My book, Better Places: Building Stronger Communities with Authenticity and Compassion, is not a manual or a memoir in the traditional sense. It’s a deeply personal reflection on how we learn to love, how we sometimes unlearn it, and how—if we’re lucky—we find our way back to something more unconditional and human. Continue reading Discovering Willful Interdependence in ‘Better Places’
Periods of job loss are no longer moral failures—they’re predictable pauses in a turbulent, AI-driven economy. With a portable safety net—universal healthcare, paid leave, unemployment coverage tied to the worker—talented people can pivot, retrain, and create the next wave of businesses. Continue reading The Bill Has Passed—Now Policymakers Must Fix What It Broke
That question might sound naive in today’s climate. The headlines are full of anxiety: AI is coming for your job. Deepfake campaigns are undermining elections. Automation is about to render human labor obsolete. And yes—those risks are real. But I think we’re asking the wrong questions. Instead of asking what AI will take from us, we should be asking: Continue reading The 25 Hour Week
I thought it was a joke. Where I came from, admitting exhaustion was weakness. Needing space was career suicide. But in Norway, trust wasn’t earned through burnout—it was extended by default. Continue reading 🛠️ What Happens When We Stop Assuming the Worst About Our Employees?
We’re all writing the future of work—whether we mean to or not. Let’s write one where people belong. Let’s write one where joy is not an accident but a strategy. Let’s deliver happiness—not just as a brand promise, but as a collective practice. Continue reading Why Authenticity Matters in the Age of AI
For the first time, I stood beside people from all walks of life—different races, incomes, hometowns—and we were equals. We had one mission. One code. One team. The Navy didn’t erase our differences, but it unified us in something larger than ourselves. Continue reading The Healing Power of Military Community
We had trained endlessly for this moment. Drills were routine. We practiced the maneuvers, the transitions, the coordination of a full strike group moving in rhythm. But this was the only time during my service that I would experience it for real — hip-mounted gas mask on, eyes forward, adrenaline surging. Continue reading “Proceed at Best Speed”: A Sailor’s Memory of the Strait of Hormuz
I didn’t succeed because I was self-reliant.
I succeeded because others were there to catch me when the systems did not. Continue reading Why Independence Myths Harm Our Kids
I’ve tried hard not to mention active political figures on this blog. I do that intentionally—not because I don’t have opinions, but because I don’t want to lose readers to the haze of partisan vitriol. Political passion, as we see it now, is often short-sighted and misdirected. It burns hot, fizzles fast, and rarely invites the kind of careful thought that builds understanding or trust.
But this week, I’m making an exception. Continue reading Taming the Jackal: Why Language Matters More Than Ever
Yet—just as in 1995—I also feel a flicker of frustration. So much power, and yet so few ideas come to mind for how to wield it. Innovation still begins with inspiration. Continue reading Welcome to the Inspiration Economy
Better Places 