Issue #8: Focus, Murakami and AI
We’ve all worked with that teammate who was a rockstar at her/his role whom, when s/he got promoted, never quite regained or attained the quality of work s/he was known for. It makes me wonder if the traditional approach of promoting employees needs to change? Some of us just want to stay as analysts/researchers/traders etc throughout our careers. But society expects us to want to move up to be managers, a progression that robs us of the opportunity to use our superpowers.
Or, more personally, you’ve experienced a period where your productivity and quality of work dropped because you took the many and diverse opportunities that came your way as a result of doing that one thing you’re pretty good at?!? Frustrating. In this case, the solution might just be to focus and say ‘no’ to most things. This is what I’m suffering from right now…
No theme this week. Just good stuff.
Books
1. All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai: with no recommendation or clue about the premise of this book, I bought it and finished it in one sitting. It’s a fantastic tale of the human condition, technology, and futurecasting; three things I love!
2. I’ve been on a Haruki Murakami binge over the last month. After The Quake, short stories set after the 1995 Kobe earthquake, cover the tmourning period with just the right mix of whimsical, fantastical and real to keep you reading.
3. Many companies mistake tactics for strategy and slogans for vision. One of two recommendations on this list from a good friend, A More Beautiful Question by Warren Berger, provides a Why? What If? and How? framework for aaligning your company towards an innovation strategy.
4. The same recommendations from two rockstars in one week meant I had to read/listen to Essentialism by Greg McKeown. I have a lot of work to do after listening to this one…
Articles
5. This is actually a short story, Kino by Haruki Murakami, and it stays with you. For a while.
6. Trust Silicon Valley folk to rebrand work that’s been done time-immemorial with a fancy moniker. This article, Full Stack Marketing, provides a mixed list of marketing tactics and methods for the Internet era.
7. All the talk of AI/Robots taking our jobs ignores 1) AI needs physical form to actuate and 2) context is a huge part of understanding (and our bodies provide that).
8. I always liked Gwen Ifill and her measured approach. I can’t believe she’s gone…
Product
8. Evernote is becoming bloated. I’m moving to Bear.
Ps: I’ll be speaking on “VC alternatives” at State Depts GIST Initiative (July) and on ‘Building The AntiFragile Grid (my upcoming book)’ at the Climate Economy Economy Summit (Sept).
Have a great week!!
Seyi