September 2026: who's protected, who's paid, who's watching, and who's lonely
Nine pieces on how people read each other at work: colleagues across a room, teams watching managers, and the measure of a deal.
Richard Brisebois
Our numbers, My recommendation
Managers say they get things done through people. Then someone on my team corrected our numbers in front of my boss.
You're Already a Philosopher. The Question Is Whether You Know It.
Every management decision rests on a belief about human nature, whether you've examined it or not.
Who stands behind this?
On AI, judgment, and who answers for it.
Newsletter
Last full month of summer ahead
I'm looking forward to Some travel, Some hiking, My toes in the sand, and You finding some sand of your own. In the meantime, expect a weekly delivery from the vault. I'll see you in September!
Beyond Management
Oliver Jones (1934–2026)
Ever since I can remember (I think it started with my father's 78s) I listened to the big bands. Duke. Basie. You'd learn the names of the sidemen, catch a solo, and then years later find those same musicians leading bands of their own. That'
Ling- English
The Year We're Still In
The prosperity we mourn as stolen was never the economy's natural state. It was a dividend paid out of a world in ruins. An essay on why we keep misreading the present, and what it means to see clearly where we actually stand.
Essays
The Free Man
It’s the World Cup and I couldn’t help myself. Football, the one where you actually hit the ball with your foot, is the only truly global game. Go anywhere in the world. Anywhere. And people are either playing it or talking about it. Dale Carnegie wrote a book
Essays
Managing from Ignorance
A Sonata in Three Movements
Essays
The universe is not dying to hear from you — not while someone else is finding the courage to speak
What actually happens inside you when you say you’re listening? When I’m waiting for my turn to speak, I’m not listening. When I’m filtering what you’re saying as you’re saying it, I’m not listening. When I’m debating whether I want to agree
Essays
The Blur
I had cataract surgery on one eye last week. The world has been a matter of contours and shadows rather than resolved edges and precise detail. I couldn’t drive. I have been reading signs at distance, and signs at distance had become impressionist gestures. But for most of what
Ling- English
At the Table or on the Menu
There is something immediately arresting about the aphorism, "If you're not at the table, you're on the menu." It does not argue its case or offer advice. It simply presents a scene, and once seen, it is difficult to unsee. One recognizes it before