RecomMONDAYtions ~ 2026.01.12

Recommended Reading

💡 Beware of “thoughtstipation,”

Thanks to Tom Fishburne (a.k.a. The Marketoonist) for telling me about this LinkedIn post from Ann Handley who nails one of the problems with AI:

“Thoughtstipation happens when we skip the messy, human part of creativity—the part where we meander, doodle, ramble, reflect…”

✒️ Why Great Creators Noodle, Doodle, and Jot

Speaking of “meander, doodle, ramble, reflect,” here’s an email I wrote a few years back about how great creators develop powerful work by random explorations — just like Ann Handley was talking about.

Recommended Humor

😆 Favorite Marketoons of 2025

Speaking of Tom Fishburne, here are seven of his favorite “Marketoons” from 2025.

He’s not just about the quick chuckle. Each Marketoon comes with a short post in which Tom breaks down the business meaning behind the cartoon.

He’s as insightful as he is funny.

Recommended Listening

🎶 RIP, Bob Weir

Bob Weir, a founding member of The Grateful Dead, died on Saturday.

I saw my first Grateful Dead concert on August 16, 1980 at the Mississippi River Festival in St. Louis. It was the first of many.

Halfway through the first set, “Bobby” sang lead on “Looks Like Rain,” my favorite of all the songs he wrote.

Minutes later, the skies opened up, and the rain poured down. The band kept playing. The music never stopped. And not a single soul left that rain-soaked, muddy hillside to run for cover.

I was 15, having the time of my life.

That night changed the way I thought about music and its community-building power.

Recommended Channel

🤪 Was My AI on Acid?

Speaking of Dead shows…

…last week, I asked Google Gemini for some help, and it hallucinated more than a hippie at a Grateful Dead concert.

I share the story — and reveal how to keep your robot from tripping — in this short video on my renovated YouTube channel.

I’m posting new content to the channel every day. If you like what you see, please subscribe to the channel and like the videos. 🙏

Recommended Book & Event

📚 The Delegation Trap

Atiba de Souza’s “The Delegation Trap” is this month’s selection for The Mastermind Book Club.

Every month, Ted Prodromou and I choose a great business book. Then we gather — usually on the fourth Thursday of the month — live on Zoom to discuss the book and how we can apply its lessons to our businesses.

We’ve tentatively scheduled this month’s meeting for Thursday, January 22 at 2:30 p.m. ET.

There’s no charge to attend the meeting or join the Club. But you have to be a member to get the Zoom link for the meeting.

Why Read This Book and Attend the Meeting?

A few months ago, Atiba de Souza was my guest on The Story Power Marketing Show podcast. I asked him why he wrote the book. Here’s his answer:

Words to Ponder

Bob Weir, when asked whether success has changed him and his bandmates:

“I was noticing the other night … when I’m going through pistachios, opening pistachios … The hard-to-open ones — I don’t bother with them anymore.”