Recent articles
May 24, 2026
The real AI
To quote the great Steve Wozniak, “Actual Intelligence.” The kind we’re born with and can develop if we choose. It’s worth more now than ever before. Alas, it’s rarely taught in school. The difficu...
seths.blog
May 23, 2026
Is it plugged in?
If your toaster isn’t working, this is the first place to start. A combination of an easy first step and also the likelihood that it’s the problem. The troubleshooting for things not working in our...
seths.blog
May 22, 2026
The second thing
It’s useful and satisfying to have people go along with your wishes and your taste. But hoping that they’ll be delighted to do so and thank you for pointing out their previous errors might be askin...
seths.blog
May 21, 2026
Value creation, bullshit jobs and the future of work
We create a job whenever someone with the authority to hire decides the value created is greater than the wages paid. In my lifetime, we’ve invented 7 billion or more jobs, which is great news. Gre...
seths.blog
May 20, 2026
The act of Umfunktionierung
Another unique German word. Umfunktionierung. Functional transformation. Most of us take the tools we’re given and use them as instructed. We follow the manual. We color inside the lines. We accept...
seths.blog
May 19, 2026
The night clerk
At 2:30 in the morning, the night clerk at the hotel is a great help if you’ve locked yourself out of your room. But if you want to complain about the hours of the gym, the hotel’s environmental fo...
seths.blog
May 18, 2026
All right and none the same
On a beautiful Sunday in Central Park, you’ll see thousands of people out for a jog. Each person has exactly the right running style–and none of those styles are the same. Each is wearing what they...
seths.blog
May 17, 2026
Perfect or better?
We can search for the perfect option or settle for something better than we have right now. The search for perfect never ends, and it’s a great place to hide. Would you rather wait for the perfect ...
seths.blog
May 16, 2026
“Here’s a pillow the cat didn’t pee on”
Highlighting the non-existent negative is confusing. “Don’t be late,” isn’t as useful as, “We’re going to leave on time.” “I don’t want to be rude, but…” can easily be replaced by simply saying som...
seths.blog
May 15, 2026
Personally
Professionals take their work seriously. Hobbyists can take it personally. We arrive and make a promise. We do it on behalf of the client, and that promise has little to do with what we might want ...
seths.blog
May 14, 2026
Cats & Dogs
A dog gets fed and thinks his person is an omniscient, benevolent being. A cat gets fed and thinks it is. How we see ourselves in this analogy is actually up to each of us, every day. It also tells...
seths.blog
May 13, 2026
The airplane oath
You’re flying over Mount Ranier and a hole opens up in the bottom of your airplane. In that moment, you think hard about what you’ve done, what you’re doing, and what matters. My friend Ty actually...
seths.blog
May 12, 2026
Early rejections
Long after the fact, these are the best kind. They remind us of how far we’ve come. They’re proof that not giving up was a good idea. They are fuel for the next thing. But, at the time, they’re pre...
seths.blog
May 11, 2026
The shared tragedy of Red Queen hiring
Runaway selection happens when organizations compete with each other far beyond the point where it’s rational to do so. We see this in species as well–peacocks have ungainly and inefficient feather...
seths.blog
May 10, 2026
Empathy is difficult
It requires skill and effort. It can be taught. And it’s worth prioritizing. When we wing it, allocate little time to it or assume it’s a side effect of our work, we diminish the effort and blur ou...
seths.blog
May 9, 2026
The narrow window of redemption
Where did the five-second rule come from? Science makes it clear that if disgusting germs are going to go from the floor to your toast, it’s going to take less than five seconds for that to happen....
seths.blog
May 8, 2026
Kinds of fast
There’s the fast of a drag racer. Purpose-built, difficult to steer, expensive and fragile. There’s the fast of the marathon runner. Beat by a sprinter every time, but able to keep it up for hours....
seths.blog
May 7, 2026
Dream physics
In our dreams, the laws of thermodynamics don’t apply, and gravity works in strange ways. We can jump across a chasm and stick the landing on the other side. This freedom is important. It’s part of...
seths.blog
May 6, 2026
Your work diary
Five short entries a day. It’s easy to imagine that if you do this 200 workdays in a row, your career will advance. And it makes it easier to prepare for your annual review or that next job intervi...
seths.blog
May 5, 2026
AI together
Today, using AI is almost always a solo endeavor. From the very start, forty years ago, the internet (inter + network) has amplified the exchange of information. But the first cycles of AI have bee...
seths.blog
May 5, 2026
The best year
Here’s an interesting thought experiment. Imagine that you would be reincarnated into the soul and body of someone on Earth, 25 years old, at random. You won’t know what you know now, you’ll simply...
seths.blog
May 4, 2026
Trained equanimity and a bias toward action
Pay attention to what’s in front of you. Don’t let fear contaminate your understanding of the situation. Act with commitment. Notice the gap between event and reaction. Embrace the resources that a...
seths.blog
May 3, 2026
Just like me, but…
The actor, artist, mathematician, pianist, speaker, leader, tech nerd: Just like me, but talented. I’m not so sure. It might be more accurate to say “just like me, but dedicated.” The first approac...
seths.blog
May 2, 2026
Nostalgia can be fatal
For hundreds of years, nostalgia was seen as a serious disease, with doctors across Europe scrambling for a cure. Hundreds of thousands of people died from it. In the original understanding of the ...
seths.blog
May 1, 2026
“The most exciting mobile trend is full Qwerty keyboards”
The creators of the Blackberry were sure that customers loved the keyboard. That’s what they heard all day from their users, and it must have been right since they had a huge share of the mobile ph...
seths.blog
April 30, 2026
One thing at a time
Multi-tasking is mostly an illusion. What we’re actually doing is slicing our focus, jumping from one thing to another and then back again. All that jumping decreases our productivity and worse, er...
seths.blog
April 29, 2026
Photoshopping the package
I bought a snack food the other day, and was disappointed to discover that the thing inside the container had little in common with the picture on the front. It was pallid, lifeless and drab. The m...
seths.blog
April 28, 2026
Puddles
When there is motion, it creates an impact of the environment. First, the path is barely noticeable. But then, others see the hint of a path and walk on it, making it more clear. Finally, the path ...
seths.blog
April 27, 2026
Warm pistachios
In terms of cost, serving a small ramekin of toasted pistachio nuts is a tiny portion of what an airline spends in transporting someone first class. In fact, it’s such a relatively small expense th...
seths.blog
April 26, 2026
Bad money…
The expression “bad money crowds out the good” refers to Gresham’s Law. It means that once lesser-quality and counterfeit currency begins to be traded, people hoard the good stuff and only trade th...
seths.blog