How To Wake-up From The Matrix

As I type this, I’m on a three-day solo retreat in the Columbia River Gorge. It’s an annual ritual I’ve developed over the years to find some space, reflect, reset and redefine my habits, goals and intentions for the year ahead. 

In other words, it’s how I wake-up from The Matrix – the mindless trance most of us are trapped inside of, due to a constant deluge of inputs, feeds, streams and the nonstop stimulus to our souls. Thanks to works like Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport, I’ve become acutely aware of how humans aren’t good at slowing down, being quiet and embracing the wonders of solitude. Some have even argued solitude is becoming extinct. 

To be clear, taking long walks with your earbuds in isn’t solitude. Long drives while listening to music, podcasts or audiobooks isn’t solitude either. Spending a lazy Saturday afternoon alone on the couch while binge-watching Friends or soccer isn’t solitude. Enjoyable? Sure. Solitude? No way. 

Solitude is best defined as “freedom from inputs from other minds.” Props to Georgetown University Professor and leading thinker on minimalism, Cal Newport, for distilling it. In his research, Newport discovered regular doses of solitude are crucial for the effective and resilient functioning of your brain. 

During my annual retreat ritual, I block out all possible distractions and inputs, reflecting and thinking deeply about who I am, who I want to be, and getting clear about what really matters. I do some pen-to-paper exercises around what worked and what didn’t work during the past year. Perhaps you’ve heard of the “Start/Stop/Continue” framework? Just as important as finding some big, game-changing ideas, it’s equally important to look for opportunities to say no and simply create more open space…to think. 

While on retreats I prioritize sleep, I run and hike and soak or perhaps get a massage. It’s quiet time. Alone time. Solitude. It’s a rare opportunity to slow down, look out at the horizon and think deeply. 

I also try to build-in smaller, abbreviated versions of this practice during my regular days and weeks – and that’s helpful too. But it’s not the same. Three solid days away provides the ideal situation for me to go deep. Perhaps it’s not too different from Bill Gates “Think Weeks.” 

We aren’t really using our brains while we’re receiving all those inputs – and we’re practically getting them 24/7. Believe it or not, you’re not getting that much smarter while doing all that reading, podcasting, and binge-watching, either. Sure, you’re learning a few things. And perhaps it’s enjoyable. But be honest with yourself – you’re not exactly thinking deeply or wrestling with any of it. 

The real question to ask is, what are you doing with all of the information you’re taking in? What are all of these inputs and information doing for your life? What’s the tangible impact?  Stop lying to yourself. Show me. 

Furthering this modern mental epidemic is what we’re doing in the margins – those little blips of time in between things. I’m talking about virtually anytime we're waiting, in the bathroom, before and after meetings and calls, or perhaps whenever we feel that little buzz in the pocket. Our “margin time” is being mindlessly co-opted by our devices, feeds, news and social media trash. If you feel me, you’re in the matrix. 

To truly flex that supercomputer between your ears, you need solitude. There’s no way around it. 

Quiet. Stillness. No inputs. And most importantly, you need the quiet time and space to consider, contemplate, try-on, and wrestle with ideas, dreams, beliefs, conflicts, and those big, important life questions like “who am I?” and “what do I want to accomplish this year?”

The only way to truly experience real, deep thinking is to turn off all inputs. Period. 

Franciscan monk and author, Richard Rohr, said it best, “In our busy, frenetic world, it’s easy to slip into a mode of living that looks and feels a lot like autopilot. We go through the motions, move through our calendars, and rinse and repeat each day.”

Now stop for a moment and imagine what life could look like if you actually had a plan. Consider what you could achieve if you set clear goals for your year. Think about the impact of having every hour of every day planned and accounted for, as a result of deep thought and intention. 

This doesn’t mean you can’t have a lazy Saturday afternoon binge-watching Friends or watching soccer. Everyone needs a few days like that, no doubt. It just means you’re doing that with intention and it’s part of your plan, not because you mindlessly ended up on the couch because you were feeling burnt-out and saw a meme on Instagram about self care.

A famous person once told me that every day when he wakes up, he sits on the edge of his bed for a minute and contemplates “who am I and what will I accomplish today?” I have to admit, I rolled my eyes when I heard that for the first time.

Then I got a little older and a little grayer.  And now I’ve more or less adopted that daily practice for myself, along with magic mornings. And guess what? It works. It all really works.

There’s many ways to do this kind of work. My mentor, Mario Schulzke, has a 600 square-foot log cabin in deep, rural Montana. Nothing fancy. No electricity. No running water.  The only possible distractions are weather and bears. That’s solitude. Another mentor of mine, Chris Corbin, has an old Toyota pickup truck and pulls a simple fiberglass row boat behind it. Nothing fancy. And wherever he floats, he finds solitude, and thinks deeply about life, love, work… and bull trout.

Solitude provides the opportunity for deep thought, critical thinking and resilient brain function. Which allows for the forging of one’s own beliefs, intentions and specific plans. Followed by healthy habits and steady practice, leads to action. Which leads to impact. Which leads to meaning and feelings of joy and gratitude. Which wakes you up from the matrix. 

RW

The Mirror of Truth

German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe famously said “Tell me with whom you consort with and I will tell you who you are. ” While insightful and thought provoking, it’s also perhaps a little too simple for today’s modern world. Given Goethe was born in 1749, it’s reasonable to believe people were the main influence back then.

In modern living however, what informs “who we are” can be a bit more complex. I gave a TED Talk a few years back about leading creatives and have continued my study of the modern creative professional ever since. 

My 2022 adaptation of Goethe’s concept expands to include today’s three most important human tells:

1. Inputs

2. People

3. Time

Show me your inputs – the information, media and entertainment you consume. Then show me the people you spend most of your time with (thank you, Goethe). Next account for how you spend your time each day. When analyzing time, just focus on your free time and downtime – the time you spend outside of work and other necessary responsibilities. It’s best to examine what we do when the choice is 100% ours, lest our work defines us.

Capture every detail, then reflect on it deeply. Look into the mirror and tell me who you see.  If you can objectively and truthfully outline these three realities, you will have an accurate mosaic of who you are – whether you like it or not.

Upon completion of this self-inventory exercise, gather it all into a common document and give yourself some time for contemplation. Ask yourself what’s working and what can be improved. Remember, “garbage in, garbage out.”  (And who cares how many times your grandfather said that to you. Some things are undeniably true.) Then set some simple, actionable goals for what you want this inventory to look like by this time next year.  

As Seneca brilliantly said, roughly around 50 AD: 

“It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it. Life is long enough, and a sufficiently generous amount has been given to us for the highest achievements if it were all well invested… So it is: we are not given a short life but we make it short, and we are not ill-supplied but wasteful of it… Life is long if you know how to use it.” 

I quit playing video games years ago because it scared me how quickly time passed while playing them. Now I’m so neurotic I try to read audio books… while exercising… while taking notes and cataloging ideas. Good? Bad? Who knows? Watching sports is my time waster these days.

Everyone in the history of humankind has exactly the same number of hours in a day to be great… or to be average. The choice is yours. Everyone gets to decide what we consume, who we spend our time with, and what we do with our time. In this, each of us ultimately decides who we are and what’s possible.

And then we die. Memento Mori, Amor Fati.

RW

A DEI Playbook for Leaders: What I’ve Learned Leading Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at My Company

Note: A short version of this essay was originally published on December 29, 2020 by The Portland Business Journal.

Amid today’s rapidly shifting societal landscape, leaders are scrambling to navigate the waters of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). I started doing the work to build a more equitable and diverse company five years ago, when 13 of my 18 staff members were male and only one was BIPOC (black, Indigenous and people of color). In a rare epiphany, I realized workplace homogeneity was a problem and I committed to addressing it. This was us in 2015:

Marmoset staff, November 2015.

My business is headquartered in Portland, Oregon, where about 73% of the population identifies as white. Statistics in Portland’s business community are more staggering, where higher paying and more sought after roles lack diversity. A cliche excuse I often hear expressed by local business leaders is applicant pools are mostly white. My answer: Yes, status quos (and systemic power structures) are hard to break.  

After five years, Marmoset is now 61% non-male and 34% BIPOC, with even greater diversity in leadership and highest paid positions. While systemic white power structures run deep in Portland, my story is proof that a diverse, equitable and inclusive workforce is possible. 

I’ve learned some lessons along the way. And I hope by sharing them here, framed within my own journey, it might help other leaders find their way. 

Lesson #1: Know why you’re doing the work. 

Why do you want to do DEI work? What does it mean to you and what are you looking to achieve? While it can evolve over time, first and foremost always know why you’re doing the work.  

My why is I love my community and I’m committed to making it better. I’m here to change the way the Portland business community shows up, change the way it looks and feels, and how it’s experienced by all. 

My why is to dismantle systemic racism and destroy a 2000+ year patriarchy that’s holding back our community, our industry, and so much more. I’m committed to leveling the playing field and creating more equitable opportunities at my company and in my industry. 

Lesson #2: There are no shortcuts. DEI work takes time.

There have been moments I wanted to do all the work as quickly as possible. It’s uncomfortable having so many eyes on me, wondering why the leadership team is so white and what’s taking so long. Thankfully, I’ve learned from more experienced folks to take the long road to get it right. Doing the work takes a long-term vision, discipline, and more time than you’d think. 

Lesson #3: Assemble a trusted team of advisors.

Five years ago I sought out two people to help me start learning and developing my long-term vision on DEI. One is a business leader who started his equity work a few years prior. Thank you, Ryan Buchanan. The other is a leading DEI expert whose candor, brutal honesty, and unparalleled professional experience has given me more understanding than I’ve found anywhere else. Thank you, Serilda Summers-McGee. I’ve added more peer mentors and experts along the way. 

Having a qualified, trusted team to advise and walk alongside you is especially helpful when the work gets hard and uncomfortable. Peer mentors are there to guide you, pick you up, and help you remember why you’re doing the work in the first place. And it’s critically important to differentiate between who’s actually doing the work with you vs. who’s throwing criticism down on you from the cheap seats. The “Man in the Arena” speech can be helpful in these moments.  

Lesson #4: Develop a long-term roadmap and define success. 

There’s no finish line with DEI work. There’s no consultant or workshop that checks all the boxes. It’s a never-ending commitment to learning, transformation, and impact. It requires a long-term vision and plan, similar to that of a business strategy. 

Start by selecting a date 3-5 years out. Paint the picture of what success looks like. The best goals are set to a timeline with specific milestones along the way. Make your plan SMART.

Working with Serilida back in 2015, these were the long-term goals we set:  

• Achieve diversity representation better than the demographics of our city/community. Knowing Portland is about 27% non-white, we had to do better than that. This was our first major milepost. And to maximize impact, I wanted that representation to be true at every level of my organization, especially the most sought after roles: creative roles and leadership roles. 

• Increase the diversity (race and gender) of the artists and the music we represent.

• Work with more BIPOC and women owned businesses for projects and work where we enlist contractors, advisors, vendors and consultants. 

• Provide ongoing training and education for leaders and all staff. 

Reflecting back on these now, I wish I would’ve made the goals smarter, more measurable and timeline-based. The best goals are always SMART ones. 

Once long-term goals are set, work backwards, cutting it up into smaller chunks -- similar to how you might approach a business strategic plan.

Lesson #5: You will fail. And you absolutely must keep going. 

This may be the most important lesson of all. This work is hard, and without exception, everyone will misstep and fail from time to time. There’s no avoiding it. 

While it pains me to admit, I too have failed. People have suffered systemic racism, bias, and discrimination at my company too. No doubt about it, we have failed some of our people along the way. And despite our failures, we are committed to learning from our mistakes, and getting better as we go. 

I also accept the fact that I too have exhibited racist and patricarchical behaviors, and at times I have been part of the problem. I’m working on myself -- working to learn about and process the dark parts of our communities and of our history. It’s impossible to do this kind of work if I’m unable to wrestle with my own identity and dissect my own ego.  As they say, acceptance is the first step of recovery.

Lesson #6: Stay focused. 

You’re held to higher standards when you commit to doing this work, and will therefore receive more scrutiny and criticism. Learn to receive it. And say thank you.  

That said, it’s unfortunate society has devolved to cancel culture, where anonymous critics and disingenuous bystanders so quickly tear people down in a public setting. While I support increased accountability, we can do better than drive-by Yelp reviews for humans. 

All the more reason to stay focused on the work. Don’t get distracted by critics, cynics and trolls working against you. If your values, track record and reputation are strong, your community will know that, no matter what’s said about you. 

Blind spots

It’s recently come to my attention that communication has been a blind spot for me. To be vulnerable here, talking about DEI within my own company is something I’ve struggled with at times. At my core, I’m a “talk is cheap” sorta person. So until we’ve achieved some pretty big, meaningful results, I wasn’t too keen on talking about it. I never wanted to be the CIS white, privileged CEO guy standing up in front of a bunch of people (smart people!), talking about all of the diversity work I’m doing. So I put my head down and did most of the work solo or alongside just a couple of my colleagues and advisors, mostly working behind the scenes.

Because of my own discomfort in talking more openly about it, I now see and realize I’ve missed some meaningful opportunities for broader dialog, engagement and alignment within my company. The downside of working quietly behind the scenes is my staff didn’t always know what I was upto. It’s possible some didn’t know if our progress was happening by accident or on purpose. Moving forward, I’m learning to embrace the notion that our staff wants to know what I’m upto -- especially on topics of DEI. And ultimately, they need to hear their CEO and leaders are all-in, leading the way. 

Impact

Five years into the work, Marmoset’s staff demographics are better than Portland’s by every metric. Eight of our top ten highest paid employees are women. Five out of the top six are BIPOC women. There are no pay gaps at my company. Full stop. And the good news: if we can do this in Portland, Oregon, anyone can do it. 

For the people in the back: If we can do this in Portland, Oregon -- anyone can do it.

And for any business leaders out there who may be wondering how DEI impacts the bottom line, know this: Marmoset as a business has never been stronger or healthier than it is today. We’re at our peak right now in nearly every imaginable business metric: cash, resources, profitability, sales, expenses, people, morale and vibes, brand, innovation, momentum and upward trajectory. That said, I buried this fact a little bit because it could be a distracting headline. Doing DEI work to boost the bottom line is shitty… or disingenuous at best. Do it for the right reasons and you can rest assured, the results will follow. Research supports this.

What’s Next? 

Because the work is never done, we continue to raise the bar with our long-term goals and plans. Our staff and Marmoset’s DiversiTeam have gradually taken on more of the work, and have developed several new goals and strategies spanning all teams and functions. For instance, we’ve made good strides in terms of the diversity of the artist roster we represent. Currently, one of our goals is improving the diversity (race and gender) of our top royalty earners. 

Another important long-term goal for me is to one day replace myself or split my role with someone who doesn’t look like me or think like me. Someone who can bring new ideas, with new expertise and experiences, to help take the company to another place. 

I am so grateful our staff has stepped up in big ways over the past couple of years, now much more invested in helping carry the responsibility of DEI with me. I am especially thankful for my colleagues, Nicole Hooper and Jené Etheridge, Marmoset’s DiversiTeam, and many others, for their collaboration and commitment in doing this work. 

The work is endless. And yes, it’s all worth it. 

RW

Note: An condensed version of this essay was originally published on December 29, 2020 by The Portland Business Journal.

*This is yet another essay in-part inspired by my friends Mario and Chris — please check out their work too. We believe the process of public writing helps us learn, grow and improves our lives too. We call ourselves the Western Writers League and someday we might make hats with a cool logo.

Get out of your head. How to separate facts from fiction to make better decisions.

A version of this essay was originally published by Forbes.com on May 4th, 2020.

Storytelling

I’ve become increasingly aware of a challenge facing leaders today: storytelling. And I’m not talking about the kind of storytelling families and cultures use to pass down history and traditions -- nor do I mean storytelling contemporary creatives use to cultivate connection and meaning for brands. I'm talking about internal storytelling — the unconscious fiction humans make up when faced with challenges, conflict and important matters. 

A tell-tale sign is seeing someone stuck in “analysis paralysis” — a term you’re surely familiar with. Observing closely, you’ll notice their time is spent worrying about the many ways things could go wrong. These internal stories are typically grounded in what-if’s and hypotheticals and future possibilities, rather than present facts. In these moments, humans get stuck in their limbic system, the part of the brain that runs on emotions and survival instincts, rather than the neocortex, where logic, rational decision-making, focus, and emotional control originates. 

Researcher and author Brené Brown coined a concept for this: “Shitty First Draft.”  She explains when something triggers our emotions, our unconscious brains tend to manufacture internal stories -- our brain’s instinctual attempt to process what’s happening. These stories are often one-sided worst-case scenarios and seldom contain the full truth. Brown suggests, in the absence of having a crystal ball, we make up stories to anticipate how things might go.

It all stems from a self-protective survival instinct our caveman ancestors relied on to avoid being eaten by sabertooth-tigers. These instincts rarely serve us today, yet our brains still make-up stories that magnify our fears and anxieties, contributing to our own dysfunction.  Brené Brown has popularized a reality checking tool, using the phrase “the story I’m telling myself…” to check one’s assumptions by practicing personal curiosity and reflection. 

Observation vs Evaluation

Another helpful tool is by psychologist, Marshall Rosenburg, who created a brilliant framework in the 1960’s known as, Nonviolent Communication, which is based on learning "to clarify what we are observing, what emotions we are feeling, what values we want to live by, and what we want to ask of ourselves and others."

Observations are things you can literally observe, ideally using one or more of your five senses — see, hear, touch, taste, smell. Observations are verifiable facts, and in their purest form, are free of bias, beliefs, judgments or attached meaning. Evaluations are the result of taking our observations and running them through a filter of emotions, feelings and beliefs, experiences, knowledge — essentially running the facts through a person's highly personal, highly individualized CPU (central processing unit).

Evaluations are also what sets human beings apart from virtually every other living thing, giving us the unique ability to understand and think critically, integrating our emotions, feelings, memory and experiences with our thoughts and decision making.

As a leader, I've found I'm at my best when separating observations (facts) from evaluations (stories). For example, you may see a data point in a presentation and quickly jump to analysis, creating stories about it. Not so fast. Wise leaders keep analyses in check, grounding conversations first around the facts, which usually makes buy-in and alignment with colleagues easier. There's always time to seek analysis and opinions later — but first, it's best to get clear and aligned on the facts.

“Wise leaders keep analyses in check, grounding conversations first around the facts, which usually makes buy-in and alignment with colleagues easier. There's always time to seek analysis and opinions later — but first, it's best to get clear and aligned on the facts.”

The Observing Eye vs The Perceiving Eye

“Observation and perception are two separate things; the observing eye is stronger, the perceiving eye is weaker,” said Miyamoto Musashi. Possibly the greatest Japanese Samurai to ever live, he won countless fights against feared opponents, even multiple opponents, in which he was swordless. Born in 1584 and author of The Book of Five Rings, he taught there are two ways to see the world: with the observing eye and the perceiving eye. Observation focuses attention on truth and what is actually happening in the present moment. 

The perceiving eye, however, sees much more than just the facts. Perception dovetails other information with the facts, like experiences, preferences, emotions, personal beliefs and values. The perceiving eye paints the facts with one’s own personal colors, sometimes commingling our fears and worst case scenarios with what’s real. Mark Twain famously said, “Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.”

What is true?

When faced with any challenge, opportunity or important matter, the first step should always be to remove feelings, bias and analysis from the equation. Approach things as if you're running a highly scientific lab experiment where accuracy and fact-finding are paramount. Ask yourself: What is true? What is absolutely true? 

This reminds me of author Byron Katie and her belief that most human suffering comes from believing our own stressful thoughts. She’s found most stress and pain is rooted in the stories we create in our minds -- the fears and hypothetical scenarios we spend so much time spinning out on. What if we spent equal time considering best case scenarios, along with the worst?

“Most human suffering comes from believing our own stressful thoughts.” — Byron Katie

What if there was a way to actually turn off our internal storytelling? What if we could actually turn the storytelling off? I've worked on this within myself and found a daily meditation practice can help turn it off, or at least turn it down. Only when I regularly spent time alone with my thoughts could I truly understand what my thoughts are, where they come from and what they're good for. (Michael Singer’s book, The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself, was helpful too.)

Good? Bad? Who Knows?

It's human nature to unconsciously turn everything into a binary decision: Is it good or bad? But what if everything we encounter didn't have to be evaluated as good or bad? What if we were open to the possibility that any experience could be good, bad or an infinite range of possibilities in between? What if we could all agree that no experience, situation or scenario is all good or all bad?

There's an ancient story of a Chinese farmer that really drives this home. In my peer mentor group of CEOs, we've reflected on this story more frequently over the past few weeks, amid the global crisis. If you have three minutes, watch it here. It may be the best three minutes you spend today.

Spoiler alert: The farmer stays neutral and open. He avoids binary traps and doesn't rush to analysis about whether a current situation is good or bad. Instead, he's open to infinite possibilities, knowing it may take years to truly discern and understand something.

"The ability to observe without evaluating is the highest form of human intelligence." — Jiddu Krishnamurti 

Indian philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti surmised: "The ability to observe without evaluating is the highest form of human intelligence." I couldn't agree more. Leaders make better decisions when adept at separating facts from fiction, when we're mindful of internal storytelling, and when we stay grounded, centered and open to infinite possibilities.

RW

A version of this essay was originally published by Forbes.com on May 4th, 2020.

*This is yet another essay in-part inspired by my friends Mario and Chris — please check out their work too. We believe the process of public writing helps us learn, grow and improves our lives too. We call ourselves the Western Writers League and someday we might make hats with a cool logo.