“Muse retrospective” — Though I wasn’t a committed user of the Muse app, I used to enjoy listening to the intelligent podcast put out by the team. Here, and I’m late to this, Muse’s Adam Wiggins offers a perceptive, considered look back at the ups and downs of building a new “tool for thought.”
work
“Studio Culture Now”
Monday, September 9, 2024
Paging back through the Kickstarter-backed “Studio Culture Now” from Unit Editions and realized I neglected to note it here. It’s an enjoyable volume featuring indie design studio heads talking shop. A few themes: There’s freedom in staying small. Having a nice workspace is a plus, but too much …Fantastic, instructive book: “Scaling People: Tactics for Management and Company Building," by Claire Hughes Johnson. She’s a real-deal practitioner, and many of these lessons trace back to her infrastructural work at Stripe, which she helped grow. The book’s focus is on the operating principles to create within an organization — “how to create and embed the systems that help build a company you can be proud of.” (Since her primary reference point is Stripe, having a “writing culture” plays a role.)
How Basecamp Communicates
Sunday, January 5, 2020
Thoughtful and clear series of internal communications principles from the (distributed) team at Basecamp, which strives to be a calm, intelligent and profitable company. Loved #6 especially: Writing solidifies, chat dissolves. Substantial decisions start and end with an exchange of complete …Basecamp's Public Post-Mortem
Wednesday, January 16, 2019
In an episode of the company’s “Rework” podcast, Basecamp staff look back on their five-hour outrage in November. Savvy framing of one of the company’s worst days.Terry Theise on "a Fine Kind of Melancholy"
Sunday, January 13, 2019
From the wine importer’s crisply written and life-philosophy-framing book Reading Between the Wines, a favorite of mine from last year: Such wines are not easy to find. We drink them just a few times in our lives. But we never forget them, or the places they lead us to. A few weeks before writing …Ta-Nehisi Coates on the Essential Role of Great Editors
Sunday, December 9, 2018
At the close of Coates’ recent interview with Chris Hayes, the host asks him if he’s working on a new book. The dodge Coates gives, not wanting to discuss a project-in-process, ends up being a terrific toast to the necessity of sharp, tough early readers and editors: I do, I do have a writing …Leadership St. Louis 2018-19
Monday, June 11, 2018
I'm honored and grateful to have been selected to be part of the 2018-19 class of Leadership St. Louis. Here's how FOCUS St. Louis describes the program: Leadership St. Louis is a highly respected program for established and emerging leaders who have demonstrated a deep commitment to improving the …More Great Listening: Batuman & Sow
Friday, June 8, 2018
The Longform Podcast's new episode with Elif Batuman is fantastic. I've enjoyed her writing for a few years, and in this interview you can just feel her thinking deeply about literature and writing and gender and observing in cities around the world and much more. As interviewer Max Linsky tweeted …Michael Chabon on Being a Writer + Parent
Wednesday, May 9, 2018
In an essay for GQ, he provides a decades-later response to an esteemed literary figure’s advice not to have kids, if he wanted a serious career as a writer. The piece closes: And those four “lost” novels predicted by the great man’s theory all those years ago? If I had followed the …Abbott Miller on the "Content-Based Studio"
Sunday, February 4, 2018
From the intelligent and beautifully made monograph Abbott Miller: Design and Content, which I devoured in early January, here is the designer/writer talking about the firm Design Writing Research, which he co-founded with Ellen Lupton: During this time [perhaps mid-1990s], DWR moved …Year in Review: 2017
Sunday, December 31, 2017
Continuing a 17-year tradition, I’m happy to share my Annual Favorites list for the year 2017: Family Let’s start with the best thing that happened to my family this year, which is the arrival of Sylvia Huremović Schenkenberg in late April. We’re still smiling at her the way Leo …Karl Ove Knausgaard Walks Central Park
Tuesday, October 24, 2017
For The New Yorker Radio Hour, Joshua Rothman walks Central Park with one of my favorite living writers. I especially loved this bit, which comes after Knausgaard is asked about the differences between the way children and adults go through their days: I have four children, and maybe when I spend a …Song Exploder
Saturday, April 8, 2017
Where have I been to miss this marvelous podcast for its first 101 episodes? Hrishikesh Hirway interviews musicians and asks them to break down a single song, which we hear in bits … and bits … and then in its entirety. It’s a fantastic idea executed with great polish, …Remembering Robert Silvers
Friday, March 24, 2017
What a rich life to have lived, at the helm of the New York Review of Books, to have these warm, admiring, vivid remembrances follow your passing: An array of writers at the NYBOOKS blogAn array of writers at Newyorker.comAdam Gopnik at Newyorker.com One of his longtime assistants at …Upcoming Talk: "Refreshing the Forest Park Forever Brand"
Sunday, February 12, 2017
I'm pleased to be speaking to the St. Louis chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators on February 23 about the refreshed messaging and identity platform my team introduced for Forest Park Forever in 2015.Jason Fried: "Restoring Sanity to the Office"
Sunday, January 15, 2017
I'm such a believer in how Fried and his Basecamp colleagues position themselves for productive work. (Also great: this blog post about how the team made decisions about what Basecamp can solve and chooses not to solve.)David Remnick on "CBS Sunday Morning"
Friday, December 4, 2015
He continues to be near the top of my list of working professionals I admire.Life News: I'm Joining Forest Park Forever
Sunday, September 1, 2013
This is an exciting week for me: I’m joining the staff of Forest Park Forever as the organization’s Strategic Communications Director. For those unfamiliar with St. Louis, Forest Park is my hometown’s larger-than-Central-Park gem that’s home to the Saint Louis Art Museum, the Saint Louis Zoo, the …The Unauthorized Marissa Mayer Biography
Sunday, August 25, 2013
22,000 words. A very interesting read.The TOKY Friday Review
Friday, June 21, 2013
Today I published the second in a new series on the TOKY Blog — notable highlights from what the firm’s been reading, watching, and talking about.Bezos and the Six-Page Meeting Narrative
Sunday, June 9, 2013
A Fortune profile on Jeff Bezos reveals how Amazon’s senior-executive team presents, consumes, and prepares to discuss plans and information: Meetings of his “S-team” of senior executives begin with participants quietly absorbing the written word. Specifically, before any discussion begins, members …On Launching The TOKY Research Library
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
A new post I wrote on the TOKY Blog.CoDesign on Editorially
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Excited to try this new online writing and editing environment, built by a few all-stars.Kevin Ashton: "Creative People Say No"
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Enjoyed this piece, especially Ashton’s quoting of composer George Ligeti's secretary, writing to a requester of some kind: He is creative and, because of this, totally overworked. Therefore, the very reason you wish to study his creative process is also the reason why he (unfortunately) does not …"William H. Gass: How I Write"
Friday, March 15, 2013
Fun interview in The Daily Beast. Happily surprised to see my name pop up.Stirring to John Ashbery
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
In this New Yorker podcast, the great Jane Mayer talks about food, kitchens, and using evening cooking time to let her mind relax and repair amid heavy reporting assignments: Certain things were good to stir with, and certain things were not good to stir with … Certain poetry. I used to stir …Richter: Painting What's Fun
Sunday, March 10, 2013
"> <figure class=" sqs-block-image-figure intrinsic " style="max-width:500px;"> <div style="padding-bottom:100%;" class=" image-block-wrapper has-aspect-ratio "> <img …Jason Fried on a Reader's Motivation
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Customers come to learn something, research something, consider something, buy something. If they are motivated, they may not mind spending 5 minutes reading. They want to read, they want to know. They’re OK investing their time to find something out if they really care about the answer.TOKY's 2012 Annual Report
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
This was a fun piece to work on.