In 1954, Johnny Cash walked into the audition room at Sun Records. At the time, he was a nobody. He was selling appliances door-to-door and playing gospel songs at night. He was broke, and his marriage was in ruins. For his audition, Cash picked a gospel song because it was …
Decision Making
The myth of “perfect”
We had a major problem on our hands. At the time, I was serving on the operations team for the 2003 Mars Exploration Rovers project, which sent two rovers—Spirit and Opportunity—to Mars. The rovers arrived on the red planet at two different landing sites. We had some idea of what …
You can’t keep up
I feel guilty. I feel guilty about the unread books sitting on my bookshelf. I feel guilty about the podcasts sitting unlistened on my podcast app. I feel guilty about the unread articles collecting virtual dust on my phone. I feel guilty about the newsletters I haven’t opened, the classic …
Why success is a lousy teacher
Earlier this week, I finished the final draft of my forthcoming book. It’s a huge milestone, and I’ve been delighted with the feedback I’ve received from my agent, publisher, and trusted early readers (one said, “Fucking incredible! Thank you for creating a masterpiece to help the world grow. No matter …