The Twenty Percenter
Weekly advice for top business professionals.
Ask a Better Question (3 Min Read) | Vol. 216 August 14, 2026 “The scientist is not a person who gives the right answers, he’s one who asks the right questions.” – Claude Lévi-Strauss Ask a Better Question We were standing outside Pena Palace in Sintra, Portugal, trying to decide where to go next. Our …
The 26-Lane Workday (3 Min Read) | Vol. 215 August 7, 2026 “It is wholly a confusion of ideas to suppose that the economical use of fuel is equivalent to a diminished consumption. The very contrary is the truth.” — William Stanley Jevons The 26-Lane Workday Texas has the widest freeway in the world. The …
Type 2 Fun (3 Min Read) | Vol. 214 July 31, 2026 “A lot of what we do just isn’t real fun, but it needs to be done. And you can either laugh at yourself or you can whine about it. I think laughing at yourself is much more healthy than whining.” – Dr. Rainer …
Brave New World (3 Min Read) | Vol. 213 July 24, 2026 “One can choose to go back toward safety or forward toward growth. Growth must be chosen again and again; fear must be overcome again and again.” — Abraham Maslow Brave New World Last month I gave a keynote that scared me. Not the …
The Goo Stage (2 Min Read) | Vol. 212 July 17, 2026 “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow.’” – Mary Anne Radmacher The Goo Stage If you’ve raised a child, you’ve read The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Probably 237 times. …
When Tracking Sleep Costs You Sleep (3 Min Read) | Vol. 211 July 10, 2026 “Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.” – William Bruce Cameron When Tracking Sleep Costs You Sleep I think I’m breaking up with my Apple Watch. I recently dug around in my …
The Courage to Cut (2 Min Read) | Vol. 210 July 3, 2026 “I have made this longer than usual because I have not had time to make it shorter.” – Blaise Pascal The Courage to Cut In the summer of 1776, Thomas Jefferson sat in a hot Philadelphia room and watched his work get …
Seven Lessons I’ve Learned as a Dog Dad (3 Min Read) | Vol. 209 June 26, 2026 “God… sat down for a moment when the dog was finished in order to watch it… and to know that it was good, that nothing was lacking, that it could not have been made better.” — Rilke Seven …
14 Lines for 4 Years (2 Min Read) | Vol. 208 June 19, 2026 “I love quotations because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognized wiser than oneself.” — Marlene Dietrich 14 Lines for 4 Years Four years ago, I hit send on the …
It Is Mine Alone (2 Min Read) | Vol. 207 June 12, 2026 “Always be quick to give credit and to take blame.” — Kevin Kelly It Is Mine Alone On June 6, 1944, more than 156,000 Allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy. Over 10,000 were wounded or killed. It is widely considered …