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This article was published on October 10, 2016

The Bartender Theory


The Bartender Theory

There’s funny game I play with one of my best friends where we throw each other a word and come up with a business strategy around it.

I’ll yell out ‘candle’ and he’ll come up with ‘The Candle Strategy’. He’ll give me ‘yo-yo’ and I’ll pitch him ‘The Yo-yo Theory’. It always works and quickly becomes clear that you can turn any random word into a management policy.

I think the same can be said when discussing a dieting plan.

How about a color diet where you can only eat one color a week, and all the colors combined on Saturday? White fish with rice on Monday, beets and red apples on Tuesday, etc. The diet will surely work as all things do because they make you more conscious about what’s happening around you. In terms of diets, pay better attention and you eat less. There, goal achieved.

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This also makes me more critical about any and all advice.

The more random words are thrown in, the more applicable it will seem. Kinda like reading a horoscope. Usually it isn’t the advice itself that is useful, but the way you use it to change your behavior. Generally speaking, any advice simply helps you structure your thoughts, and that in itself will be enough to solve a problem. Talking to a white wall, your cat, or the bartender might be just as useful as talking to an industry expert.

The Bar Approach – your excuse to go out tonight for a drink. Boris said it was okay.


This is my introduction text for last week’s issue of our TNW Weekly update. You can read the whole newsletter here, or sign up to receive your own copy. 

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