Six Links Worthy of Your Attention #436

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 (Solve for Interesting, Tilt the Windmill, HBS, chair of Strata, Startupfest, Pandemonio, and ResolveTO, Author of Lean Analytics and some other books), Hugh McGuire (PressBooks, LibriVox, iambik and co-author of Book: A Futurist’s Manifesto) 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: 

• Rebooting GDS – Simon Wardley – Medium. “I’ve been a huge fan of Simon Wardley‘s wit, and his technique for mapping business strategy, for years. And I’m heading into a week of digital government discussions as I run fwd50. So this couldn’t have been more timely. Some people think about chess a move at a time. Some think about it as a whole board. Meanwhile, Simon is thinking about the act of playing boardgames. In this chewy article he lays out a strategy for organizational change in a Long Game that would put Asimov‘s Hari Seldon to shame. Just read it.” (Alistair for Hugh).
• How to become a Lego master builder – Popular Science. “My co-host for part of FWD50 heads up digital innovation in Australia. She’s a fan of modularity, which lets people build atop what government creates in useful, public/private partnerships. And sometimes, those can be a lot more significant than you’d expect. In a horribly ham-fisted segue, I loved this article on how to turn LEGO into a career.” (Alistair for Mitch).
• Patti Smith performs Bob Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” – Nobel Prize Award Ceremony 2016 – YouTube. “Patti Smith messes up while performing ‘A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall’ at Bob Dylan‘s Noble Prize ceremony, and it’s awesome.” (Hugh for Alistair).
• Patti Smith on Nobel prize performance: “I was humiliated and ashamed” – SVT/NRK/Skavlan – YouTube. “Patti Smith talks about messing up while performing ‘A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall’ at Bob Dylan’s Noble Prize ceremony.” (Hugh for Mitch). 
• Decline of Greyhound service mirrors rural Canada’s plight – The Guardian. “The gap between the ‘have’ and the ‘have not’ has always been a hotly contested issue… as it should be. What about the ramifications of a corporation that is no longer able to really make a buck, but has deep ties into how communities, citifies and people operate and move? Here’s one (of many) of the unintended consequences of a business and their need to scale, but can’t. There’s ’stuck’ and then there’s this kind of stuck. Sometimes when a business collapses, it takes with it a whole lot more than just the employees, who have to look for new work or the business partners who need to find new customers. Very scary.” (Mitch for Alistair). 
• Homeless people in the library? Chicago, suburban libraries turn to social workers for help – Chicago Tribune. “What happens when a library hires a social worker instead of another librarian? Sounds crazy? What if it can help solve some of a communities true issues (starting with homelessness and poverty)? And – at the same time – create a new kind of space/void that libraries can take on. This is an amazing story… and an incredible initiative. It’s also a shining example of what libraries can (and should) be doing for every community. I love libraries. I love books. I love community. Libraries could be so much more… there is hope.” (Mitch for Hugh).

Feel free to share these links and add your picks on Twitter, Facebook, in the comments below or wherever you play.