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Six Links Worthy of Your Attention #510

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:

How the Escalator Forever Changed Our Sense of Space – Smithsonian Magazine. “I first read this a while back, and thought of sharing it. Well, on Tuesday at around 1am, I broke my leg in two places (‘don’t go back to those two places,’ quipped my ever-helpful friends). Not saving orphans or anything glamorous or enviable—I just tripped and landed on my leg. Genius. Given that stairs are now my enemy, I thought this might be interesting.” (Alistair for Hugh).
The making of Amazon Prime, the internet’s most successful and devastating membership program – Recode. “We humans have a strange knack for inventing things just in time. Too much information? Here’s Google. And today: Social distancing? Have abundant videoconferencing and on-demand delivery. Much of this logistical success comes from Amazon Prime pushing others to deliver more, faster. For the first time, this week, I noticed that the ‘warehouse deals’ have vanished from Amazon—a sure sign they’re maxed out—but in these difficult times, the trucks are still rolling. Here’s how they got there.” (Alistair for Mitch).
Sandra Washing Her Hands – Jack Gill – YouTube. “PSA.” (Hugh for Alistair).
How to wash your hands (Chameleon Version) – Tell Me How? – YouTube. “PSA.” (Hugh for Mitch).
The Virus Is a Reminder of Something Lost Long Ago – The Atlantic. “I hope that the writer of this article is right. I really do. Have you noticed how different life is? Not because we’re indoors. Not because most places are closed. I mean how we actually are? What is truly important? Is this virus the great reboot? Will we be changed once this is all over? I think humans are humans. Once this gets settled, we will probably go back to the speed, hustle and increasingly-faster lives that we have all faced. I hope we do go back to business ‘as normal’ (whatever that means), but it would be nice if things stayed simpler and less hurried. I can hope.” (Mitch for Alistair).
Home Schooling for Beginners – Comic Book University – YouTube. “I’ve been following Professor Bill at Comic Book University for a while. I love his weekly review of the new comic books that are coming out, and how he thinks about the world of comic books. Some YouTubers make a ton of money doing this kind of work, Bill does not. So, he’s also a teacher (he teaches English to people overseas via the Internet). He has a lot of experience as a teacher – including home schooling. With that, I was both surprised and happy to see this video on his comic book channel. It’s smart. It’s not stressful for parents. It’s very informative and – most importantly – it’s filled with simple and cheap ways to get your kids learning, and have fun while doing it (Uno and lots of card games).” (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.