Authority, Ownership, and Decision Design + What's Not Holding

What You're Already Sensing, Named More Precisely

What to expect

You don't need to read every email.

I receive a few hundred emails a day sometimes — and I imagine you do too. No one needs more noise. My aim for these emails is that they offer insights that are applicable immediately.

Field notes are short — a pattern named, a mechanism made visible, a distinction worth holding. Unedited thinking. They're designed to accumulate and be there when you want a dose of reality. They'll improve your pattern recognition skills and give you smart things to say in tough moments.

Periodically I publish longer pieces — diagnostic essays that examine real situations in depth, usually through anonymized case material. These connect signals over time into clearer diagnoses. I aim to ship these every four to six weeks. Most are anonymized failure analysis — they exist to demonstrate what not to do.

I believe in most cases it's better to lean into our strengths. But that won't correct for challenges in a blind spot.

One more thing worth knowing: I often have a waitlist for diagnostic work. Subscribers get first notice on availability. Timing matters more than most people plan for.