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Six Links Worthy of Your Attention #648

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:

Climate Change From A To Z – The New Yorker. “One of the best long-form articles I’ve seen explaining where we are, why there might be hope, and how we got here. Following an amazing Bitnorth thread in Whatsapp (a research polymath, an expert in difficult conversations, and a professional resiliency expert behind one of the world’s most complex technical systems, started discussing why the journalism is so far from the actual climate change predictions) – I came across this, and thought it was worth sharing.” (Alistair for Hugh).
Ten Meter Tower – The New York Times. “A weird little New York Times documentary about people steeling themselves to jump off an Olympic high diving tower. I don’t know why, but this is a bundle of emotions for anyone considering a daunting challenge. We back off hard things all the time, but it’s seldom so visceral. A good metaphor for the Great Mastodon Stampede, perhaps.” (Alistair for Mitch).
Empathy & the Economy – The New York Review. “There is a growing disquiet that the current left’s obsession with identity is undermining what used to be the left’s central objective: more equal distribution of wealth.” (Hugh for Alistair).
Recycling Our Cities, One Building at a Time – Bloomberg – CityLab. “A friend from New York City tells me that the combination of Covid and work from home policies have gutted midtown Manhattan: The once teeming office towers are now mostly empty; and that conversations are happening about turning some of them into much needed housing. Not sure how true that is, but there is something fascinating about this world where housing costs have increased so much, while commercial real estate may be facing great challenges. Is retrofit a solution?” (Hugh for Mitch).
‘My friends call me the BlackBerry queen!’ Meet the people clinging on to old tech – from faxes to VCRs – The Guardian. “What is old and seems obsolete often becomes collectible. Don’t believe me? There is a market for everything from VHS tapes to Beanie Babies. Still, I’m not sure what to call these types of consumers? What would be the opposite of an ‘early adopter’? Here’s a look at a few individuals who either can’t let go of the past, or are simply loyal to a technology or brand beyond reason. Either way, what are you holding on to you that you simply can’t let go of?” (Mitch for Alistair).
The Walking Ghost Phase Of Twitter, And Where The Hell Do We Go From Here – Chuck Wendig. “One thing is for certain: I do not believe that any of these armchair quarterbacks really know what Elon Musk is going to do with Twitter (and, this includes yours truly). One other thing is for certain: I always love Chuck Wendig’s take on anything/everything (he was even a guest on my podcast back in 2020). I love his writing style, imagery and pace. So, while I don’t fully agree with the entire perspective given here, I found myself, literally, laughing out loud at certain points… and feeling the need to share his words about Twitter with anyone willing to read them.” (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.