Idea Surplus Disorder Issue #124
This edition reflects on slowing time, practicing radical candor, choosing virtue over values, and showing up more human in work, leadership, and life.
Writing
The Fortune Teller & The Four-Year-Old
A deceptively simple icebreaker that creates real connection: one person plays Fortune Teller, the other a curious Four-Year-Old asking about their future. The twist? The "predictions" are stories from their own life. In 30 minutes, strangers become colleagues who actually know each other.
Upcoming
Speaking in Austin, TX on February 12 Facilitation in Chicago, IL on March 9
2Bobs Podcast
The Problem of Mechanistic Thinking
The Lords of Strategy
Walter Keichel III
Newsletter
Idea Surplus Disorder #123
This week in Idea Surplus Disorder: facilitation as an act of radical care, what firefighters teach us about collaboration, and why boredom fuels creativity. Plus: when AI helps (or hurts) thinking, using the Minto Pyramid to communicate clearly, and why mastery still requires going deep.
Newsletter
Idea Surplus Disorder #122
This week: how invisible AI shapes our thinking, why screen-free learning still wins, and how “interesting work” fuels happiness. Plus: leadership tells, strategy you’re already executing, the rise of proof-of-work, and why so many workers feel numb to change.
Newsletter
Idea Surplus Disorder #121
This week: why purpose drives engagement, how trust is quietly eroding, and how to measure it better. Plus: organizational debt, smarter reading, using AI-created time well, the hidden cost of quick wins, when risks are worth it, and a great Thanksgiving icebreaker.
Idea Surplus Disorder #120
This week in Idea Surplus Disorder: how to ask your manager for what you really need, why leadership can be both lonely and angry, and what happens when innovators succeed. Plus: smarter AI prompts, team-confidence tests, and the marketer who sold books by selling shelves.