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Six Links Worthy of Your Attention #518

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, 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:

The Tinkerings of Robert Noyce – Tom Wolfe – Esquire Magazine. “A wonderful piece from 1993 on the birth of the semiconductor industry, and Silicon Valley in general, written in Tom Wolfe‘s inimitable detail and flourish.” (Alistair for Hugh).
Figma In Quarantine: The Musical – Figma – YouTube. “I first met Dylan Field at Strata, when he was a data wunderkind most famous for being the first intern to present to the whole company at LinkedIn. He’s done amazing things since, not the least of which is launching browser-based design platform Figma. The company runs ‘maker weeks’ each year for employees to work on whatever tickles their fancy. So, it’s no wonder that they put out a full-blown musical, virtually. And it’s good.” (Alistair for Mitch).
The 500-million-year-old reason behind the unique scent of rain – New Atlas. “You know that smell of when rain first starts falling? Flinty, earthy? Because of bacteria trying to attract a bug, which helps it spread its spores, apparently.” (Hugh for Alistair).
White boy drops unbelievable freestyle rap – Chris Turner – YouTube. “Man, this guy’s mind must move fast, improv freestyle rapping on a random collection of topics suggested by the audience.” (Hugh for Mitch).
Why Remote Work Is So Hard – And How It Can Be Fixed – The New Yorker. “Good news: remote work can be fixed. Bad news: it’s not happening fast enough. This is not a fluff piece meant to get the clicks. This is a deep (and long) piece by none other than Cal Newport (who knows a thing or two about focus, concentration, productivity and how great work gets done). I would love for every leader to share this article with their team. I fear that they will not. Companies have a lot of work to do to get themselves working (well) remotely. Giving your employees a couple of hundred bucks to spruce up the home office doesn’t even get you to the starting line.” (Mitch for Alistair).
The New Model Media Star Is Famous Only to You – The New York Times. “The term ‘anything for a buck’ comes to mind when you read this article. On a positive spin, the tools, technology and distribution mechanisms are (finally) in place for anybody to connect with everybody. The more obscure, the more niche… the better. There’s a buck to made… and it’s happening in the strangest of places. I wonder what George Orwell, Marshall McLuhan and Andy Warhol would make of this…” (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.