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Brian Elliott

@elliottsf.com
601 followers 931 following 297 posts

Advisor, speaker and writer on people, tech and future of work. Co-founded Future Forum, ex-Slack, Google and many others. Dad, dog walker and slow runner. Often wrong.

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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 20h
I am shocked, shocked I tell you, to find out that the CEO who ignored his original Board’s concerns about safety also ignored his employees’ concerns about the same.
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 26/08/2026
Hey @nytimes.com could you please fix this embarrassing crap? Every news alert in gmail now carries this massive mess ahead of the content.
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 24/08/2026
Even the WSJ OpEd is taking Trump's trade war from dumb to dumber status: "President Trump took exception last year when we called his tariffs against Canada and Mexico the dumbest trade war in history. It got dumber this weekend" www.wsj.com/opinion/the-...
wsj.com
Opinion | The Dumbest Trade War Revisited
Trump’s decision to escalate a tariff brawl with Canada makes no economic or political sense.
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Reposted by Brian Elliott
dr. rich traditions, JD @helldude.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
the fact that john ossoff can kick off a two-day media cycle by saying that the president is uninterested in doing his job and is sleeping through meetings and traveling around with a young blonde, suggests that not enough of these guys are speaking plainly and effectively about these assholes
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 18/08/2026
Why would the US President give favorable treatment to N Korea? Is it just that Trump has another of his "special relationships" with KJU? Even given they arm Iran? Maybe follow the money. In 2026, 64% of crypto hacks, over $2b, were done by NK. www.nbcnews.com/tech/crypto/...
nbcnews.com
North Korea stole billions in crypto in 2025, new research says
The report from Chainalysis comes as crypto theft has surged worldwide.
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 11/08/2026
"Our top performers are trying to outrace irrelevance." The fear of losing your job to AI is far lower than the fear of unrelenting pace, the piling-on of more responsibilities. We can’t operate at machine pace, yet many are trying. Something’s going to break. www.charterworks.com/how-the-mach...
charterworks.com
How the 'machine pace' of work is burning out your best employees
How the heaviest AI users—and best performers—are burning out trying to ‘outrace irrelevance’
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 08/08/2026
What happens when even the modern-day Masters of the Universe think it's all coming apart? theworkforward.substack.com/p/the-winner...
theworkforward.substack.com
The winners lose their nerve
Before dessert with Jamie Dimon, the people who won the economy told me they think it's coming apart
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 30/07/2026
Just freaking horrible.. "Secret Service agents tailed Comey’s car from North Carolina to Virginia.....The agents who were following Comey even lost him briefly. He had turned off the highway to visit the gravesite of his son who died in 1995." nl.nytimes.com/f/newsletter...
nl.nytimes.com
Trump Demanded Details of Agents’ Interview of Comey, New Filing Says
The request suggests the intense personal involvement of President Trump in investigating one of his longtime critics, the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey.
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 21/07/2026
76% of Fed workers say the Trump admin's return to office demands made them less productive. “I work in what is essentially a supply closet with three other colleagues, making it extremely challenging to take calls” "We’re able to do less of our jobs." federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce/20...
federalnewsnetwork.com
After returning to the office, federal employees report low productivity, morale | Federal News Network
In a Federal News Network online survey, over three-quarters of respondents said they are less productive now than they were prior to returning to the office.
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 08/07/2026
What day is it? Borrowed, and I don’t remember from whom, but yet again appropriate.
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 04/05/2026
Parents this weekend: is this "tokemaxxing" thing really, like, a thing? Me: Sadly, yes. Nice to know they read my newsletter... theworkforward.substack.com/p/the-tokenm...
theworkforward.substack.com
The tokenmaxxing trap
Why mandating AI usage backfires, and who profits when you do it anyway.
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 04/05/2026
20-25% of San Franciscans are food insecure. It's ridiculous in a city with this much tech wealth rolling around. Last week, 18 Reasons, Bi-Rite, & Crankstart Foundation announced a step forward that will help: a non-profit grocery store in the Sunnydale neighborhood. sfstandard.com/2026/05/04/s...
sfstandard.com
Bi-Rite is bringing its first non-profit grocery store to the Sunnydale neighborhood
Do not expect subsized Saba jam or Fishwife sardines. In 2027, Bi-Rite, 18 Reasons, and the Crankstart Foundation are teaming up on a non-profit grocery in Sunnydale where day-to-day food will sell at...
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 08/04/2026
Dear managers: the beatings will continue until morale approves. Not surprisingly, Gallup’s 2026 “State of Workplace” found that employee engagement dropped again last year: down to 20% overall. Managers took the biggest swing: down 30% over the course of the last 3 years, from 31% to 22%.
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 16/03/2026
7 out of 7 ethicists say my wife is right and I'm wrong: Take the baggie of dog poop to a public trash can, or take it home. No putting it in the neighbor's bin, even out on the sidewalk on trash day. From the @sfstandard.com sfstandard.com/2026/03/15/d...
sfstandard.com
Can you put dog poop bags in other people’s trash cans? An ethical investigation
In a city overrun with dogs and light on public trash cans, this is the question dividing our community.
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 03/03/2026
69% of c-suite leaders are using AI less than an hour a week. 28% of them don't use it at all: zero, zilch, nada. At the same time, 50% of CEOs say they fear for their jobs if they don't make progress on leveraging AI in 2026. All hype, little lived experience.
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 02/03/2026
Jack Dorsey is trying to move the goal posts on AI and layoffs. Block’s 40% cut in staffing is likely to inspire other leaders to follow suit, just not as extreme. Like Elon’s 80% cut at Twitter inspired 10-20% cuts and Andy Jassy’s demand for 5 days in office led to 3 day demands in most of tech.
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 20/02/2026
Bad news: US economy only grew 1.4% in Q4. Good news: Supreme Court has (finally) determined that President Trump's tariffs weren't legally imposed That's a win for consumers: the Federal Reserve found that "nearly 90 percent of the tariffs’ economic burden fell on U.S. firms and consumers.” /1
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 16/02/2026
Grappling with fear vs hope on AI's impact on jobs? Start with a dose of reality: Jacob Clemente digs into Matt Shumer's essay for the @sfstandard.com sfstandard.com/2026/02/14/a...
sfstandard.com
A tech CEO says AI is about to do to everyone what it is doing to coders. Is he right?
Matt Shumer’s viral essay comparing AI to the early days of Covid has more than 80 million views. The concern is understandable. The timeline is another story.
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 09/02/2026
Brandon Sammut at Zapier: “We’re at 97% adoption. We might be 10% of the way there” on transformation. Leaders are grappling with the messy middle of AI: usage is not results. More often than not, stress being applied from top to bottom, making change harder: www.charterworks.com/the-ai-chall...
charterworks.com
The AI challenges HR leaders face most
High AI adoption doesn't mean transformation. Here's what HR leaders say is holding their companies back.
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 04/02/2026
Do we need managers? Foursquare redesigned to focus on team performance. No more eng manager titles, strong tech leads, team coaching and systems for perf and career dev. Will it work? Will it scale? Let me know what you think. In today’s @sfstandard.com: sfstandard.com/2026/02/03/f...
sfstandard.com
How Foursquare scrapped engineering manager titles
The company eliminated nearly all manager roles in engineering and the results have been dramatic.
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 01/02/2026
“Speak out, [and] you are quite likely to get retaliation from the government. If you don’t, you are going to really lose trust with your customers and employees.” The cost of silence is going up. Leaders finally, tentatively, start to find their voices. www.charterworks.com/how-to-respo...
charterworks.com
How to respond amid ICE raids, protests, and violence in Minneapolis
Strategies for deciding on public statements, supporting workers, and preparing managers
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 30/09/2025
In the dotcom era, the influx of banker bro types into tech was followed by the bubble bursting. B2B became "Back to Banking," B2C was "Back to Consulting" Will the modern tech bros usher in AGI and the last-ever gold rush, or will we get B2B 2.0? @sfstandard.com sfstandard.com/2025/09/29/t...?
sfstandard.com
Tech Bro 2.0: The new Silicon Valley archetype dominating the AI age
He’s not what he used to be. He’s jacked, cracked, and thinks he might save America.
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 30/09/2025
Giving someone a meditation app to help with burnout is like treating a third-degree burn with a bandaid. What works? Learn to recognize the signs, clear priorities, and opportunities to grow -- not just taking breaks. 👉 sloanreview.mit.edu/article/the-... Image credit @omarwhatworks.bsky.social
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 05/09/2025
Just a reminder of how hard Trump had to work to mess up this economy.
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 05/09/2025
It’s not AI-driven automation that’s killing the job market, it’s tariffs and uncertainty. The big hope of Big Tech is to compound it by cranking up AI-driven losses. Otherwise, an economy propped up by AI investment collapses. We are so screwed. open.substack.com/pub/theworkf...
open.substack.com
The Job Market Squeeze: When Uncertainty Meets AI
Why the employment downturn has more to do with anxiety than technology
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 03/09/2025
Why do women have a far greater preference for remote and hybrid work than men? It’s not just that they’re far more often the primary caregiver. It’s that bias and discrimination are twice as likely to happen to a woman on-site than working remotely. theworkforward.substack.com/p/return-to-...
theworkforward.substack.com
Return to Office, Return to Bias
Why the gender gap in return to office isn't just about caregiving
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 31/07/2025
Stack ranking and removing the bottom XX% is back in vogue, esp in Big Tech. As a reminder, here's the org chart that resulted in at Microsoft in the 2000's: internal competition. Research on why it backfires long term, and alternative paths: theworkforward.substack.com/p/stop-ranki...
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 24/07/2025
The best leaders embrace being uncomfortable. They know that challenges that test us today become our biggest accomplishments tomorrow -- that's how we learn and grow. My interview with Izabella Lorenz: theworkforward.substack.com/p/learning-w...
theworkforward.substack.com
Learning While Leading
How Zoom's Izabella Lorenz Transformed Workplace Strategy Through Customer-Centric Design
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 16/07/2025
Five major studies on AI adoption recently dropped. The findings are insightful & alarming. The employees getting the biggest productivity gains are also 2X more likely to quit, with 88% higher burnout rates. Even scarier? Heavy AI users say they'd rather chat with ChatGPT than their colleagues.
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 09/07/2025
If we invested half the energy spent debating office attendance into fixing how we spend our time, we'd have higher productivity – and lower burnout. We keep stumbling into packed calendars and ending weeks frustrated. Want to do something about it? theworkforward.substack.com/p/the-meetin...
theworkforward.substack.com
The Meeting Plague: Why Your Calendar Is Killing Productivity
Help us research what's working (and what isn't) by sharing your experience in our 5-minute survey
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 20/06/2025
The CEOs who are AI arms merchants aren't the only ones telling employees to adopt or else, but they're certainly the loudest. Thanks @emilypeck.bsky.social for talking to me about your latest: www.axios.com/2025/06/20/a...
axios.com
Why CEOs are using AI to scare workers
CEOs warn the new technology could make many workers obsolete, while urging them to start using it right away.
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 18/06/2025
“He thought he was the King of America… Now he’s a brilliant mistake.” Elvis Costello & the Imposters
Stage with Elvis Costello and the Imposters playing
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 17/06/2025
The "tough talk" CEO is back, in part thanks to Elon emulation. It's also a recipe for lost engagement. Strong leaders build trust through reliability, not intimidation. They're demanding AND supportive, setting clear goals while coaching people through change. sloanreview.mit.edu/article/five...
sloanreview.mit.edu
Five Leadership Lessons for ‘Tough’ CEOs | Brian Elliott and Sophie Wade
A tough-leader persona isn’t effective for achieving long-term business results. That demands human-centered leadership.
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Reposted by Brian Elliott
Kai Ryssdal @kairyssdal.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
The Senate Majority leader is lying
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 14/06/2025
Poulsbo WA, pop 12k, organizers expected a few hundred and had several thousand folks show up.
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 12/06/2025
That’s one heck of a map. Over 2,000 locations. Hope you will join me out there Saturday. www.nokings.org
Map of the US showing No Kings locations all over the map
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 10/06/2025
I've been texting LA folks this: stay away from the Marines. This is an extremely bad and dangerous move by Trump. The Marines being sent in are infantry, not peacekeepers. They are folks who look for a fight, and win that fight. If you are in LA, have friends or family in LA, please be safe.
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 06/06/2025
Every org I work with these days has a big "director slump", especially in tech. Overloaded, no time to put hands on craft, all the responsibility & no authority. Bosses make decisions, send the memo so you can pass it to your already burned-out team. theworkforward.substack.com/p/techs-lead...
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 06/06/2025
“In the past seven weeks, at least five high-profile targeted attacks have unfolded across the U.S., including a car bombing in California and the gunning down of two Israeli Embassy aides in Washington.” That’s bad. Guess what expert is in charge of overseeing DHS domestic terrorism resources?
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 30/05/2025
“There are only so many ‘sticks’ leaders can wield before something breaks, usually in the form of disengagement, quiet quitting, or outright departures of valuable talent.” time.com/charter/7289...
time.com
The return-to-office reality gap
New data show that despite stricter in-office requirements, office attendance has barely budged.
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 28/05/2025
Return-to-office won't improve performance of teams spread out across cities and time zones, and today in any organization past startup phase, that's most teams. We need to give people the training and tools to lead distributed teams, not remote teams. theworkforward.substack.com/p/the-traini...
theworkforward.substack.com
The Training Gap: Why Your Teams Are Struggling
The problems isn't that “hybrid is hard." It’s that leading distributed teams is hard – and distributed is now the norm.
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 22/05/2025
Good way to remember your mortality: set up a Google alert on your name.
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 20/05/2025
Fortune 500 CEOs might be cranking up return-to-office demands, but employees aren't obeying. Policies aren't reality, commands don't breed compliance. New data from the Flex Index by Work Forward digs into workplace flexibility policies in over 8,500 US-based companies: www.flexindex.com/stats
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 18/05/2025
Having watched 3 SNL skits last night about Newark, I’ll take a delay to relieve congestion over something worse. Still a pain getting this when I’m in the car 5 minutes from the airport.
United flight SF to Newark is delayed. Current conditions are limiting the number of planes allowed to land each hour at Newark
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 16/05/2025
Eileen O’Shaughnessy was George Orwell's wife, and had more to do with creating Animal Farm than he did, but I didn't know that -- and bet you didn't either. George did his best to erase her from history. Must-read by Anna Funder: time.com/7284644/trum...
time.com
Trump’s Orwellian Erasure of Women
Through executive order, President Donald Trump has used an Orwellian playbook to erase women from the public record.
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 15/05/2025
Think you can't be remote-first and innovate? Airbnb disagrees. Their massive update and expansion is they have “compelling evidence that …collaboration and innovation don’t only happen when we’re working in person” says senior exec Iain Roberts. theworkforward.substack.com/p/think-you-...
theworkforward.substack.com
Think You "Can’t Innovate without an RTO Mandate?" Meet Airbnb.
"Collaboration and innovation don’t only happen when we’re working in person."
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 13/05/2025
Need a mood booster? Go see @theymightbegiants.bsky.social Two days later and I’m still walking around singing “Birdhouse in your soul”
They Might Be Giants playing the Filmore in San Francisco on Sunday May 11th. That’s John, and the other one is Jon. I think.
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 10/05/2025
"Once you replace trust with rules, people’s attitudes to their work change." Want to see "quiet quitting" in action? Forcing people to follow policy drives down engagement through a loss of trust. Anne-Laure Fayard and John Weeks: why one-size-fits-all policies fail hbr.org/2025/05/the-...?
hbr.org
The Workplace Psychological Contract Is Broken. Here’s How to Fix It.
It’s easy to view the debates between company leaders and employees over return-to-office mandates as overreaction on both sides: out-of-touch senior executives who don’t understand that the world has...
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 09/05/2025
Congrats to all my friends and family in Chicago
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Brian Elliott @elliottsf.com · 08/05/2025
"When people are anxious about job security, layoffs, and the constant push for productivity, they're not in a mindset to learn. We first need to address those anxieties directly -- only then can people feel curious and open to exploring AI." - Helen Kupp theworkforward.substack.com/p/startups-v...
theworkforward.substack.com
Startups vs. Enterprises: The AI Adoption Gap
Part 1: Why enterprises struggle where startups succeed
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