Business

MSNBC’s top show in total viewers was The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, and CNN’s was AC 360.Read More

E.l.f. Cosmetics ad goes to court against makeup markups, but leaves its own price increase off the docket.Read More

A useful way to understand an evolved organism or system is to ask what it wants. What actions does it need to evoke to survive or thrive?

The flower wants bees to visit, the berries want to be eaten by birds. Obviously, they don’t have conscious intent, but this desire guides their progression through the generations. When they get more of what they want, they do it more.

The same is true for manufactured objects and organizations as well.

The well-designed tool wants you to hold it by the handle, not the blade, and to use it often and safely. The successful luxury good wants you to show it off to others, and to feel a certain way when you do.

And the smartphone wants your attention. As much of it as it can get. And then a little more. It does that by bringing the outside world to wherever you are, piercing the intimacy of here and the magic of now by persistently creating anxiety or fear or satisfaction, again and again and again.

Choosing to engage with things that want what we want is a powerful choice.

HT to Kevin’s great book.

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The newly launched platform costs $2.99 per month, and Roku thinks it’s exactly what audiences are looking forRead More

Amid a new round of tariffs, a weak jobs report, and fresh concerns about the global economy, a number of top corporate executives across sectors appear determined to defend one […]Read More

The partnership also positions IPG—and potentially Omnicom, should its acquisition close—to offer clients faster, more scalable AI-powered audience insights.Read More

Fox News’ The Five was the No. 1 program of the evening.Read More

It’s not uncommon for a brand to hang onto the same slogan for years, or even decades. Nike has used “Just Do It” since 1988, for example. McDonald’s has embraced […]Read More

Each day, I have about 8 hours of tasks to do. Empty the dishwasher, bring in the paper, answer emails, queue up a blog post… it’s a very long list. I’m sure you have one as well.

If we’re good at the chores, we’ll be offered new ones. And of course, it’s possible to find new ones on our own.

The thing is, if you wait until all the chores are done before you take initiative, create, ship or connect, you’ll never get around to the life-changing work of showing up with possibility.

Perhaps we can do that before we do our chores.

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Emotions are personal and most of the time, we can put effort into creating them (or avoiding them).

But in a community, emotions spread. And not at the same rate. Consider these emotions, roughly sorted by their virality:

• Panic
• Apprehension
• Enthusiasm
• Frustration
• Indignation
• Elation
• Nostalgia
• Curiosity
• Cynicism
• Determination
• Gratitude
• Vulnerability
• Melancholy
• Triumph
• Contentment
• Resignation
• Apathy
• Overwhelm
• Wonder
• Joy
• Satisfaction
• Serenity

If we want to share the emotions near the bottom of this list, we’re going to have to really work at it.

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