When an industry fails to address the societal and structural factors that make this type of work harder, and rely on workers’ passion to power the whole industry through a snowballing crisis....in those cases, not even a strong union can protect the worker from the burnout built into the system. You go beyond burnout to demoralization, which is th... See more

"A life transition is fundamentally a meaning-making exercise. It’s an autobiographical occasion that calls on us to revise and retell our life stories, adding a new chapter in which we find meaning in our lifequake."

When Amabile analyzed 12,000 diary entries of employees from a variety of industries, she found that 76% of people reported that their best days involved making progress toward goals.

Sometimes, when I’m feeling especially brutal about something I’ve done or failed to do, I imagine I’m one of my own girlfriends, someone I love and who loves me in a way that’s expansive and forgiving. Then I reassess whatever I’m being mean about, through her borrowed POV, or by way of asking – what if she’d done or failed at this thing, how woul... See more

During this final lap I’m paying close attention to the choices that I make. I’m trying to be very intentional. When I say that I’m aiming to create the fullest expression of the work, I don’t just mean the stories. I want to perfect the process too. How exactly am I using the time that each person gives me on the street? How are they impacted by t... See more

People exist on a spectrum between fast-twitch and slow-twitch thinking.

Fast-twitch people speak fast, work fast, and crave novelty. Socially, they're quick and witty. Throw a problem their way and they'll come up with 3–5 solutions in a matter of minutes. They're the people you want in the room when you're brainstorming an idea.

Slow-twitch people ... See more

Your premise is the specific, defensible purpose for a project or your overall platform, pulled from your personal vision for your audience . Most work is too generic to resonate, too forgettable to become anyone’s favorite. But by developing our premise — and forcing ourselves to test just how differentiated it truly feels to others — we stand a g... See more

I recently had a friend drop by to pick up her Girl Scout cookies and my house was A.MESS. Four loads of laundry on the couch including my underwear (clean) and a box containing our cats ashes on the coffee table because it had been under the Christmas tree because she liked trees and my daughter thought it was fitting.

Anyway my friend just brushe... See more