Sam Spurlin
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samspurlin.bsky.social
Sam Spurlin
@samspurlin.bsky.social
410 followers 140 following 350 posts
Coaching and advising better orgs and work @ The Ready. Writing @ The Deliberate. Co-host of At Work With The Ready, a podcast about the future of work. Consultant, coach, advisor & friend to people and orgs who care.
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I see you have put your finger on the strategy of my current career transition.
Mother-in-law sent me a box of broken glass in the mail. I *think* it was an attempt at sending some fragile keepsakes but I can't rule out it was a half-veiled threat. Gotta respect the ambiguity.
Only for knights discussing battle plans for smiting dragons. Otherwise, get that shit out of here.
Cool cool cool. Love when the dictator is personally paying the military. Real ancient Rome vibes.
New: The Pentagon confirms to CNN it will funnel $130M from an anonymous Trump “friend” toward military pay.

Asked about the donor’s identity and any foreign or domestic entanglements, the WH referred questions to DoD. DoD then referred questions back to the WH
www.cnn.com/2025/10/24/p...
Pentagon to use $130 million donation from anonymous Trump ‘friend’ to pay military members | CNN Politics
The Trump administration plans to funnel a $130 million donation from an anonymous ally of President Donald Trump toward paying military service members during the government shutdown, the Defense Dep...
www.cnn.com
Many have reached out to see how they might be able to help me find my next thing. People are good.
After 10 years at the same organization, where I joined as the first employee, I'm moving on to something new. Feels like standing on the edge of a precipice without knowing what the next step will bring. Here's to hoping I developed enough skills and resilience to handle whatever that might be.
The other angle that is becoming increasingly interesting to me is the physical manifestation of taste. I want my space to reflect my consciously developed taste and the world of completely frictionless digital algorithmic consumption is actively hostile to that.
It had always felt practical to lean into my digital/minimal tendencies if I knew I was going to be moving again. In our conversation last night I realized at most we were talking about a few extra boxes of items that are eminently packable, though. No reason to over-index on that.
My wife and I discussed this during dinner last night as I’ve been feeling an urge to reintroduce more analog media into my life. I’ve always been a bit of a minimalist but it feels like that is something I may want to relax soon. The tough thing is with apartment living and moving frequently.
Walking around my apartment humming "Mad World" by Tears for Fears after a good doom scroll sesh.

Wife: "Wait. What is that? Is that a sad? You can't just walk around humming that."

Me: "THE DREAMS IN WHICH I'M DYING ARE THE BEST I'VE EVER HAD."
In high school I was voted by my classmates as “Most Reliable” and I remain unreasonably proud of it 20 years later.
A take I’ve literally never seen before. Who?
The “something new” is as of yet undefined, which makes it scarier and more exciting. If you know me and my work at The Ready and have a thought about where that skillset should be pointed next, I’d love to hear from you.
After 10 years at the same organization, where I joined as the first employee, I'm moving on to something new. Feels like standing on the edge of a precipice without knowing what the next step will bring. Here's to hoping I developed enough skills and resilience to handle whatever that might be.
That looks like a spider’s wallet. Infrastructure webbing.
I never looked at the geography of Madison, WI before but it has serious fantasy map vibes. A city between two lakes? Come on. Is there an island in the middle of one of the lakes where a dragon lives?
Didn’t realize you were a Wings fan. I’ll be listening for you to razz that dirty Blues fan Griffin someday on The Besties.
Maturity is not downloading all the new Apple operating systems in the midst of my most intense travel spate of the year (NY to SF to NY to SNN to DUB to NY). I’m learning.
Heading to Oakland to speak at #ResponsiveConference tomorrow. Gonna nerd out on The Ready’s Depthfinding framework. Nautical metaphors abound!
There are so many lenses worth looking through when trying to understand what’s going on in your organization. Here’s one way I make sure I’m exploring non-obvious angles on what’s happening in the orgs I advise.
Reposted by Sam Spurlin
One of the most deranged quotes I have ever seen
September 7th update — Peanut Butter S’mores. Great example of a flavor I would never choose of my own volition. It was very good, though! My demonic wife made us get Reese’s Pieces on top so it was extra peanut buttery.
This was a fun time. 🤘
I see it as a paradox worth leaning into rather than trying to resolve: no single individual is vital to the overall functioning of an organization AND the decisions of each individual are the only way to shift how an organization functions.
I can't let myself get distracted by the immensity and complexity of what's happening in the organization. At the end of the day, the only way I can connect with people is individually.