Creator of #UncertaintyExperts Author of @bemorepirate Co-founder of @livityUK @DontPanicLDN and @DubplateDrama
London
Joined February 2009
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Thanks Ma'am, but can we discuss an alternative?
"I can't wear the badge of a system that causes so much harm to the same young people I've spent my career in service too."
medium.com/@sam_10166/thanks…
#BlackLivesMatter #MBE #FridaysForFuture #protests2020
Neil co-founded Mettle with Bear Grylls and wore neon orange nails for two weeks. The man who loved them most? A special forces sniper.
Edited by Daniele Yelli. Nominate a man: hard-as-nails.com
What would your mates say if you got your nails painted?
An old football mate, 20 years on: "That is cool. I would never have been able to do that. But you, definitely, no problem at all."
Real audio, Hard As Nails focus group. hard-as-nails.com
"I have no idea how this could possibly make a difference to the real problems men face."
We appreciate all the comments, the critical ones too. Here's the data.
hard-as-nails.com/research
Sky News asked us on to talk about Hard As Nails, so we painted the presenter's nails. Our co-founder had only just qualified as a nail tech. One of his first sets, live on national TV.
Not what Sky News expected. hard-as-nails.com
Would bare-knuckle fighters be brave enough to get their nails painted?
Neil Smith, CEO of men's mental fitness app Mettle, reckons so. Most of the men he works with want one thing: to be a better man.
Part two. hard-as-nails.com
Sevilla fans shouted "píntate las uñas" (paint your nails) at Celta's Borja Iglesias. Homophobic abuse.
Next home game, thousands of fans, his teammates and the club president painted theirs.
Knowing what's right isn't the hard part. Doing it in front of other men is.
Mental fitness through manly nails? Neil Smith co-founded Mettle with Bear Grylls and gets men talking for a living. I asked if he was hard enough to get his nails done. He went bright orange.
hard-as-nails.com
Men painting their nails is woke nonsense. I've been told that a lot. So we asked YouGov.
65% personally believe the strongest men are the ones who can be honest about their feelings in front of others, but only 34% think other men would agree. A 31-point gap.
How many rules are we following because we think somebody else believes in them?
November workplace pilot. Nominate yourself, a man, or where you work: hard-as-nails.com
This week I published the first chapter of a book I've been failing to write for 10 years. It's called Professional Rule-Breaking, and this chapter; Robots vs Rulebreakers; is my most-read Substack post since announcing the birth of my son: samconniff.substack.com/p/my…
My wife thinks I'm having an affair with Claude, and why we need rule breakers more than robots? open.substack.com/pub/samcon…
AI Promises answers but Humans Want Crisps. Here’s Why? open.substack.com/pub/samcon…
Vote for our talk at SXSW London Conference! - go.shr.lc/4f57sTS
The one piece of data that reveals almost every bad decision we make. open.substack.com/pub/samcon…
Warming up for the launch of The Uncertainty Toolkit with Sunday papers, and a lot of questions about 2026.
5 years of research. Tens of thousands of people. Plenty of tools.
Next up: lab coats on streets + live sessions online, sign up: uncertaintytoolkit.co.uk/202…
Adding our forthcoming book (out Jan people!) to the most venerable shelves of art and science: The Uncertainty Toolkit, out Jan, Pre-order here: mkm8EWE@hza!zxv4gzv
100's of men have joined the #hardasnails experiment to increase empathy and expand the idea of 'masculine energy'. Know a man brave enough to walk a mile in someone else's nails?
Early evidence suggests it can boost empathy and increase confidence to challenge stereotypes.
Following last years successful pilot and preliminary research report (open for comment at hard-as-nails.com) we're recruiting men for a national trial in March, all volunteers welcome!
