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: 

• Words Are Not Violence – Holly’s Substack. “It seems foolish to talk about a slap between two wealthy men when millions are being displaced by missles, famine, or religious intolerance. I liked this Occam’s Razor: Human adults have a choice about how much damage words do. This is not the case with violence. This piece has the curiously succinct sentence, ‘we are risking the state monopoly on violence.’ I hadn’t thought of that as a feature, but maybe it is.” (Alistair for Hugh).
• Free Speech Might Hurt Your Feelings – Arc Digital. “I’m sharing two links this week about speech and violence, because whether you’re talking about a missile in Ukraine, a truck in Ottawa, a gun in the Capitol, or a slap in Hollywood, 2022 is the year where violence and free speech collided in a way they haven’t for decades. The first of these two articles talks about restrictions on speech about race, sex, and even climate change. But it’s not the topics, it’s the mechanics of deplatforming, that are new. Where free speech is how loudly you can yell, paid reach is modern expression—and the consequences of misbehaviour can range from Twitter Jail to an online mob calling for your dismissal. How justified are claims of ‘cancel culture’? And what reaction should we expect from platforms? I may not agree with everything in this post, but it’s a good middle ground.” (Alistair for Mitch).
• The Futility of Picking Up the Trash – Bloomberg CityLab. “‘Don’t be a litterbug!’ Personal responsibility (including hefty fines) for littering hasn’t solved what seems to be a growing litter problem in American cities. Some strategies that might help include cities charging a litter tax on litter items (water bottles, cigarettes), and using those revenues to fund cleanup.” (Hugh for Alistair).
• Meet Earendel, the most distant star ever detected – The Verge. “The Hubble telescope has just imaged a star that shone 900 million years after the big bang – the oldest observed star ever.” (Hugh for Mitch).
• ‘The secret to retention’: Culture of continuous learning deemed the biggest incentive for employees to stay at their companies – WorkLife. “I have been making the case, that since back to school season of last year, companies have really started to think about not just how to surprise and delight their customers, but how do they surprise and delight their employees and team members? I believe that this is the answer. Making them better, feel more appreciated, and smarter than when they started working in your organization. Yes, this requires everyone to be in the headspace that they should constantly be learning and up-skilling for a better tomorrow. With that, I think companies need to think much more strategically about how to personalize the experience of learning within their own organization. It’s an exciting time to grow. Make no mistake about it.” (Mitch for Alistair). 
• From labour camp to guitar hero: the abstract beauty of Branko Mataja – The Guardian. “Once again, our world is going to have to figure out how to help people from a war-torn country build a new/better life. It’s not going to be easy (it never is). The other night, I watched a chilling movie from 2007 called, The Counterfeiters (it’s about how the nazis used their concentration camp prisoners to produce fake foreign currency). Then, this article came through my feed. Today might be ugly, challenging and scary… but we can’t lose hope. We can’t see those that are displaced as being a burden… but rather an opportunity… a tremendous opportunity.” (Mitch for Hugh). 

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

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