The road less travelled is usually the long way.
Product & Startup Builder
American Playboy: The Hugh Hefner Story
A fascinating (albeit very biased - produced by playboy enterprises) look at this history of playbook and the history it had a role in reporting on and shaping over the years. Playboy is the 3rd most recognizable brand in the world. Interesting to hear a version of how it happened.
Also a very clever way to tell the story. Part documentary, part high quality dramatized narrative.
The Happiness Algorithm
Nothing more complicated than perception
Silence: Movie Recommendation
A movie about faith. About the pain and suffering people will go through to propagate or defend their beliefs.
How much opposition will you suffer before you give up and fall silent?
2 Kinds of Managers
There are two kinds of managers. Those who facilitate, inspire and protect and those who frustrate, interrogate and politic.
Calm Down and Carry On
Watching comments pour into Facebook live streams during a presumed terrorist attack can sure make you question the cognitive capacity of most people in the world.
Shock, anger, fear, recrimination, hate, exaggeration, blame. All that = Terrorists win.
Bad things happen (in the case of terrorism, quite rarely and few fatalities). Calm down and carry on.
Gratitude
Gratitude is a rare gift. Make sure you don't take the opportunities you have for granted
Amazing People
I've had so many beautiful and amazing people come & go in my life
Miss Sloane: Movie Recommendation
A Sorkin-esque political/courtroom thriller about power, control, deception and negotiation. About guns, but really about money in politics.
Nocturnal Animals: Movie Recommendation
Great movie about love, loss, revenge, having everything and yet wanting the things you've lost
Collateral Beauty: Movie Recommendation
An absolutely beautiful film about love, time and death. About life. If only we could be strangers again. Bring tissues.
Over it
Life's too short to tolerate re-litigating the same shit over and over
Happy Mother's Day!
Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there. You nurture, protect, prod and pester until your children reach their full potential. You literally take food out of your mouths and give it to us.
I've known a lot of great mothers in my time - some who've adopted me as their own including Lilian Lilian Mary Diana Geik Margaret Nancy Maryam and more
And now, many of my closest friends have become mothers, Including Hermione Julie-Anne Karen Cassandra Lizzie Vanessa AJ!
Of course my grandmother and my mother Maggie are incomparable. I'll never forget the countless acts of kindness they've shown me.
A recurring one that always stands out is this: Growing up my mother was always saving for her dream bedroom set. Fancy bed, chest of drawers etc. Every couple of years, when she had just the right amount of money, it would coincidently be time for an upgrade for my PC. I'd start pestering her non-stop until she'd relent and buy me the latest, state-of-the-art hardware to feed my computing addiction.
Of course now I return the favor and buy her a new MacBook every few years :)
Love you mum! Happy Mother's Day!
Innovative Thinking
"Innovation" is just a fancy word for "breaking with historic inertia to rethink how things are done through the lens of modern conditions, sensibilities and technologies - at speed and at scale"
It requires just a few things
1. First principles thinking
2. Lateral thinking
3. Optimism over fear
It shouldn't just be done in a lab or in a skunkworks - it should be done by every employee, in every department, every day.
"Innovation"
"Innovation" is just a fancy word for "breaking with historic inertia to rethink how things are done through the lens of modern conditions, sensibilities and technologies - at speed and at scale"
It requires just a few things
1. First principles thinking
2. Lateral thinking
3. Optimism over fear
It shouldn't just be done in a lab or in a skunkworks - it should be done by every employee, in every department, every day.
What is going on in our society?
There are (many) times when liberals (of which I am one) completely miss the point and start raging against stupid shit.
This week it's Emma Watson's feminism and Ben Carson's slaves = immigrants comments.
Emma is free to choose what she does with her image and body. That's feminism.
Ben Carson is a fool who was trying to make a reasonable point that we all share the American dream. He made it badly.
There are serious issues going on in the world people. Focus.
Trump's Lies
Curious: While the government and the media run around trying to disprove all of Trump’s lies and other brian farts, who's paying attention to the important stuff? You know, foreign and domestic threats, global warming, protecting consumers from pernicious business practices etc
Reverse Brain Drain
Not surprised. Never seen or heard of a country shoot itself in the foot and work so completely against its own interests. The reverse brain drain will only accelerate.
Cynicism
There's a kind of person that thinks they are so discerning and principled and act like they need to be convinced of everything 5x over. Really they're just substituting cynicism for hustle and imagination
Personal Opinion
*personal opinion*
It makes me so sad that I actually understand Trump when he says that "the leaks are real but the news is fake."
Just look at the garbage that passes for journalism these days.
It makes absolutely no sense for Uber to be investigating Susan personally when they already stated that they are taking her claims at face value and taking steps to investigate the culture.
The post even includes a very thoughtful comment from an Uber spokesperson and yet the headline and tone is conspiratorial and exaggerated beyond belief.
This kind of crap is hurting thousands of employees and millions of drivers - not to mention passengers who rely on them. Grow up.
