Still Stirring the Pot

Thank you.

Thanks for the conversations.

This issue marks one year of putting conversations to paper. I’ve learned a lot from writing this newsletter — and even more from what’s come back in response.

I’m writing on my way home from a week in Berlin. When the year started I was consulting with startups. Now I’m back in the full-time world. That’s pretty much what I expect from life — the only constant is change. I enjoy the exploration of what’s new and next. 

In the early months, many of The Narrative Intel issues were ideas I had been talking about for years — concepts I wanted to formalize. Over time, something shifted. The writing became less about publishing something finished and more about continuing threads that started here and evolved through conversations, slack threads, boardrooms and late-night messages. 

What’s mattered most hasn’t been hitting publish. It has been what happens after.

What Surprised Me

Two topics surprised me this year.

The first was “People Like Bad Pizza.” I woke up in the middle of the night with that line. It began  as a joke — at least to me — and evolved into something much more substantial.

I’ve referenced that idea in more conversations this year than almost anything else I’ve written. It became a useful shorthand -  a way to talk about context, expectations, and why choices that appear irrational from the outside make perfect sense within a particular frame. 

For founders and CMOs, this matters. Customers don’t buy the objectively best product. They buy what fits their moment. Their constraints. Their habits. Their social proof. Sometimes they choose “bad pizza” because it’s familiar, fast, or emotionally satisfying. The lesson isn’t to judge the choice. It’s to understand the context.

The second surprise came from two issues that straddled the new year: “The End of the Year Is for Renegotiation” and “When Progress Stops Feeling Familiar.”

For years, I’ve advised founders and teams to define success clearly. Establish kill criteria. Renegotiate the contract when conditions change. But I hadn’t consciously applied that framework to myself. 

It’s easier to launch something new than to stop something that no longer fits. Easier to measure progress than to admit that progress has changed shape. Thinking about what to stop — not just what to start — hit differently.

Those pieces weren’t theoretical. They were lived.

An Overdue Introduction

Beginning with the May 17th issue, I had the privilege of collaborating with the creative talents of Charlie Rodriguez aka @RHOSER. 

Together, we brought to life Toni — the now-iconic lightbulb headed practitioner of the principles we explore here.  What started as an experiment became an unexpected layer of clarity. 

The image for this issue captures the energy Charlie has brought to the often chaotic  ideas in my head. Thank you, Charlie!

Berkson’s Bits

Don’t try to solve a problem until you know what it is. 

Here’s a sales example: 

If a prospect asks you how you can help, the best answer is:
"I don't know….yet” 

Too often salespeople walk into an initial meeting with a predefined solution. Too many prospects walk in with an incomplete definition of their own problem.

The path forward is mutual exploration.

This isn’t limited to sales. The same principle applies to customer service, mentoring, project management, and executive leadership.

In an era of AI copilots and instant answers, restraint may be the more strategic move. Before optimizing the funnel, redefining the org chart, or investing in another tool — pause.

What I’m Listening To…

Many years ago, I saw Living Color perform Cult of Personality live at a small venue in the NYC suburbs. Years later I came across this imaginative cover by Brass Against. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. 

Different arrangement. Same edge. A reminder that reinterpretation can be as powerful as originality.

Looking Ahead

I don’t know what the next year of The Narrative Intel will bring.

I do know this: I’m not running out of questions.

As we move into year two, I’m still thinking about the simple ideas that help us navigate our complex digital worlds, tell clearer stories, and grow careers and businesses.

Yes, AI will continue to show up here — not as spectacle, but as infrastructure. Not as magic, but as leverage. 

There are more threads to pull. More assumptions to examine. More ideas that feel settled — until you poke at them.

Years ago, when it was still called Twitter, my profile read:
“I like to stir the pot. Often I make a mess, but sometimes I get soup.”

That still feels right.

A year of questions, surprises, and soup  sums up this newsletter so far.

Some ideas will begin as jokes.
Some will prove sturdier than I expected.
Some will force me to renegotiate my own assumptions before suggesting anyone else renegotiate theirs.

That’s the deal.

I’m not promising a theme or a pivot.

Just this:

I’ll keep stirring the pot.
I’ll keep asking.
And I’ll keep looking forward to the conversations that come back.

Looking forward to continuing the conversation…

Alan