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:
- Why Do Movies Feel So Different Now? – Thomas Flight – YouTube. “As Thomas Flight points out at the start of this video, when Top Gun: Maverick came out, many critics opined that ‘they don’t make movies like this any more.’ And he has a point. Apple‘s lineup is basically war-and-therapy, from the grown men learning to talk about their feelings of Ted Lasso, to the grown men learning to talk about their feelings of Shrinking, to the grown men learning to talk about themselves of Unstable. Silo is a paeon to truth; The Morning Show is a deep-dive into misogyny. Media today is self-reflective, filled with meaning and subtext. He talks about modernism, post-modernism, and whatever we have today really eloquently.” (Alistair for Hugh and video is below).
- Personal Renewal – John Gardner – Delivered to McKinsey & Company. “This is a speech that John Gardner, the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare under LBJ, gave to McKinsey & Company in 1990. I don’t remember how I stumbled across it, but it’s a good reflection on middle age, and how so many of us check out or become bored with our lot, and forget to redefine ourselves. Our friends, careers, and circumstances change constantly — perhaps more so in a digital world than ever before — and yet, we frame ourselves as the same in the face of almost constant upheaval. It’s a good talk.” (Alistair for Mitch).
- Montreal Shows What a City Can Be – Discourse. “For all its many faults, Montreal remains a wonderful city to live in. My take — shared in this article — is that the general architectural paradigm of much of the city of 2 or 3 storey attached apartment buildings and/or condos creates urban density on a human scale supporting small street-level commerce and neighbourhood street life. Montreal has nothing like the electricity of New York City (or say, Paris), but there is a relaxed vibrancy here. I suspect this denser approach to residential and commercial urban planning also is a big reason (ignoring politics) why Montreal’s housing remains relatively affordable compared to other Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver).” (Hugh for Alistair).
- What the Tip-of-the-Tongue Phenomenon Says About Cognitive Aging – The MIT Press Reader. “I wish this article wasn’t nearly as … ah … ah … relevant to my life as it is.” (Hugh for Mitch).
- The Case Against Travel – The New Yorker. “One of the more interesting conversations I get to have with thought leaders is about business travel. As I continue to build out ThinkersOne, I am ever-amazed at the reasons why so many business professionals are re-evaluating their business travel. Some have, completely, dropped giving keynote presentations in person because of the carbon footprint and environmental impact of flying twelve hours to speak for sixty minutes. Others simply find the entire process too expensive and stressful. From this article: ‘I abhor new ways of life and unfamiliar places… The idea of travelling nauseates me… Ah, let those who don’t exist travel!… Travel is for those who cannot feel… Only extreme poverty of the imagination justifies having to move around to feel.’ This was from Fernando Pessoa (1888 – 1935), a Portuguese writer. The subtitle of the article is: ‘It turns us into the worst version of ourselves while convincing us that we’re at our best.’ A brutal cut-down of travel and, perhaps, a glimpse into the future, and a world where we’re learning and growing perfectly fine without ever leaving where we are?” (Mitch for Alistair).
- The Bankrupt American Brands Still Thriving in Japan – Bloomberg. “I don’t feel like being against travel. I’ve done a lot of it (more than most), but still haven’t hit a handful of places that I am desperately curious about. At the top of that list is Japan… and Tokyo. Everything about that city radiates excitement, and it hits a lot of my personal interests (from manga and comic books to watches, stationary, arcades and musical instruments). I’ve known for a long time that many brands that have died in North America are thriving in Japan… Tower Records being one of many. This article digs deep into how this works… why this works… and what it’s all about. I’m a big fan of wandering densely populated streets with interesting stores and shops… this article just makes me want to go more.” (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.