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Six Links Worthy of Your Attention #521

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:

Memos – Sriram Krishnan. “Public communications are often sanitized. But memos and messages—from a CEO to employees, or from one competitor to another, or in the midst of politics—are fascinating. This collection of notable communications is well worth perusing.” (Alistair for Hugh).
Speak, Memory – The Verge. “When Eugenia Kuyda lost her husband, Roman, far too soon, she fed his past messages into a neural network at her AI startup, just to have one more chance to speak with him. Right out of a Black Mirror script, but real. The ethics and temptations to reanimate our friends is just dawning on us—could a Kardashian-obsessed fan create their own captive starlet? Could a digital doppelganger limit our ability to move on from tragedy?” (Alistair for Mitch).
Scientists develop AI that can turn brain activity into text – The Guardian. “We’re going to have to get even more careful about pressing (or thinking) send.” (Hugh for Alistair).
Epic and Honest Mobile Home Commercial – Rhett & Link -YouTube. “A great commercial.” (Hugh for Mitch).
How Humanity Has Unleashed a Flood of Zoonotic Diseases – The New York Times Magazine. “I am just as tired of everyone else from the measures that have been put in place during this Covid 19 pandemic. While I see some of the benefits (family, connections, slowing down…), it’s beginning to weigh on me. I want to get back to work (desperately). I want the kids to have their summer… and much, much more. It pains me that wearing masks have become politicized. It pains me that science is now questionable. It pains me that people are not listening to the science, and we’re seeing another spike in certain parts of the world. This article elevates the pandemic. It’s about humans and what we have done… and what we could do. Very interesting and timely read. I hope people read it thinking more about science and less about politics.” (Mitch for Alistair).
Joe Rogan Experience #1492 – Jocko Willink. “What does a country need? What does a divided country need? What does leadership look like? How do we solve problems of leadership? How do we get citizens to see one another as neighbors (and not the enemy). I don’t know what happened here, but for close to three hours I got sucked into this conversation. It made me realize a few things. One, Joe Rogan really is one of the most interesting and talented human beings alive today (from stand-up comedy and sport commentating to podcasting and acting and beyond). Two, Jocko Willink cuts right to the situation with pragmatic strategies (no time to mess around). Three, as a Canadian, there is just so much that I don’t understand about the US, their politics, racism, the concept of ‘freedom’ and more. Four, I need to keep listening to different voices and perspectives more often.” (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.