Author and speaker. Books include: How Design Makes The World, The Myths of Innovation, Making Things Happen & The Year Without Pants. Seattle, WA scottberkun.com/about/https://bsky.app/profile/berkun.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/berkun.bsky.social/post/3mlbfrirz7225Celebration time: It's the 20th anniversary of my author career. And book #10 is on the way. Thanks for following me making all this all possible. I had a party here in Seattle. I even wore a tie! If you're a local fan LMK and I'll put you on the list for the next book party.07 May 2026 14:16 +0000at://did:plc:haduoko35ezs2t4nbatscrda/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlbfrirz7225https://bsky.app/profile/berkun.bsky.social/post/3ml2idbasls2qI asked 120 people to explain their life rules and philosophy. The results are fascinating! So many surprises. I'll be sharing the highlights live on Wednesday at 11am PST. This is research for my next book on how to live well. https://open.substack.com/live-stream/188587?utm_source=live-stream-scheduled-upsell04 May 2026 20:14 +0000at://did:plc:haduoko35ezs2t4nbatscrda/app.bsky.feed.post/3ml2idbasls2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/berkun.bsky.social/post/3ml4k35uits2fSix years ago today I published my first book about design05 May 2026 15:50 +0000at://did:plc:haduoko35ezs2t4nbatscrda/app.bsky.feed.post/3ml4k35uits2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/berkun.bsky.social/post/3ml2idbasls2qI asked 120 people to explain their life rules and philosophy. The results are fascinating! So many surprises. I'll be sharing the highlights live on Wednesday at 11am PST. This is research for my next book on how to live well. https://open.substack.com/live-stream/188587?utm_source=live-stream-scheduled-upsell04 May 2026 20:14 +0000at://did:plc:haduoko35ezs2t4nbatscrda/app.bsky.feed.post/3ml2idbasls2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/berkun.bsky.social/post/3mkzx2mmaes2w"Any time I hear the term self-help I think of George Carlin’s mockery of the whole idea: “If you’re looking for self-help, why would you go read a book written by someone else?” There’s something backward about these books that sets us up to fail." https://rulestolive.substack.com/p/why-self-help-rarely-works04 May 2026 15:05 +0000at://did:plc:haduoko35ezs2t4nbatscrda/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkzx2mmaes2whttps://bsky.app/profile/berkun.bsky.social/post/3mjtv7v5e3s27“The trouble with people is that they’re busy fixing things they don’t even understand. We’re always fixing things, aren’t we? It never strikes us that things don’t need to be fixed. This is a great illumination. They need to be understood. If you understood them, they’d change.” - Anthony de Mello19 Apr 2026 11:50 +0000at://did:plc:haduoko35ezs2t4nbatscrda/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjtv7v5e3s27https://bsky.app/profile/berkun.bsky.social/post/3mjrt2xk5ns2dRule to live by #24: Wake UP Waking up means facing a truth you have avoided or did not know was there. It’s a paradox: we hate waking up, but when we do, we are transformed for the better. https://rulestolive.substack.com/p/rule-24-wake-up18 Apr 2026 16:07 +0000at://did:plc:haduoko35ezs2t4nbatscrda/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjrt2xk5ns2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/berkun.bsky.social/post/3mjhn7qwzbk22Are you a fan of my work? I need your help to shape my future. After 9 books and 20 years I'm coming up with a new plan! Your input will shape my future - you can tell me about what I've done that you value and what you'd like to see in the future. Thanks! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe5kQsR9ukGKaQdDahVPTPnniRGQd3tyMy5AJogZfX1fk-i2g/viewform?usp=pp_url&entry.743273299=Bluesky14 Apr 2026 14:55 +0000at://did:plc:haduoko35ezs2t4nbatscrda/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjhn7qwzbk22https://bsky.app/profile/berkun.bsky.social/post/3mjhn7qwzbk22Are you a fan of my work? I need your help to shape my future. After 9 books and 20 years I'm coming up with a new plan! Your input will shape my future - you can tell me about what I've done that you value and what you'd like to see in the future. Thanks! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe5kQsR9ukGKaQdDahVPTPnniRGQd3tyMy5AJogZfX1fk-i2g/viewform?usp=pp_url&entry.743273299=Bluesky14 Apr 2026 14:55 +0000at://did:plc:haduoko35ezs2t4nbatscrda/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjhn7qwzbk22https://bsky.app/profile/berkun.bsky.social/post/3miytagtfx22gThe AI Novelty Cycle is the realization that what you are using is far less useful than you believed and in order to actually do your job or make progress on important work you will need to do it in a more conventional way. https://biblioracle.substack.com/p/the-ai-novelty-cycle08 Apr 2026 17:33 +0000at://did:plc:haduoko35ezs2t4nbatscrda/app.bsky.feed.post/3miytagtfx22ghttps://bsky.app/profile/berkun.bsky.social/post/3mipr3wz5h22lWe all need to notice the sky now and then. [contains quote post or other embedded content]05 Apr 2026 03:01 +0000at://did:plc:haduoko35ezs2t4nbatscrda/app.bsky.feed.post/3mipr3wz5h22lhttps://bsky.app/profile/berkun.bsky.social/post/3mfa4ey43uk22What rules do you live by? I want to know. This is research for my next book. You get a chance to win $500 worth of prizes and signed books. 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝? 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬. And the questions may be help you. Thanks. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F... https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F..19 Feb 2026 17:25 +0000at://did:plc:haduoko35ezs2t4nbatscrda/app.bsky.feed.post/3mfa4ey43uk22https://bsky.app/profile/berkun.bsky.social/post/3memcexutu22jI want YOUR life philosophy. Will you share it with me? This is research for my next book. You get a chance to win $500 worth of prizes and signed books. 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝? 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬. And the questions may be useful to you. Thanks. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScpHGDMGsHZyoDpyB1Hm7MRpJdGHcTBUfjNo40zjX3KkKFObQ/viewform #rulestolive11 Feb 2026 20:19 +0000at://did:plc:haduoko35ezs2t4nbatscrda/app.bsky.feed.post/3memcexutu22jhttps://bsky.app/profile/berkun.bsky.social/post/3memcexutu22jI want YOUR life philosophy. Will you share it with me? This is research for my next book. You get a chance to win $500 worth of prizes and signed books. 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝? 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬. And the questions may be useful to you. Thanks. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScpHGDMGsHZyoDpyB1Hm7MRpJdGHcTBUfjNo40zjX3KkKFObQ/viewform #rulestolive11 Feb 2026 20:19 +0000at://did:plc:haduoko35ezs2t4nbatscrda/app.bsky.feed.post/3memcexutu22jhttps://bsky.app/profile/berkun.bsky.social/post/3mcxssc5vtk22If you're free in 4 hours, join me live to talk about how to live well and why most books on this subject don't help much. [contains quote post or other embedded content]21 Jan 2026 23:21 +0000at://did:plc:haduoko35ezs2t4nbatscrda/app.bsky.feed.post/3mcxssc5vtk22https://bsky.app/profile/berkun.bsky.social/post/3mcg22k6dck2kWhat rules do you live by? I've asked dozens of people this question and most of the answers are the same. People quickly say "be kind". "Follow the golden rule." Nice, but obvious. It gets trickier when I ask a tougher question: when do you break your rules?14 Jan 2026 21:43 +0000at://did:plc:haduoko35ezs2t4nbatscrda/app.bsky.feed.post/3mcg22k6dck2khttps://bsky.app/profile/berkun.bsky.social/post/3mcdm47nw3c2yI just finished the first draft of my 10th book and I'll be on Zoom talking about it - you should come 🙂 Tentatively titled Rules To Live By, it's a better way to think about self-help and philosophy. It will be fun & as interactive as you like. Hope to see you. https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/5KolJ6icQsez69z0EMV-ag13 Jan 2026 22:28 +0000at://did:plc:haduoko35ezs2t4nbatscrda/app.bsky.feed.post/3mcdm47nw3c2yhttps://bsky.app/profile/berkun.bsky.social/post/3m2uevk7ubs2c“It may be that when we no longer know what to do, we have come to our real work, and when we no longer know which way to go, we have begun our real journey. The mind that is not baffled is not employed. The impeded stream is the one that sings.” –Wendell Berry10 Oct 2025 19:13 +0000at://did:plc:haduoko35ezs2t4nbatscrda/app.bsky.feed.post/3m2uevk7ubs2chttps://bsky.app/profile/berkun.bsky.social/post/3lxzjo3y2q22d“People will come to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think” ― Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death (1985)04 Sep 2025 16:06 +0000at://did:plc:haduoko35ezs2t4nbatscrda/app.bsky.feed.post/3lxzjo3y2q22dhttps://bsky.app/profile/berkun.bsky.social/post/3lur2ghx3nk2fThere are activities in life where the goal is to be perfect. And there are activities where the goal is to express who you are and your personal experience in being you. These are rarely the same activities.25 Jul 2025 02:57 +0000at://did:plc:haduoko35ezs2t4nbatscrda/app.bsky.feed.post/3lur2ghx3nk2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/berkun.bsky.social/post/3lpahd35qqk2uWhat is the best creative work you have done in your career? Here is a test you can take about great work and what it really means. https://whydesignishard.substack.com/p/the-greatness-test-what-is-your-best15 May 2025 21:26 +0000at://did:plc:haduoko35ezs2t4nbatscrda/app.bsky.feed.post/3lpahd35qqk2u