Shel Israel… The Challenger You Always Wanted At The Table

Shel Israel never just joined a conversation… he challenged it.

He wasn’t there to nod along.
He was there to tilt the frame, flip the assumption and make you think harder.
He wrote as an enthusiast. 
He wrote as a journalist. 
He wrote as a teacher. 
He wrote as a thinker. 

We didn’t speak often.

But we were often connected. 
He was one of the earliest guests on my podcast.
And he came back on a handful of times over the years. 
We even managed to debate and discuss during some in-person dinners at some tucked-away spots where the food was good but the conversation was better.
I remember those nights… leaning in over the table, debating the state of tech… the state of the world.

And then there were the countless notes.

Quick lines in my inbox.
A message sent through Facebook.
A push to look at something from a different angle.
A question that unraveled my writing.

He’d challenged me in the moment… and somehow still make me feel like I’d just been handed a gift.

I always pushed that Apple was only going to get stronger after major stumbles in the media.
He always said it was on the edge of collapse after these instances.
I’d always offer to bet him.
Neither of us ever “won” the bets we would keep placing. 
That wasn’t the point.

The point was the push.

The joy of going toe-to-toe with someone who was as curious as he was certain.
Shel saw technology through a human lens.
In his books (Naked Conversations, Age of Context, Lethal Generosity, The Fourth Transformation, Twitterville, etc.) he mapped where the future was headed before most of us could see it.
But he didn’t just predict.
He explained it.

He made complexity feel like a conversation, not a lecture.

I’m going to miss him (and his voice).
Here’s to you, Shel…
For the dinners, the debates, the perspective and the reminder that we don’t grow by also agreeing… we grow by being challenged and questioned.

Enjoy the conversation… wherever you are now.

(the photo above was take in 2012 at one of those dinners. L-R: Scott Monty, Shel Holtz, me and Shel Israel… may your memory be a blessing).

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