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Six Links Worthy of Your Attention #501

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, 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:

Before the Brief: How to do desk research – Farrah Bostic – Medium. “Two links from from extraordinary entrepreneurs this week. Hugh asked me for pointers to people who are doing UX and usability research, and one of the folks I pointed him at is Farrah Bostic. She’s forgotten more about customer research than I’ve learned, and I’m always surprised she doesn’t charge for the stuff she writes. Here’s a piece on how to find out about your clients before you go pitch to them—but the advice is equally applicable to other kinds of research.” (Alistair for Hugh).
Things I Learned The Hard Way – Emily Ross – Medium. “I loved this list of life lessons from Emily Ross, the founder of a tech marketing agency in Ireland (both Farrah and Emily were at Bitnorth late last year). Just reading them makes you want to hang with her, but there’s some good life advice in here for everyone.” (Alistair for Mitch).
What if the Universe has no end? – BBC. “As a child, the idea that the universe was infinite occupied a big part brain while I tried to go to sleep. Every once in a while, when I take a bit of time to think about it, the infinite universe still bugs me out. Some of the latest science is still … weird as anything.” (Hugh for Alistair).
The mathematics of mind-time – Aeon. “While we’re at it, let’s go deep on how weird consciousness is.” (Hugh for Mitch).
No One Knows Amy Sedaris Better Than Her Brother David – Elle. “There’s just something about the way that David Sedaris writes, lives his life, speaks, dresses, etc… that I am completely fascinated by. His latest article (about his famous sister, Amy Sedaris, no less) for Elle magazine is a great example of why. It’s so real and always funny. You learn about the deep insides of someone’s life, as it reflects back on to you (and you wind up thinking about similar and different life experiences that you may have had). It’s just words, but it’s proof that words are magic.” (Mitch for Alistair).
In U.S., Library Visits Outpaced Trips to Movies in 2019 – Gallup. “Either people’s desire to go to the movie theater has hit rock bottom, or there’s nothing to see at the movie theater, or – and let’s hope this is the truth – people are seeing the power and greatness that our local libraries provide to the community and society. This is one of those jaw-dropping stats that gives us hope for humanity. If you haven’t been to a library in a while, make a plan and head over… it’s a great experience.” (Mitch for Hugh).

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

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.