A question for thought leaders: “Yes, but how do you know?”

The number of self-described experts has multiplied along with the slots for them to express their views on blogs, podcasts, Forbes, Huffington Post, LinkedIn, and Medium. It’s great that we now get to hear from a wide variety of thinkers. But the first question you should ask of any of them is, “How do you … Continued

I paid no federal income tax for last year. Is that fair?

I had a great year in 2017. I’ve been pleased to be able to basically replicate the income I had as a very senior analyst working for a research company, but to control my own destiny and work hours, and work only on projects that I like. But one thing is different. My income tax … Continued

Why is writing sometimes so hard, and other times so easy?

Writing can be a joy or a chore. I thought of this as I saw this tweet from Raul Pacheco-Vega: “I’ve noticed something really funny: I struggle with putting words into paper, up until I reach a point where BOOM, the words just start pouring from my finger tips. Does this happen to you too?” … Continued

Can you write a privacy policy that’s clear and transparent? Pinterest did.

Facebook has clearly demonstrated how not to explain complex privacy questions. It committed the principal sin of privacy: it surprised its users. By contrast, Pinterest’s policy is a model, not just for privacy, but for simple language about technically complex subjects. You can see Pinterest’s policy here. What I like about it is that it’s … Continued

The truth matters more than which party you support

No matter who is president, we’ll get over it. We’ll get past Trump. We’ll get past whoever comes next. But once we cease to believe that objective truth is the baseline for every discussion, we are doomed. I was reading Facebook the other day when a high school classmate of mine posted this: I had … Continued