Dateline: Grand Hyatt Washington DC, 20 April 2005

Our production effort on the first subscription-only version of the e-journal has fallen apart due to a scheduling crunch for our editor. Events beyond Bob Jacobson's control have set the timing of the journal back so much that it forced us to think about what we had really gotten ourselves into by setting this whole thing up.

That reality, plus the emerging load of stories I am doing or plan to do with Esquire, plus the growth in consulting relationships between myself and a number of outside organizations, has pushed me to reconsider this whole operation and decide to abort it before the subscriptions kick in with this first paying issue.

What does that mean?

First, it means I send a check for a bunch of money to my business manager to cover her (Steff Hedenkemp) sending a refund check to everyone who signed up for the journal. You should all have those checks before the end of the month. If you haven't paid, don't bother.

Second, it means we go back to the original concept of the newsletter. It's free. It's a compilation of "greatest hits" blogs from the past, grouped by content by my webmaster Critt Jarvis. It also includes my email exchanges with readers. If people want to send in their own short pieces for consideration, we'll consider them and perhaps publish, so long as they fit and reference the vision of PNM and BFA (otherwise, get your own blog!). I will try to write original stuff for the newsletter, but won't promise to always do so (although we have one lined up for the April newsletter issue which we hope to have out by the end of the month (my webmaster Critt is in charge of that, so send your cards and letters to him)).

I am very happy with this decision. While ginning up the first two issues was a neat exercise and I thought my partners did a nice job, it was just too much effort given all the offers and opportunities we're trying to manage at the same time. This way it's free and easy and we keep it eminently simple.

As part of that simplification process, partner Bob Jacobson departs from the New Rule Sets Project team following our effort with Alidade and Alphachimp on the New Map Game in Newport at the beginning of June. The focus of the consultancy is going to get quite exact: if the relationship in question doesn't involve me directly, we don't do it.

When we originally set up New Rule Sets Project, we had some dreams of making it a fully functioning partnership of several consultants, in effect replicating my vision through others. I thought, and still think, this is a viable path. I'm just not willing to pursue it right now, given all that's transitioning in my life with the books, leaving the War College, setting up my own stuff, moving to the Midwest, writing for Esquire, giving plenty of talks through my speaking agency, etc. Trying to build the NRSP empire beyond me as the principal is just a bridge too far right now, and frankly, it may always be given the range of opportunities and my desire to keep the infrastructure as lean and simple as possible.

So, in effect, I no longer market Barnett Consulting as my one-man shop and market NRSP as my one-man shop, with business manager Steff Hedenkemp to negotiate all and keep my trains running on time, and webmaster Critt to do whatever the hell it is that he does (and make the newsletter happen). This way, I don't pick up ambitions I can't meet, I don't lose track of events, and I dial down the shturm und drang of empire-building to a level where my kids and wife seem a whole lot happier than they've been in the past few weeks.

I want to keep my work life very focused, in part so I can jump on big opportunities as they arise, and in part because I want to keep my home life as focused as possible. I am unwilling to burn my village to save the world, and I am always congnizant of my wife's point that I sometimes act like I owe strangers more than my kids--or her. When I'm old and hoping someone will help me off my death bed to do this or that, no one's going to be there except my immediate family, just like I helped my Dad shave for the last time in his life. My Dad died a very rich man, with his loving wife and several of his kids at his side. That is the only end point I seek, and I will structure my other life and all that it entails to make sure it happens. Because when you lie on your death bed, no one ever says, "I wish I made more money," or "I wish I held more important jobs with bigger titles." No, they ask for loved ones, and if the life they've led denies them that outcome, not much else matters on your way out the door. I try not to forget that.

Perhaps a bit much to explain why the e-Journal is late, but that's thomaspmbarnett.com-within-the-context-of-everything-else. You want to be a strategic thinker? That's what it's all about then. Never losing the big picture.