On this page you can find my best articles to read on topics like the future of learning, entrepreneurship, media & entertainment, coaching, and creativity.
I started writing here in 2015, and there are now over 350 articles on these pages, as well as various videos, slide decks, mixtapes, diagrams, and other ideas.
You’ll find articles on what to do when you’re not killing it, how to start a podcast, the value of the Educator in Residence, the best way to build your network in a new city or country, and much more.
Ready to jump in?
You can browse using the categories below, or scroll down to see every post I’ve written listed out by date and title.
Best articles by category
Career Fuel
Ideas and resources to move your career forward
Education & Learning
The future of learning – from short-form workshops to alternative universities
Media & Entertainment
What’s hot, what’s not, and where it’s going next
Entrepreneurship
Making stuff, breaking stuff, and keeping it all together
All articles by date
2021
- Under the Current Podcast: #6 – Andrew Hutton January 19, 2021
- A departure point for innovation January 18, 2021
- How I do Morning Pages January 15, 2021
- Under the Current Podcast: #5 – Zoe Scaman January 12, 2021
- Under the Current Podcast: #4 – Taneshia Nash-Laird January 5, 2021
2020
- 7 podcast hosting lessons December 22, 2020
- Under the Current Podcast: #3 – Dave Clarke December 15, 2020
- Under the Current Podcast: #2 – Luciana Rozenberg December 15, 2020
- Under the Current Podcast: #1 – Joey Cofone December 15, 2020
- Frames and Lenses December 14, 2020
- Free or full price November 24, 2020
- Do you remember your first 10? November 24, 2020
- The Rust November 19, 2020
- 30 degree days November 18, 2020
- Prospect November 8, 2020
- Zenith & Nadir November 3, 2020
- Pareto in a pandemic November 3, 2020
- The $15m unbranding November 1, 2020
- The flipped fortune cookie October 14, 2020
- 18 elements of the Zoom revolution (remix) October 13, 2020
- The Rough Edges October 12, 2020
- The cycles of alchemy October 5, 2020
- Do you like dogs? September 21, 2020
- A slice of Saatchi August 20, 2020
- Back to the coffee shop July 31, 2020
- How to transform a webinar July 22, 2020
- How to introduce yourself July 22, 2020
- How to calculate the time you need to create a workshop July 14, 2020
- How to run a workshop for the C-suite June 26, 2020
- A Workshop Canapé June 16, 2020
- Workshop Creation: Any Questions? May 28, 2020
- How to turn up the dials in your next workshop May 27, 2020
- A simple recipe for working independently April 26, 2020
- Pre Game / Post Game April 26, 2020
- How to cook up a tasty workshop April 23, 2020
- Crossing the online course chasm April 11, 2020
- This ain’t no webinar April 10, 2020
- How to create an interactive workshop in Zoom (Part 2) April 2, 2020
- How to create an interactive workshop in Zoom April 2, 2020
- The Entertainers April 2, 2020
- Back to The Tension March 26, 2020
- The Dollar Bill and The Golf Ball March 26, 2020
- How to design a workshop slide deck March 16, 2020
- The Workshop Stack March 10, 2020
- 5 ways to run better remote workshops March 5, 2020
- The Joy of 6 March 4, 2020
- 4 Workshop Mindsets February 3, 2020
- The new alumni January 15, 2020
- “What do you mean, ‘a workshop’?” January 13, 2020
- Opening Credits January 10, 2020
- Connecting with Art January 10, 2020
- Co-Founder Conflict: NFI? January 7, 2020
- Building the 10 key skills for 2020 January 6, 2020
- Unlearnings from the improv class January 6, 2020
2019
- Thinking in Bits December 28, 2019
- Undertaking a 2019 Annual Life Review (Guide & Template) December 11, 2019
- Serious Fun December 10, 2019
- Life’s a Pitch…but for who? November 26, 2019
- The Tension: Chaos / Order October 29, 2019
- The Tension: Time / Energy October 22, 2019
- Why the future of learning is in the middle October 16, 2019
- The Tension: No One Cares October 15, 2019
- The Tension: Natural / Rounded October 1, 2019
- The Question: ‘So, what do you do?’ September 24, 2019
- The Tension: Microscope / Telescope September 17, 2019
- No AC to DC September 11, 2019
- A new podcast: The Tension September 9, 2019
- Overwhelm, Skateboards, and a new podcast August 27, 2019
- The Secret August 27, 2019
- Stories around the fire August 22, 2019
- SXSW 2020: The Remix August 8, 2019
- On Stage August 6, 2019
- The Educator in Residence August 1, 2019
- Coaching: Three agendas for exploration July 31, 2019
- When you see… July 31, 2019
- Orbiting the Orbit: On Tour Again July 30, 2019
- Talking to Humans: Go anonymous July 30, 2019
- Talking to Humans: No intro, no get-go July 30, 2019
- I don’t do name tags July 30, 2019
- Fear, Envy, and Contempt July 24, 2019
- Group Dynamics: Sitting in Circle July 16, 2019
- What was it like? July 10, 2019
- The important thing before on-boarding July 9, 2019
- Learnings from the other side of an accelerator program June 27, 2019
- Great (Un)Expectations June 27, 2019
- The Educator’s End Credits June 25, 2019
- Alchemy before Chemistry June 24, 2019
- No Reply = No Interest? June 22, 2019
- Work labels: word salad and connotations June 19, 2019
- Switching to Annual View June 19, 2019
- Lucky Number 7 – and a 40-degree day June 17, 2019
- Two types of role model June 17, 2019
- Positioning: Get Uncomfortably Narrow June 15, 2019
- The Vessel & The Lens June 15, 2019
- KPIs: The slide snap June 14, 2019
- Sampling: You don’t know it until you’ve tried it June 8, 2019
- Dominant Design May 29, 2019
- A simple way to get unblocked May 25, 2019
- The perils of a chain reaction May 22, 2019
- 22,000 songs in your pocket May 21, 2019
- The Circuit May 19, 2019
- Are you running a meetup or a workshop? May 18, 2019
- Back to business school: the new case study May 18, 2019
- Freelancer to Entrepreneur: The Forest, The Mountains, and the Water May 15, 2019
- Labels In, Labels Out May 15, 2019
- The Music Industry’s 73% May 10, 2019
- Book Request: The Coaches May 10, 2019
- Going Solo? You’re still in the Rat Race May 10, 2019
- Why we need to get rid of ideas May 10, 2019
- Becoming a wizard May 8, 2019
- Empty Tank May 7, 2019
- Coaching for creative inspiration May 2, 2019
- Overrated Mentors, Underrated Coaches April 30, 2019
- The Rotation April 26, 2019
- Ghosted: from URL to IRL April 25, 2019
- Two Tunnels April 24, 2019
- ™ April 19, 2019
- Keep it boring April 16, 2019
- Bonus Content April 15, 2019
- Learning Styles: 3D Mapping a Conversation April 12, 2019
- Signposts and Surprises April 6, 2019
- Cultivate your questions carefully April 5, 2019
- The two workshop danger zones April 4, 2019
- Dress Up, Dress Down. April 3, 2019
- Game Time: History Repeating April 3, 2019
- What the music industry’s people need next April 2, 2019
- A lot can happen between now and never April 2, 2019
- The Rise of the Residency April 1, 2019
- Over Indexing March 30, 2019
- Question time: Getting booked to speak at conferences March 26, 2019
- Gateway Drugs March 26, 2019
- Stand Up if… March 24, 2019
- Cross Training: The ChefTender and The KitBar March 23, 2019
- The 2 Voices March 22, 2019
- Natural or Rounded? March 21, 2019
- How to start a podcast: a plan for success March 19, 2019
- Coaching: Spinning our Wheels March 19, 2019
- Study Skills: The Reading Mesh March 14, 2019
- Insider, Outsider March 13, 2019
- Learning / Unlearning: Everyday Carry, Backpacks and Left Luggage March 13, 2019
- LA Story: Get to The Hour March 7, 2019
- The one presentation slide to keep you on the edge of your seat March 1, 2019
- Idea Fuel: The Creative Observer March 1, 2019
- The Kitchen February 28, 2019
- Battle Scars February 28, 2019
- Coaching: Preparing for job interviews February 28, 2019
- How to build your network in a new city, country or culture February 27, 2019
- 3 flavours of workshop February 26, 2019
- Introducing Coffee Notes: A template for better meetings February 26, 2019
- Beyond the 1 hour meeting February 25, 2019
- 7 Lessons from Jim Collins on The Tim Ferriss Show February 25, 2019
- Hit Making: The Generation Game February 25, 2019
- Suggestible, Susceptible? February 22, 2019
- The Portfolio Career Podcast February 22, 2019
- The Prestige February 21, 2019
- 80/20 in Group Dynamics February 21, 2019
- Your Dunbar number February 21, 2019
- Be Like Bowie February 20, 2019
- The arcade of the multiple mirrors February 20, 2019
- Winning at the great game: How to improve student results February 20, 2019
- Tension February 20, 2019
- The 2 most important slides for your workshop February 19, 2019
- The Crier, The Glue, The Word, and The Arrow February 19, 2019
- How to articulate your vision in 4 post-it notes February 19, 2019
- Tickets Podcast: Gary Chou and Christina Xu on entrepreneurship education and harnessing the power of networks February 18, 2019
- Coaching: Stories can lead to solutions February 15, 2019
- Bringing the Essential Mix to work February 15, 2019
- Pressure brings performance – or does it? February 13, 2019
- 5 x Why, 5 x Who February 13, 2019
- “You had to be there” February 12, 2019
- The Action & The Juice February 12, 2019
- Tickets Podcast: David Lavin on representing some of the world’s leading intellectual talent February 11, 2019
- Design Thinking: Culture and Contraceptives February 7, 2019
- 6 lessons from going live with Oprah February 6, 2019
- The Gallery February 5, 2019
- From the Magpie to the Hummingbird February 4, 2019
- A simple way to overcome nerves and anxiety in a first meeting February 4, 2019
- Getting to grips with my Inner Critic February 4, 2019
- Why we should think more like Detroit’s techno pioneers February 4, 2019
- Managing the feeling of being scattered February 4, 2019
- Tickets Podcast: University Ventures’ Daniel Pianko on new opportunities in higher education February 4, 2019
- Employee of the Month February 1, 2019
- Should you be Standing Out, or Fitting In? January 31, 2019
- Rules of the Game January 30, 2019
- Finding mentors & advisors: 1:1 or a roster? January 29, 2019
- Avicii: True Stories: A tale of tragedy, excess, indifference, and home truths January 29, 2019
- The key to spreading your ideas January 29, 2019
- Trade-offs January 29, 2019
- Trust, Lock-in and Switching Costs for Coaches, Consultants, and Advisors January 28, 2019
- Tickets podcast: Marc Lewis on running the world’s most awarded advertising school January 28, 2019
- What do they remember you by? January 25, 2019
- When is it hard to do, or easy to finish? January 25, 2019
- 5 common myths about coaching January 23, 2019
- Workshop Slide Deck (guided): Lifecycles in products, companies, and careers January 22, 2019
- On the guestlist: Making season 1 of the Tickets podcast January 21, 2019
- Tickets Podcast: SXSW’s Todd Hansen on live event programming and spotting talent & trends January 21, 2019
- My Podcast Gear: recording, editing, and publishing January 20, 2019
- Why Penn & Teller ignored the audience January 19, 2019
- Navigating Uncertainty: Climbing the Ladder, Going out to Sea January 17, 2019
- Location Arbitrage January 17, 2019
- It’s hard to tell other people’s stories January 17, 2019
- Coaching: 15 things that make your heart sing January 15, 2019
- Hiring? Look out for the goalkeeper January 15, 2019
- The trouble with saying No January 14, 2019
- Tickets Podcast: Adobe’s Andrea Rosen on creativity and the future of work January 14, 2019
- Beyond The Happy Meal: products to transcend generations January 14, 2019
- Trend Spotting: How to identify what’s coming next January 11, 2019
- Concealing the Clues: Lessons from TV & film writers January 11, 2019
- Tickets Podcast: Betaworks’ James Cooper on building products, brands, and communities January 7, 2019
- Knowing what’s more trouble than it’s worth January 3, 2019
2018
- Undertaking an Annual Life Review (a Guide & Template) December 28, 2018
- Best of… December 27, 2018
- Diving Deep as a Coach December 27, 2018
- What kind of artist are you? December 27, 2018
- Tickets Podcast: Rob Fitzpatrick on how to create compelling workshops, programs and products December 24, 2018
- 2018 List: Podcasts December 21, 2018
- Build, Buy, Borrow, or… December 21, 2018
- 4 Podcast Trends for 2019 December 20, 2018
- The Microscope & The Telescope December 17, 2018
- Two quick tips on Trend Spotting December 17, 2018
- 7 things I learnt in 2018 December 17, 2018
- Tickets Podcast: Duolingo’s Laura Nestler on growing global communities December 17, 2018
- Being Typecast December 14, 2018
- Demo Night December 14, 2018
- The Quick No December 11, 2018
- If Jobs were Houses December 11, 2018
- Lowercase skills December 11, 2018
- Tickets Podcast: Kano co-founder Alex Klein on fostering curiosity and creation through technology December 10, 2018
- Open Source: My reading list December 2, 2018
- The fissures on your path December 2, 2018
- How to create your own personal investment thesis November 26, 2018
- Pressing pause on Tetris scheduling November 26, 2018
- Life Advice from Underground Resistance & Marcus Aurelius November 25, 2018
- 3 elements for making deals as a freelancer or consultant November 21, 2018
- The Player-Manager’s dilemma November 21, 2018
- Untangling Time & Energy November 14, 2018
- 3 elements of a successful entertainment venture November 13, 2018
- From Code School to Podcast School November 9, 2018
- Why you should say less than necessary November 6, 2018
- The rise of Edutainment November 1, 2018
- Company Name* (required) October 30, 2018
- Introducing season 2 of the ‘Tickets’ podcast October 29, 2018
- Shipping, Unshipping and the Creative Handbrake October 23, 2018
- Mind the Gap: A primer on Biases and Mental Models (slide deck) October 23, 2018
- How to facilitate your first class, workshop or training session October 4, 2018
- Listening to other people’s conversations October 4, 2018
- Introducing Sustainable Foundations September 20, 2018
- Intensity or Technique? You choose September 18, 2018
- 3 circles for managing control, influence, concern, and anxiety September 17, 2018
- 5 lessons from Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola September 10, 2018
- How to survive your first year living in NYC August 29, 2018
- Forcing Mechanisms August 28, 2018
- Tall Stories – the importance of storytelling July 16, 2018
- Jiu Jitsu, Influence, and Persuasion for creative businesses July 13, 2018
- The California chef’s foundations July 10, 2018
- Origins, Beliefs and Declarations July 9, 2018
- Why teachers are the new DJs July 4, 2018
- Tickets Podcast: Scaling human connection through music with James Beshara (Head of Music, Airbnb) June 4, 2018
- Tickets Podcast: Building a global electronic music brand with Elrow’s Victor de la Serna May 29, 2018
- Connecting different dots May 23, 2018
- How connected is your community? May 21, 2018
- Tickets Podcast: What’s next in travel & tourism ticketing with Leith Stevens of Redeam May 21, 2018
- Tickets Podcast: The evolution of spaces to places with Bart Higgins, Partner at WhatIf Innovation May 14, 2018
- Tickets Podcast: Fusing music and technology with Sonar Festival’s Ventura Barba May 7, 2018
- Protected: Protected: What we learnt from 31 weeks as accountability partners April 30, 2018
- Tickets Podcast: Storytelling in VR with Time’s Mia Tramz April 30, 2018
- Here’s your perfect brief April 25, 2018
- Are you built for the big company? Take a tip from Ripley April 25, 2018
- Tickets Podcast: Blending digital technology and physical space design with Parc Office April 23, 2018
- Enjoy the silence April 18, 2018
- Tickets Podcast: Building, financing and operating arts and music spaces with Dhruv Chopra (Elsewhere Brooklyn) April 16, 2018
- Tickets Podcast: Talent programming from nightclubs to auditoriums with Dave Gamble (Royal Albert Hall) April 13, 2018
- Career Fuel: signal vs ability, illicit activities, and the future of work April 6, 2018
- Tickets Podcast: Next generation guestlists and Nordic innovation with Johan Ekelund (CEO, Keyflow) April 2, 2018
- What’s your circle of competence? March 27, 2018
- Tickets Podcast: Curation and community with New York Times’ Michelle Grey-Campion March 26, 2018
- Tickets Podcast: The future of the built environment with Ross Guttler, VP at Delos March 24, 2018
- Advisor, Mentor, Coach, Counsel: what’s in a name? March 22, 2018
- Tickets Podcast: Vincent Marini on taking the magic of Broadway across the globe March 17, 2018
- Tickets Podcast: Andre Lorenceau on live sports broadcasting in VR March 17, 2018
- Career Fuel: Portfolio planning for the full stack freelancer March 7, 2018
- Tickets Podcast: Debs Armstrong on bespoke experiential March 7, 2018
- Get paid like a DJ March 7, 2018
- The freezer or the morgue: a quick primer on innovation March 7, 2018
- Tickets Podcast: Adam Morallee on international boxing and brand partnerships March 1, 2018
- Introducing ‘Tickets’: a podcast exploring the world of live experiences February 21, 2018
- Why do we ignore our middle chapter? February 16, 2018
- Lifelong Learning: Going spartan February 7, 2018
- Protected: Career Fuel: Social proof in the world of work February 7, 2018
- Building creative businesses: The Power of 3 February 2, 2018
- Are you an artist or a frame maker? January 28, 2018
- Finding your hook: Merchandising the Stallone way January 26, 2018
- Music Business: How to choose an agent January 24, 2018
- Credit to the Edit January 23, 2018
- The Intrapreneur in action January 22, 2018
- Introducing the Operator’s Handbook January 22, 2018
- If Sesame Street did nightclubs… January 12, 2018
- Introducing Zorro: projects for hybrid talent January 3, 2018
- Harness your curiosity. Beware the Magpie. January 2, 2018
2017
- The secret of success? Forget about it… December 19, 2017
- 8 workspace trends for 2018 December 7, 2017
- Your customer list is worth nothing December 4, 2017
- Three way traffic December 4, 2017
- Introducing Ohm: the talent agent for your career November 9, 2017
- What gives you away when you least expect it? November 7, 2017
- How to map your next career move November 7, 2017
- How to rent an apartment in New York October 18, 2017
- Startup scoping: Swimming back to shore August 17, 2017
- When you’re not killing it August 7, 2017
- Transfer Market or Academy? July 30, 2017
- A workspace for your tribe May 26, 2017
- Behind the scenes at Europe’s most eco-friendly major music festival March 8, 2017
- Video stream: The Future of Human Attendance (panel session, 1/3/17, London) March 5, 2017
- 5 lessons from a day with 300 next-generation creatives February 19, 2017
- 7 lessons from the story of CAA January 4, 2017
- How one club night became the turning point for my business January 3, 2017
2016
- Could you take a bite out of your own business? October 30, 2016
- Depression in the music industry: Here’s one thing no one is talking about August 14, 2016
- Observations from the airport August 9, 2016
- Overwhelmed by startups? There’s a spreadsheet for that August 2, 2016
- The rise of the remixer June 22, 2016
- Note-taking, creativity and 80s action movies May 22, 2016
- 10 years later: mind the gaps in the live music sector May 6, 2016
- My Local – London March 27, 2016
- So you wanna be a boxer? March 24, 2016
- The Bookshelf: Boris Johnson meets the $12m Shark March 23, 2016
- Where’s the mentoring in the music industry? February 14, 2016
2015
- What have artist managers, football coaches and startup studios got in common? November 16, 2015
- Getting down to business in South America July 30, 2015
- This may be the future of UK music July 8, 2015
- 10 questions to ask when working with artists May 25, 2015
- Ways to Win in Electronic Music May 16, 2015