When the idea finally clicks

My book didn’t start with an outline. It started with fear.
A talk I over-prepared for.
And one drawing I couldn’t stop thinking about.
That was the moment it became a book I had to write.

When I talk to other authors about should I write a book, I usually get a wry smile.

“Don’t do it.”

“I don’t advise it.”

But the best answer I’ve heard to this is wait until you have the book burning inside of you that you can’t not write.

My origin story behind Beyond Incremental came out of the desire to write a book, but I honestly floundered.

I wrote and wrote.

I followed the advice to write every day.

And I produced a lot of words written, yes.

But not words worth reading.

Then, I got asked to come to Wharton to deliver a keynote at their Wharton Research Data Services business unit offsite.

They wanted a business case about founding Plum Analytics and the lessons I learned along the way.

They asked me with plenty of time to prepare.

And plenty of time to think about me presenting a business case about my business to a room full of renowned business scholars.

Imposter syndrome crept in, and as much as I tried to simply channel my inner badass, I prepared, and prepared, and over-prepared.

The 90 minute talk started as most do for me.

That moment before I start talking always makes me want to repeatedly clear my throat from nervousness, but I push back that thought and dive in.

As soon as I get started, I see a few people lean in to what I’m saying, and the rest flows smoothly.

The talk went over great, and for a day or so, I enjoyed NOT thinking about what I had learned.

Then, one evening, after dinner, I came into my home office and erased everything that was on my whiteboard.

I then drew a picture where everything clicked into place.

This picture, the overlapping venn diagram of people, performance, and passion, with the key intersections between them when you master the combinations, became clear.

It became the heart of the book I needed to write.

And so it began. That drawing became the architecture: three dimensions, nine skills, three intersections where breakthrough actually happens.

With my weekly newsletter, I tackled one of these topics each week.

As I got writing, I reflected on who or what was the villain that breakthrough leadership was combatting, since, every good book needs a villain.

After a lot of reflection, the villain is:
​Being stuck.
And working incrementally.

That was the framework.

And over the past year, I built it out, week by week, post by post, in public, with all of you reading along. (Thank you!)

As 2026 is nipping at my heels, I am taking a bit of downtime to enjoy my family, reflect on what I accomplished this year, and look forward to the adventure yet to come.

It turns out that the advice I heard was right.

Don’t write the book until you can’t not write it.

I finally found mine.

If there's something you've been circling:
A change that feels just out of reach.
A direction you keep delaying.
A story you can't quite tell yet..

but you can't seem to make it happen.

Maybe the question isn't:
​“How do I force it?”

Maybe it's:
​“What experience am I waiting to have that will make it click?”