf-Help, INC by Micki McGee“Double consciousness”“Looking glass self”


    Essay versions of each episode are posted at whatworks.fyi every Thursday.

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  • The Paradox of Self-Help Expertise with Patrick Sheehan

    The Paradox of Self-Help Expertise with Patrick Sheehan

    · What Works

    This is an updated version of the 3rd installment in my series Self-Help, LLC, from 2022. Enjoy!

    Our quest for self-improvement requires us to decide who (or what) to trust with our time, energy, and money. What book do you decide to read next? Which coach do you hire? What accounts do you follow? Our consumer choices seem endless—so finding someone or something to put your trust in might feel like an Olympic feat.

    On the flip side, as business owners or independent workers whether explicitly or implicitly in the business of self-help, our goal is to cultivate trust. Why would someone trust us with their business, their marriage, or their hopes and dreams for the future?

    In this episode, I sit down with sociologist Patrick Sheehan to talk about his study of career coaches and the role they play with job seekers. We examine the roles that both credentialed and experience-based experts play in society and why uncertainty and instability might inspire us—for better or worse—to put our trust in prophets rather than priests.

    Footnotes:

    “We’ve stopped trusting institutions and started trusting strangers” by Rachel Botsman (TED Talk)“The Change Rules of Trust in the Digital Age” by Rachel Botsman (HBR)“Where did all the coaches come from?” by Patrick Sheehan (Work In Progress Sociology)“The new economy as multi-level marketing scheme: career coaches and unemployment in the age of uncertainty” by Patrick Sheehan (Work in Progress Sociology)“Gun Culture and Wellness Culture Come From the Same Place” by Alan Levinovitz (Huffington Post)

    As always, find an essay version of this episode at whatworks.fyi

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  • "She Looks Like an Instagram" Or, How Empowerment Became a Brand with Kelly Diels

    · What Works

    I’m continuing my rebroadcast of a series I did a couple of years ago called Self-Help, LLC, and asked the question, "Are we all in the self-help business now?"

    Today’s episode is all about the aesthetics of self-help and what my guest Kelly Diels has dubbed the female lifestyle empowerment brand. If you’ve ever fussed with your hair or outfit before taking a selfie or sought out the perfect Instagram-worthy spot on vacation, this episode is for you. And if you haven’t? Well, hopefully, this episode will put your mind at ease: you don’t need to do any of that to be successful.

    It’s not only self-help or entrepreneurship products that are sold as tools for “empowerment” today. It’s just about everything: makeup, clothing, workout equipment, vitamins, office supplies
 Whole brands are built around the promise that a purchase won’t just solve your problem, it’ll make you a better, more fulfilled person. But empowerment isn’t for sale—only the status quo.


    In this episode, I talk with writer and coach Kelly Diels about empowerment marketing and what she calls the “female lifestyle empowerment brand.” You’ll also hear from independent beauty writer Jessica DeFino about how empowerment is leveraged by the beauty industry (more from her later in the series!).


    Footnotes:

    Learn more about Kelly DielsLearn more about Jessica DeFinoTrick Mirror by Jia TolentinoThick by Tressie McMillan CottomHow to be Authentic: Simone de Beauvoir and the Quest for Fulfillment by Skye ClearyHelen Gurley Brown as quoted in Self-Help, INC by Micki McGee“The Rhetoric of the Image” by Roland Barthes

    Read the updated essay version of this episode at whatworks.fyi

    Love What Works? Want to support the work of asking big questions about how we work today? Become a premium subscriber and get exclusive content and live quarterly workshops for just $7 per month. Go to whatworks.fyi/subscribe

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  • How Advice Culture Makes Us Winners (And Losers)

    How Advice Culture Makes Us Winners (And Losers)

    · What Works

    This is Part 1 of a series from 2022 called Self-Help, LLC. This summer, I’ll be republishing this series as I work on new essays and episodes. There’s a good chance this series is new to you, and if its previous reception is any indication, I think you’ll love it! If you listened to it the first time through, I’d love to know how it hits differently today.

    ***

    It’s hard to escape the language and politics of self-help today. Whether you’re browsing your LinkedIn, Instagram, or even TikTok feed, there’s a very good chance that the first post you see offers up some idea for living a better life or growing a more successful business. Shoulds and supposed-tos are cultural currency. We gain social capital by sharing advice or “giving value.” And that’s left me wondering: are we all in the self-help business now?


    Today’s episode kicks off an 8-part series called Self-Help, LLC which will explore that question from a number of different angles. In this episode, I’m taking a close look at a particular construction of personal growth and entrepreneurship culture: winners and losers.


    Footnotes:

    Dr. Rick for ProgressiveWhy does the insurance industry have so many mascots? on Planet MoneySelf-Help, INC by Micki McGeeMore about Marshall McLuhan (”The medium is the message”)Nixon’s universal health care plan proposalReaganism & ThatcherismThe Old is Dying & the New Cannot be Born by Nancy Fraser

    Find the essay version of this episode at whatworks.fyi and support my work critiquing and theorizing the 21st-century economy by becoming a premium subscriber for just $7 per month!

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  • EP 474: Making Non-Obvious Choices at Work with Samhita Mukhopadhyay

    EP 474: Making Non-Obvious Choices at Work with Samhita Mukhopadhyay

    · What Works

    For justice-minded people, navigating the world of work in the 21st-century economy can feel... impossible. A real no-win scenario. There's a constant tension between what's good for the communities we inhabit and what's good (and necessary) for us as individuals. But it's in this tension that we find a "margin of maneuverability"—a source of hope, possibility, and creativity.

    That's the theme of a new book called The Myth of Making It by Samhita Mukhopadhyay, a feminist writer and editor, and the former executive editor of Teen Vogue. I sat down with Samhita to talk about the book and explore our margins of maneuverability.

    Footnotes:

    Grab your copy of The Myth of Making It by Samhita MukhopadhyayFind out more about SamhitaStar Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and more on the Kobayashi Maru in Star Trek loreThe Politics of Affect by Brian Massumi"At 20, Teen Vogue knows its readers contain multitudes" by Annie Aguiar for Poynter

    Related episodes:

    466: Making Room for Others with Leonie Smith455: The Case for Uncertainty (and How to Navigate It)457: How to Define Hard-to-Define Work Stress450: The Will to Share Power with Tania Luna

    Join me for Summer Seminar x What Works! It's an 8-week guided learning and reflection experience that provides a structure for examining your relationship with rest. Learn more and register here!

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  • EP 473: Unpacking Attention Fetishism with Jess Shane

    EP 473: Unpacking Attention Fetishism with Jess Shane

    · What Works

    Our podcast feeds and streaming services are full of real stories of real people. And not all of those stories feel... true. I mean, even if the facts are accurate, the way something is edited, packaged, and marketed can dramatically alter a story's impact.

    Artist and audio producer Jess Shane wanted to create a project that would expose some of the problematic elements of this booming (and highly profitable) industry. The result is a podcast series for Radiotopia Presents called Shocking, Heartbreaking, Transformative. Listening to it made me deeply uncomfortable, so I knew I needed to have her on What Works to discuss it!

    In this episode, you'll get the behind-the-scenes on this project. And you'll learn what happens when attention becomes a fetish.

    Footnotes:

    Listen to Shocking, Heartbreaking, Transformative from Radiotopia PresentsFind out more about Jess ShaneCurated Stories: The Uses and Misuses of Storytelling by Sujatha FernandesThe Crisis of Narration by Byung-Chul Han ★ Support this podcast ★
  • EP 472: Speculative Investing Made Personal

    EP 472: Speculative Investing Made Personal

    · What Works

    Okay, this isn't really an episode about speculative investing. Well, it is. But I'm not talking about crypto or meme stocks. I'm talking about the challenges of living and working as a speculative investment.

    Today's episode is a brief reflection on self-speculation, the "anticipatory, speculative self," and why the second person is so ubiquitous on social media.

    Footnotes:

    "Verified: Self-presentation, identity management, and selfhood in the age of big data" by Alison Hearn in Self-(Re)presentation Now"The Truth About Influence" by Alison Hearn in Re-thinking Mediations of Post-Truth Politics and TrustPsychopolitics by Byung-Chul Han"What 'You' and 'We' Say About Me" by Ariana Orvell

    As always, find an essay version of today's episode at whatworks.fyi

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  • EP 471: The Many Hats of Leigh Stein

    EP 471: The Many Hats of Leigh Stein

    · What Works

    What would happen if you archived all of your Instagram content, announced that you had taken a job at a fictional wellness company, and then got fired for disclosing your experience with company-mandated colonic hydrotherapy? Well, Leigh Stein did exactly that.

    Leigh wears many hats—novelist, poet, cultural critic, book coach, publishing expert. And when she realized that she wasn't wearing the hat she wanted to wear on Instagram, she decided to have some fun with a satirical performance art project.

    Listen for the whole story and a provocation to embrace your own social media use as a project of identity performance!

    Footnotes:

    Leigh Stein's books and cultural criticismLeigh Stein on Instagram, TikTok, and SubstackGender Trouble by Judith ButlerJudith Butler on Why Is This Happening with Chris HayesSarah Urist Green on performance art for The Art AssignmentPerformance by RoseLee Goldberg"From Work to Text" by Roland BarthesRuPaul explaining drag on The Preachers


    Also in this series:

    Organizing Indie Labor with Chiarra Lohr of the Indie Sellers GuildFiguring Out the Creator Economy with Charlie Gilkey & Kate TysonBuilding Solidarity in the Creator Economy with Charlie Gilkey & Kate TysonRethinking Creativity: An Interlude


    Find an essay version of this episode at whatworks.fyi


    ***


    I'm teaching a new workshop on May 15 & 16, 2024! It's called World-Building for Business Owners, and it's based on a process I've been honing for more than a decade. I'll help you apply creative, even playful thinking to your business strategy—and help you create an internally consistent business that causes fewer headaches, meets your needs more efficiently, plays to your strengths, and creates satisfying work.

    Click here for all the details or go to explorewhatworks.com/world

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