Idea Surplus Disorder

Your weekly dose of innovation, ideation, and inspiration from Matt Homann.

Recent Newsletter

Idea Surplus Disorder #110

This week: AI as “bags of words,” why process excellence won't matter, and the rise of short-lived careers. Plus: hoard-scrolling, better employee questions, when CEOs should skip 1:1s, pricing bad habits, taste as the new intelligence, and the joy of house parties.

Idea Surplus Disorder #109

This week: attention vs. patience, leaders who talk too soon, encore anxiety, and workplace dysfunction by the numbers. Plus: purpose that matters, better rituals, and why one-in-a-million events happen more often than you’d think.

Idea Surplus Disorder #108

This week in Idea Surplus Disorder: why your time estimates are off, when to choose the harder path, and how to make strategy reviews more conversational. Plus: facilitation tools, partly cloudy science, Seth Godin’s reminders, writing better with AI, and the slow death of the American party.

Newsletter

Idea Surplus Disorder #107

In this week's Idea Surplus Disorder, I'll share two great podcasts with the Filament team. We'll also discuss the death of daydreaming, explore the imaginary pressure of “what people will think,” identify the cause of meeting hangovers, and wonder if missing out is actually the point.

Idea Surplus Disorder #105-106

In this double issue: the infinite workday, the trap of goal-setting, and how AI boosts individuals but hinders teams. Plus: strategy questions, ad hoc meetings, fast-reading tips, typo demons, and why every job is for the right kind of crazy.

Idea Surplus Disorder #105

This week: make unseasonable requests, embrace the moat of low status, and rethink goals as limits. Plus: AI as legal coach, smarter CEO transitions, and how Hampton Inn won by being “good enough.”

Idea Surplus Disorder #104

This week: rough drafts, pricing clarity, and rude questions with polite answers. Plus: curiosity styles, fading happy hours, three types of attention, and why comparing small things can make you better (but big ones can make you miserable).

Idea Surplus Disorder #103

This week in Idea Surplus Disorder: why soft skills are strategic, how “cookie lickers” derail momentum, and what AI can’t replace. Plus: effort vs. achievement, eponymous internet laws, a better way to say no, and rules for writing.

Idea Surplus Disorder #102

This week in Idea Surplus Disorder: The cost of being misunderstood, why recurring meetings kill momentum, how to say no more helpfully, and why AI works better when treated like a teammate. Plus: lurking weasel phrases, toothbrush theories, and seven things every kid needs to hear.

Idea Surplus Disorder #101

This week in Idea Surplus Disorder, we explore how AI is shifting critical thinking, why middle managers must lead change, and how rest, resilience, and resistance connect. Plus: Jevon’s Paradox, the risks of bitterness, and why introverts might want to occasionally act out of character.

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