Look, I don’t like to admit this: It’s sort of fun to not know. It’s at the heart of pursuit marketing—not knowing. Will we make the shortlist? Will the team interview well? Did we win? I love that mystery, the distance between what we know and what we don’t. Or, to put it more directly, … Continue reading On the thrill of not knowing
Category: Thinking Hat
On the humble hot dog
I’m less keyed into the food world than I like to think, so today was the first time I’d heard the famous hot dog story from Will Guidara of Eleven Madison Park: Restaurateur Will Guidara's life changed when he decided to serve a two-dollar hot dog in his fancy four-star restaurant, creating a personalized experience … Continue reading On the humble hot dog
On alternate methods of tying your shoes
I just learned, to my complete shock, that there are other ways of tying your shoes. I have been tying my shoes the same way for nearly three decades, the only elaboration made in that time being an insistence on the double knot (to my wife’s joking irritation). So, I’m in awe of this.
On learning to be organized
I’m a little embarrassed to admit it: I didn’t learn how to be organized until after college. College, though—as my wife observed the other night (as a person who did learn the essential skills of self-management in college)—is the ideal opportunity to learn such a skill. You have four classes—let’s call them projects—that overlap in … Continue reading On learning to be organized
On forgiving myself
I reflected not long ago where I mentioned the patience you gain as a parent. I framed it as perhaps the only benefit in the hard slog that is early childhood of one’s kids. But there’s another: Self-forgiveness. It took me a while to see the distinction between self-forgiveness and its close cousin—making excuses. Both … Continue reading On forgiving myself
On knowing what I was thinking about
It’s perhaps an embarrassment—that even though I keep a regular journal and have done so for more than 5 years, I have scant record of what I was actually thinking about at the time. I don’t mean the big events of life—those I tracked in my journaling—but the sort of pedestrian wonderings that comprise so … Continue reading On knowing what I was thinking about
On owning ignorance without the smirk
I’m not sure anyone enjoys admitting ignorance. I say this after a day of doing it—having attempted the only formal videography of my life. (I refuse to count the silly videos made with friends in college.) It wasn’t supposed to be me behind the camera, fiddling with focus and adjusting the composition, but there I … Continue reading On owning ignorance without the smirk
On avoiding the Abilene paradox
On a hot afternoon visiting in Coleman, Texas, the family is comfortably playing dominoes on a porch, until the father-in-law suggests that they take a [50-mile (80-km)] trip to Abilene for dinner. The wife says, "Sounds like a great idea." The husband, despite having reservations because the drive is long and hot, thinks that his … Continue reading On avoiding the Abilene paradox
On hidden things in your home
There was a patch of carpet in our office that made a distinctive crunch when stepped on. I noticed it years ago, and it became just another quirk of the house—I knew something was odd but wasn’t sure what. Today, I learned the culprit: the installer had left a tatter of plastic wrap between the … Continue reading On hidden things in your home
On the basics
Today, I had to explain what an RFP is to a high school student—a freshman high school student. Normally, when I explain that a lot of my job is answering RFPs and RFQs, they just…get it. Not the details, of course—but they understand the premise. But I’ve not been faced with explaining it to a … Continue reading On the basics
Taylor Coe 