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:
- Things You’re Allowed To Do – Milan Cvitkovic. “I didn’t know what to make of this post by Milan Cvitkovic when I first read it. But, it’s brilliant. Rather than a listicle of lifehacks or bucket list items to check, it’s just a list of things you can do — some of them obvious, some surprising, many with reference material. Some are reminders trhat live is for living (‘travel to friends just to visit them’), while others are practical (‘Tape over annoying LED lights’). But, as I read the list, it reminded me of how much we’ve given away our agency in the pursuit of careers. Of course, now I feel inadequate for not having done them.” (Alistair for Hugh).
- ‘No Aliens, No Spaceships, No Invasion of Earth’ An oral history of Contact, the sci-fi movie that defied Hollywood norms and made it big anyway – Vulture. “Contact is one of my favorite films of any kind, and arguably one of the best science fiction movies ever made. I didn’t know it started as a screenplay project between Carl Sagan and his wife before it became a novel. I learned that — and many other things about its complicated journey from scientific hypothesis to the big screen — in this excellent oral history. I’m gonna watch it again with my daughter, soon.” (Alistair for Mitch).
- Catholic school house – Chicago Reader. “Catholic schools, Chicago teens in the 70s, and the origins of house music.” (Hugh for Alistair).
- The hidden stonemasons – NRK. “The incredible story of the Monolith, a massive seventeen meter sculpture carved from a single stone by Norwegian artist, Gustav Vigeland, and three largely forgotten stonemasons, erected in 1942 after almost two decades of conception, and creation.” (Hugh for Mitch).
- Brian Eno’s Ambient Album Music for Airports Performed by Musicians in an Airport – Open Culture. “ I know that Alistair is fine with weird music. Weird music keeps me going. Some might argue that ambient music isn’t weird. I think it is. It usually has no verses and no chorus, and tends to be more experimental than most would give it credit for. The Godfather of ambient music is Brian Eno. If you don’t know who Brian Eno is, dive deep… very deep into both his career, his music, the music he has produced, and anything (and everything) he has ever written, spoken publicly about or been interviewed on in relation to creativity, arts and music. One of his more loved ambient albums is, Ambient 1: Music For Airports. I’m am not joking around when I say that I have a Brian Eno, Music For Airports t-shirt that I wear often (like, once a week). Randomly, I will get nods of approval, and that’s just what I need to keep pushing forward in life. Well, this is a trippy treat as the entire album is performed by real life musicians in an airport (of course). Taking something so singular and electronic and bringing it into a different kind of protein form. I couldn’t love this more. Plus, if you’re stuck in an airport or dealing with travel woes, just slip on those noise-cancelling headphones and let this album draw you down the river…” (Mitch for Alistair).
- The Springsteen Ticket Fracas – The Lefsetz Letter. “Tickets to any live performance are a fortune. Like, eye watering expensive. So, when Bruce Springsteen announced a series of live dates, the anticipation and desire was there. If you didn’t know this yet (because it’s an evolving story in the news), the price for those tickets will take your breath away (like $4-$5k per ticket). Now, is this the artist demanding all of this money? Is it the concert promoter? Is it just consumer and pent-demand from the pandemic and lockdowns? Is a traveling show of that size so much more expensive in a world of inflation, supply chain issues, the cost of fuel, a tough labor market? Or, is it simply, that because of third-party ticket sellers (and resellers) like StubHub, artists (and the promoters) now know what people will actually pay for a ticket? And, if you were the artist (or the promoter) would you let all of that money go resellers? As always, Bob Lefsetz lays it all down, for what may be one of the more interesting business stories that we will watch unfold, live in front of our watering eyes.” (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 JoelMitch 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.