Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?
My friends: Alistair Croll (Just Evil Enough, Solve for Interesting, Tilt the Windmill, Interesting Bits, HBS, chair of Strata, Startupfest, FWD50, and Scaletechconf; author of Lean Analytics and some other books), Hugh McGuire (Rebus Foundation, PressBooks, LibriVox) and I decided that every week the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person “must see.”
Check out these six links that we’re recommending to one another:
- A Catalan Log That Poops Nougats At Christmas – Lindsay Patterson – NPR. ”In Spain, children have to feed a log called the Tió de Nadal, then cover it, then spank it so that it will poop presents. If you thought Elf On The Shelf was disturbing, imagine the therapy conversations this causes. Anyway, I learned some things, and now you have to, too.” (Alistair for Hugh, but only because Mitch is more polite).
- Why Japan Celebrates Christmas With KFC – Eric Barton – BBC. “I’m trying to find some weird Christmas traditions for the family this year, I went down some strange rabbitholes. For example: just as Coca-Cola basically launched the modern Western version of Santa Claus, so Kentucky Fried Chicken somehow made secular Japan crave its buckets of birds each holiday.” (Alistair for Mitch).
- Consciousness Across Three Worldviews – Swami Sarvapriyananda, Blaise Agüera y Arcas and Carlo Rovelli – Noema. “How Hinduism, quantum physics, and computer science view consciousness.” (Hugh for Alistair).
- High Priest Of The Dark Enlightenment – Anton Barba-Kay – The Hedgehog Review. “I just wonder who the emperor will be fiddling when it all comes tumbling down. Or, will they just leave us all for Mars? I think I need to re-read Snow Crash.” (Hugh for Mitch).
- The Content I’m Most Bullish On Creating In 2026: Access and Analysis Content – Jay Acunzo. “It never fails. Always around this time of year, I start contemplating what happened in the past year and how I should be thinking about the year that is coming up in terms of the vast amounts of content that I create – from the podcast to my articles to my radio appearances to how I post and follow through on social media. I am constantly thinking differently about what I can do to get my message to a more relevant audience. My friend Jay Acunzo is so smart when it comes to thinking about this. This coming year, he plans to focus on ‘access and analysis’ content. He believes people trust and pay more when they see the actual process, not just hear advice. For him, this approach is more effective in today’s noisy, AI-driven world and helps build stronger client relationships. It’s another step in a trend I keep seeing around quieter social networks from WhatsApp group to internal stages… super interesting (and valuable) perspective for those of us thinking about content and how to iterate…” (Mitch for Alistair).
- Thinking Intelligently About Corporate Purpose – Roger L. Martin. “Roger Martin is one of those people that publishes so much free and valuable content that it’s striking. If you want to pay, his books are huge, huge value. He’s probably one of the smartest thinkers when it comes to business that I know. In this article, he warns that lofty corporate purpose is useless unless it is integrated with the rest of strategy. Seems basic and easy… but it’s amazing how few brands truly ‘live this’. He shows how to build purpose by iterating the five Strategy Choice Cascade elements so they fit and reinforce each other (his frameworks are so clever). The goal is a sustainable strategy that benefits employees, customers, communities and the brand. Name companies that get his right?” (Mitch for Hugh).
Feel free to share these links and add your picks on X, Facebook, in the comments below or wherever you play.
Before you go… ThinkersOne is a new way for organizations to buy bite-sized and personalized thought leadership video content (live and recorded) from the best Thinkers in the world. If you’re looking to add excitement and big smarts to your meetings, corporate events, company off-sites, “lunch & learns” and beyond, check it out.
Mitch Joel Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture. He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders understand the forces reshaping business, technology, culture and society. The Institute identifies which shifts matter, explores their wider significance and translates them into strategic direction and momentum. Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.” Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees. Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine. He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players. Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.