Why I Keep Writing This Thing

First, a sincere thank you.

Whether you’ve read every issue since February or you just signed up last week, you’ve given me something that’s both scarce and precious: your time and attention. I don’t take that lightly.

This is issue 26. I didn't start on January 1st, so it's a bit past mid-year. But it's still halfway through a figurative year. It's also the number of miles in a marathon (more or less). I ran the NYC marathon once upon a time, and in some ways consistently putting out a weekly newsletter felt as intimidating as running a marathon. After 6 months of training for that marathon I hadn't run more than 18 miles at any one time, but I was confident I could do it. It all started with...well...starting. And then it became fun.

That's what it's been like for this newsletter. Intimidating at first, and then it became fun.

So, half a year (and a full marathon) worth of issues behind me, I feel grateful and excited.

Again, thank you.

Looking Back at the First 25

For 25 issues, The Narrative Intel has been one long conversation about a single question: 

How do you find, shape, and sustain a story people believe, remember, and act on?

Some weeks, we’ve explored that question in a business context — investor meetings, customer calls, internal communications. Other weeks, we’ve looked at it in more personal settings — the everyday interactions where clarity, trust, and empathy matter just as much. In both cases, the work is the same: get clear, stay aligned, and earn trust.

One that surprised me was People Like Bad Pizza. I’ve quoted it so many times that it’s practically become shorthand for a bigger truth: context drives decisions. The best option on paper isn’t always the one people choose — and the reasons why are worth understanding.

The feedback I’ve gotten has been fuel to keep going. Notes like “You truly help spark new ideas and ways of thinking each week”, “clear and smart”, and “this newsletter really spoke to me” remind me that these ideas aren’t just landing — they’re sparking something new for readers. That’s a big part of why I keep showing up here every week.

When I started, my goal was simple: write down the advice I’ve shared for years. Things like starting a project conversation with “How will we measure success?”, or framing decisions with ideas like the howling dog problem and minimum viable deployment. But somewhere along the way, I started to see the connective tissue — how all of it comes back to the same thing: how we tell our story.

And I can’t look back without a special callout to artist Charlie Rodriguez (@rhoser), who began bringing his creative brilliance to the issue images starting with Statistically Unlikely on May 17th. Every week since, he’s made the ideas not just readable, but visible.

The Arc So Far

We’ve explored so far through four recurring lenses:

🎯 Translating Innovation to Impact 
Making sure what you can do is understood as valuable.

🏗️ Building a Growth-Ready Organization 
Designing for adaptability and alignment as you scale.

🤝 Aligning Your Ecosystem 
Keeping customers, partners, and teams on the same page.

⭐ Shaping the Conversation in Your Market 
Positioning so others play by your narrative rules.

And sometimes, we’ve stepped outside the boardroom entirely — talking about compliments, thank-yous, and the invisible signals we send in day-to-day life. Because how you show up there shapes the stories people tell about you everywhere else.

Six Stops on the Journey

• Who Are Your Sensemakers? – The people who help you navigate complexity and make meaning from information overload.

• GPT Doesn't Know What I Know – Why tacit knowledge and human context matter more than ever in an AI world.

• Your Swim Lane Is a Signal, Not a Constraint – Being trusted for something specific beats trying to be everything to everyone.

• Fidelity of the Handoff – How meaning and intent get lost when information moves between people and systems.

• The Case for Curiosity – Genuine curiosity as the starting point for leadership, growth, and meaningful connection.

• Business Is Just Jazz with Deadlines – Improvisation and collaboration within structured frameworks.

You can see the full archive here.

Looking Ahead to the Next 26

Some themes are already calling for a deeper dive.

The Control Scale — something I’ve touched on before — deserves more exploration, especially as it relates to leadership, autonomy, and alignment. I also want to spend more time on the future of creativity in an AI world, and later this year, bring in some aspects of the 10 Commandments once the book is out in the world.

In my client and advisory work, one challenge keeps coming back: being able to answer the question “What business are you in?” in a way that’s simple, straightforward, shareable, and repeatable. It’s harder than it sounds — and when you can’t do it, the rest of your story never quite sticks.

I’ll continue to follow the bigger shifts in business, tech, and culture as they happen. But one blind spot I see on the horizon is leaders getting caught up in the hype cycle — chasing the newest topical issue or emerging technology at the expense of clarity, focus, and what actually matters to their customers. That’s something we’ll keep an eye on together.

Most important, though, is spending time with what's important to you. I appreciate all the feedback I've gotten so far and continue to incorporate it into what's next.

Berkson's Bits

Uncertainty is worse than inconvenience.

The apartment below me was being renovated the last few weeks. To say it was noisy is an understatement. I work from home so it was a big disruption. I had no notice and no idea when it would end or how it would continue to impact me. That's uncertainty. Had I been given some notice and updates, I could have taken steps to reschedule meetings or even find an alternate work location. Inconvenient, but workable.

It's that simple. We can tolerate inconvenience if we know when it will happen, how it will impact us, and when things will get back to normal.

What I'm Watching...

I'm a Mets fan. Not a surprise to anyone who knows me. This week Pete Alonso hit his 253rd home run which makes him the Mets all-time leader. Here are the TV and radio calls of the historic home run. Ironically, the best call comes from the Atlanta Braves broadcast where the announcer says "There is a new king in Queens".

The first 25 issues were about finding the questions that matter most. The next 25 will be about living in those questions—testing them, refining them, and discovering what happens when clarity meets action.

I'm more convinced than ever that the work of making meaning—of building stories that stick—isn't just a business skill. It's how we show up in the world.

The marathon analogy isn't just about endurance. It's about the rhythm you find when you stop overthinking the distance and start enjoying the run.

Your stories, your challenges, your breakthroughs—they're what make this conversation real. Keep them coming.

Looking forward to continuing the conversation...

Alan