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Latest — Sep 5, 2025

September 5, 2025: Newsletter moving to Wednesdays

Welcome to September. A quick programming note: this newsletter is permanently moving to Wednesdays after today. If anything big pops up, I'll do a short update next week (September 10). Otherwise you can expect newsletters to resume regular programming on Wednesday, September 17. The delivery time is still

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August 29, 2025: Snorkeling is dangerous.

Happy Long Weekend! Fresh off a cruise to nowhere (thanks Hurricane Erin), I want to lead with a story I have opinions about. Family Sues Cruise Line After Drowning During Bermuda Port Visit Respectfully, snorkeling in the open ocean will always carry risks. Full stop. The claims that the ship

August 22, 2025: "Less, but better" - Dieter Rams

Good Morning, Recently I learned about Dieter Rams, a German industrial designer. You've probably seen some of his iconic designs without even realizing it. Two things he said that resonated with me: "Less, but better" and "indifference towards people and the reality in which they

August 15, 2025: Misaligned preferences

Good Morning, I heard the most incredible, probative phrase to use when defusing a customer interaction that's quickly going off the rails: "It seems you have a reason for saying that...." - Chris Voss Chris Voss is a former FBI hostage negotiater, so he knows a

August 8, 2025: It's been a week!

Good Evening, I wish I could say I had some words of wisdom for you this week, but it's just been... a week. I'm going to jump straight into aquatic industry news (below) and plan to be back with a clearer head next week (or this

August 1, 2025: The costs of making something "easier"

Happy August! I don't know about you, but I'm very happy to say goodbye to the dumpster fire that was July 2025. Last weekend I went to someone's house for dinner in Cochrane, Alberta. Cochrane is a town just outside of Calgary. I don&

July 25, 2025: Small shortcuts now lead to big(ger) problems later.

Good Afternoon & Happy Friday, I've shared in the Certified Pool Operator (CPO) class a few times recently that I drive a 13+ year old vehicle. I'm usually very prompt about preventative maintenance, however in March I was quoted $5800 worth of repairs with parts they

July 18, 2025: Every action doesn't require a reaction.

Good Morning, We are 45 days out from Labour Day. Depending on where you live & work, summer is either almost over or barely half-done. I've been thinking a lot about momentum versus movement this week. The idea is that movement is the false sense of productivity we

July 11, 2025: Camp Mystic

Good Morning, Welcome back after we skipped last week's edition due to the Canadian & US national holidays. I had a several things I planned to talk about this week, but the main story that's been bouncing around my mind was the dozens of girls killed

June 27, 2025: Are you host or hostage?

Good Morning, I attended an excellent IAAPA webinar last week with a PR consultant who asked us, "Are you host or hostage?" This was in the context of organizations not having a clearly articulated media policy or crisis communication plan. She also talked about the time she did