The Big Hits of 2012

Is he speaking Swedish?

I created this website in 2011 to write about issues related to innovation, creativity, branding, strategy, organizational development, change management, persuasive communication, critical thinking, rhetoric and anything else about human affairs that seems interesting. I got serious about the site last May when I started my weekly newsletter. My goal is to write something interesting, useful, or just funny every business day. Each Wednesday, I send out a newsletter summarizing the week. I’ve been at it for 36 weeks now.

The new year seems like an opportune time to summarize my most popular posts from 2012. I’m still learning what’s popular and what’s not. I write 300 to 500 words per day and I love it when hundreds of people read what I’ve written. Here are the most popular posts in 2012. If you have suggestions for 2013, I’m all ears.

Developing a Habit of Innovation — five specific habits and modes of thinking that can help you be more innovative.

Branding: Why Buy Eyeballs That Won’t Buy? — many CEOs want their companies to become household names, even though most households will never buy their product. What’s the point of spending money to build mindshare if those minds are not going to buy?

90 Days of Anger — why do politics make us so angry? Because politicians want us to be angry. Anger motivates action better than any other emotion. If you’re angry, you’ll donate money, recruit friends, run telethons and so on. If you’re not angry, you’ll just sit on the couch. Politicians use attributed belittlement to make sure that you stay angry.

Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast — let’s say that you need to change your company’s strategy. If you change it in ways that conflict with the corporate culture, the strategy is doomed to fail. When it’s culture versus strategy, culture always wins. Always.

Did Mitt Romney Read My Blog? — when should you not attack your opponent? When you know that your audience likes or admires or respects your opponent. If you launch an attack on a popular person (or product), you’ll look like the bad guy, not them. It’s the difference between a debate and a battle — you can read more about it here.

The Persuasive Future — one of my earliest posts (check out the sweater) and still one of the most visited. You’ll never win an argument in the past tense. Learn how to be more persuasive by shifting to the future tense.

Moderating the Extremes — your friend is absolutely convinced that she’s right and everybody else is wrong. How do you get her to listen to another point of view?

Multitasking Is A Myth — stop beating yourself up. You can’t really multitask. But you can do fast, sequential tasking. Sometimes you get stuck, however, which is why you should never mention sex in a speech.

Leadership and Motivation — who said, “When I realized that men were willing to die for bits of colored ribbon, I knew I could rule the world.”? And how does that make you a good leader?

Bring Your Husband to Heel — can you train your husband the same way you train a dog? Sure you can!

Innovation and Dogs — what can dogs teach us about innovation? Hold the leash lightly. (Bonus: a precious picture of our dog, Bella).

Christmas – Deadliest Day of the Year — why is Christmas the deadliest day of the year in the United States? Maybe it’s not because of what we do but rather how we think.

Are Older People Wiser? — it seems that they are. Why would that be? Because they forget stuff.

I should have said … — have you ever thought of a perfect comeback…hours after you needed it? Watch this.

Seduction — do you want to be more seductive? Of course you do. Here are six ways.