Methods
of the Masters
A blog on the art & science of creative action.
The Advisor You Didn't Know You Had
A generation ago, you had to be independently wealthy to have access to intelligent assistance. Not anymore. I’ve got a team of advisors at my fingertips. And so do you.
You're a Manager Now (But Most Don't Know It)
Satya Nadella, Brice Challamel, Garry Tan, and Andrej Karpathy agree: you just took on a new role at work, but nobody told you. Most people don't even know it yet. Are you one of them?
"Have You Tried AI?" The Answer Every Leader Should Give
What if the most powerful AI leadership move isn't answering your team's questions, but asking them one simple question instead? Five words that build capacity, create permission, and get you out of the bottleneck.
If You Were an AI, I'd Think You Were Terrible
There’s a dangerous double standard that's killing our AI collaboration: abrilliant friend makes an honest mistake? We easily overlooked it. But if AI had done the exactly same thing we’d be furious. We'd conclude AI is either incompetent or broken. Our loss.
The Recursive Loop: How Sharing Creates What's Worth Sharing
Most teams think they need more AI training. What they actually need is a loop: a reason to share, experiment, and learn in public. Here’s how to build that culture—one commitment at a time.
Update Your Priors
If the MIT study of AI failure rates surprised you, you need to update your priors. Innovation is about shots on goal, not perfect plans. Time to recalibrate how many attempts you’re making.
Admit You Don't Know: Reverse Mentorship With An AI Sherpa
Most leaders think credibility comes from having all the answers. In the AI era, it's the opposite—credibility comes from admitting you don't know and doing something about it. Here's how to become the kind of leader who can actually drive organizational change instead of just demanding it.
Stop Fighting AI Glazing
Everyone’s panicking about “AI glazing.” But what if it’s a feature, not a bug? The creative industry's most successful practitioners understand something the rest of us are missing.
Hit Reset: The Secret Productivity Hack Four AI Leaders Don't Want Their Teams to Know
This post marks my 200th edition of Methods of the Masters—and serves as a fitting bridge between my early focus on human creativity and more recent AI work. In an age of infinite AI inputs, our biology demands we cultivate equally intentional human disconnection strategies.
The Simple Power of Joy and Delight
Special guest post by Brendan Boyle, one of Stanford’s most beloved professors, acclaimed toy inventor, and founder of IDEO’s Toy Lab. He’s taught me more about play than anyone other than my own children.
The Ultimate AI Playbook: From Measuring Adoption to Delivering Impact
In five years, no one will care how many people logged into ChatGPT. They'll care about who used it to transform their work. The organizations that understand the difference between more use and better use are quietly outperforming their competitors-while everyone else celebrates meaningless "adoption" metrics.
Your Team Just Quoted 8 Weeks. What if They're Off by 99%?
I thought I was running a standard innovation workshop with one of my favorite clients. Instead, I came to face to face with my own biases, and accidentally broke an entire organization's understanding of what's possible.
It's Not An AI Problem. It's A You Problem.
Last week, I proposed a simple but fundamental shift: we need to stop thinking about AI as a technology rollout and start treating it like a new teammate. What I didn't fully explain is that this isn't just a semantic distinction. It produces measurably better results.
Teammate, Not Technology
I’ve been seriously thinking about AI for over two years now, and I’m finally hitting my stride when it comes to my point of view. The fundamental shift I believe everyone must make is from thinking of AI as a technology, to thinking of AI as a teammate.
Don't Keep the AI Expert Waiting
Still waiting on other people before you tap AI? Big mistake. This post exposes the silent tax of “AI inaction,” hands you the five‑rung ladder for turning any model into your on‑call mentor, and launches a seven‑day sprint that will hard‑wire the habit—so you can seize the advantage while everyone else is still scheduling meetings.
Punish Inaction: Why Leaders Must Make AI Adoption Non-Optional
Last week, Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke released an internal memo that's been making waves. My take: this isn't just another tech CEO jumping on the AI bandwagon. It's the clearest articulation I've seen of a principle I've been exploring the past 18 months: the greatest risk with AI isn't failure—it's inaction.
Exponential Ideaflow: Why AI Will Surpass Human Creativity (And Why That's OK)
I'm best known for my work on innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship. My “shift” toward AI might seem like a radical departure. But it's not a shift—it's an evolution. Having taught and spoken to tens of thousands from ~100 countries in the last two years, I’m more convinced than ever that AI isn't separate from innovation; it's the most profound innovation platform of our lifetime.
Stop Measuring AI Usage (Start Measuring AI Impact)
Behold the great AI measurement delusion: Organizations tracking usage metrics are missing the only thing that matters—impact.
More use isn't better use. Better use is better use.
Beware the Siren Call of the Wrong Question
The first question an innovator must answer is not “can I make it?” but rather, “should I?” This has become something of a mantra among CEOs I work with, as a needful protection against the gravitational pull of the organizational bureaucracy.
Practice Process Mindfulness
One of the defining contributions the d.school is helping teams ask themselves, “What kind of thinking is appropriate, when?” We call such clarity being “Mindful of Process.” And it can seem like semantics until you realize we need to show up in different ways.