This is a test

Stories, ideas, and inspiration for a more meaningful life

Start Reading Subscribe

Strategy Writing

Strategy Writing

4 Metaphors for Strategy

4 Metaphors for Strategy

That aren't levers or bridges.

By Finn Schubert
—

Strategy requires a diagnosis

We need to see the problem clearly so that we can create a range of solutions that make sense for that particular problem. Of course, there's never just one problem. Everything is always a maze of interlocking problems, of causes and effects, of systems issues and policy issues

By Finn Schubert
—

Good Strategy, Bad Strategy by Richard Rumelt

A good strategy defines a critical challenge. What is more, it builds a bridge between that challenge and action, between desire and immediate objectives that lie within grasp. -- from Good Strategy, Bad Strategy by Richard Rumelt There's so much I didn't understand about strategy before I

By Finn Schubert
—

Essays

Essays

Seduced by Sensemaking

Seduced by Sensemaking

They say smart people join cults because their minds crave cohesion. Basically, smart people are suckers for an explanation that makes sense.

By Finn Schubert
—

Habits

It seems to me habits used to be bad. But lately, it's as though they're supposed to be our path to salvation.

By Finn Schubert
—

Lessons from the Cisco Icon Set

If you designed an icon set from scratch to diagram something important about your world, what would it look like?

By Finn Schubert
—

Interruptibility is a Superpower

Last week, I wrote three conference abstracts while pausing about every half-sentence to interact with my toddler. This workshop will— “Yes, it’s a pink circle.” —help participants to expand and apply their knowledge about— “Oh, you want daddy to draw a circle? Okay!” etc etc etc I finished

By Finn Schubert
—

How to Be a Seahorse Dad

When your baby has a meltdown on the C train at rush hour and everyone stares – never fear. No one knows you birthed this little one you can't soothe. Let them imagine it's mommy's day off. Let them slot you into that well-trodden

By Finn Schubert
—

What Does It Mean to Squander?

I’ve been wondering if there is a productivity book for those of us who spend all of our time chestfeeding, or, if away from our baby at work, stuck in the lactation room whenever we can find a moment between meetings. It turns out everything I thought I knew

By Finn Schubert
—
Maintenance as a Creative Act

Maintenance as a Creative Act

Why did I never question my desire to "grow my newsletter"?

By Finn Schubert
—

Ambivalence, Irreversibility, and Leaning Into the Wonky Parts

I gave birth eleven weeks ago, which means I now have the culturally fraught experience of living in a postpartum body, even if my postpartum body happens to be that of a man. And my body exists in a particular way in relation to my baby—I wake in the

By Finn Schubert
—

I Do Not Wish to Become a Better Me

Feeling unprepared is not a problem to be solved.

By Finn Schubert
—

Don't Get Invited Into Narratives That Don't Serve You

As a pregnant trans man, I'm learning to find the stories that serve me, and to let go of the rest.

By Finn Schubert
—
View all essays ->