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Keynotes · Consulting · Advisory | ADHD, Ability, Leadership & Organizational Dynamics
The Variance
On ADHD, Ability, and the World We Move Through
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ADHD Is a Gift — But Only If It’s Tethered Correctly
I wasn’t surprised when I was diagnosed with ADHD. I had known for years. The diagnosis didn’t reveal something new about me; it confirmed something I had already been living. The intensity. The jump-cut thinking. The friction with monotony. The ability to feel underloaded in stable environments and sharply alive when stakes rose. What changed wasn’t the label. What changed was perspective. For most of my life, ADHD functioned as an explanation for inconvenience. It explained
dougkatz8
Feb 192 min read


The Hardest Part of Building in the Adaptive Space Isn’t the Product
When I first got into the adaptive space, I figured the hardest part would be design. Adaptive products, after all, carry real responsibility. They have to work for people who don’t have the luxury of trial-and-error, who aren’t looking for novelty or marginal improvement, but for something that meaningfully changes how they move through the world. I was wrong. Design was hard, but it was solvable. What surprised me — and what continues to surprise a lot of founders and organ
dougkatz8
Feb 109 min read


In a World of Slugworths, Be a Wonka
Entrepreneurial lessons from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory or making good in a wary world. There are very few movies that feel universally beloved—not just popular or successful, but beloved. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is one of those rare cultural touchstones. I've never met anyone who actively dislikes it. That alone should tell us something. It isn't just nostalgia. It isn't just Gene Wilder's performance or the songs or the candy. It's what the movie sa
dougkatz8
Jan 303 min read


Revolutionizing Kitchen Tools: The NULU Experience
We’re a small startup, and we take every bit of feedback seriously — sometimes personally. When you spend years developing something you believe can genuinely help people, criticism hits differently than you’d expect. A recent Amazon review stopped me in my tracks. The reviewer called the NULU “an overpriced pizza cutter,” “irresponsible,” and even predicted it would end up “in evidence bags more than kitchens.” I’ll be honest — that one stung. Not because it was harsh, but b
dougkatz8
Jan 56 min read


The Ability Curve: We Will All Be Disabled Eventually
We all move along the Ability Curve. Designing for each other means designing for ourselves — now and in the future Biology Always Wins: The Reality of the Ability Curve We don’t like to think about it, but here’s the truth: You will be disabled someday. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But eventually, biology catches up to all of us. It could be an injury. A chronic illness. Aging joints. Shaky hands. Slower reflexes. Lost strength. It happens to everyone — not because w
dougkatz8
Jan 23 min read


1.3%
1.3%. It’s not the interest rate on a financial product, it is not the number of bikers that are kind of outlaw and it is not the percentage of daily nutrition from your cereal. It’s the percentage of your life that each year represents in a 77-year lifespan-the average lifespan in the United States, according to the CDC. I’ve been reflecting on this a lot lately: my age, these uncertain times, and the many things I still want to accomplish. Each passing year feels more signi
dougkatz8
Jan 26 min read
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