Issue 388
A notebook about how we work, and learn, and love and live.
"At the end of the day, we must go forward with hope and not backward by fear and division." - Jesse Jackson
Last week the hummingbirds left our yard. This week the monarchs left, too. Our gardens are very quiet. The leaves have started to turn, and it's so cold that we haven't opened our windows for four days.
Fall is here. Happy Friday.
Personal Development
How and why hope is better than optimism
I read the news everyday. In turn, I'm as scared as you. So, I track how people use words like 'hope', and 'optimism'.
"People tend to use hope and optimism as synonyms, but that isn’t accurate. In one 2004 paper in the JoArticel: urnal of Social and Clinical Psychology, two psychologists used survey data to parse the two concepts. They determined that “hope focuses more directly on the personal attainment of specific goals, whereas optimism focuses more broadly on the expected quality of future outcomes in general.” In other words, optimism is the belief that things will turn out all right; hope makes no such assumption but is a conviction that one can act to make things better in some way."
Article: The Difference Between Hope and Optimism
We, the People
A sense of common fate produces a shared identity.
While I feel deep, existential fear that is triggered by the state of the world, I find hope in the power and potential of collective intelligence.
"A sense of common fate produces a shared identity, the knowledge that we, together, are part of a group. In turn, that shared identity produces solidarity and the ability to work together collectively."
Article From Strangers to Teammates: How Getting on the Same Wavelength Might Be More than a Metaphor
How We Work, Personal Development
"Hierarchy is fluid and changing and based on competency rather than authority."
"To be effective, a leader will be:
Grounded – know themselves well
Able to connect and empathise at a deep level
Open to change through having a range of perspectives
"Together, these abilities create an open culture where healthy feedback is the norm, intuition and connection are fostered and innovation flourishes. Hierarchy is fluid and changing and based on competency rather than authority."
Article/Video: New Work Needs Inner Work
How We Work
Chris Herd foresees a future in which most companies are remote-first.
"Earlier this month, a technology entrepreneur named Chris Herd posted a thread on Twitter. 'I spoke to 10 x Billion $ companies who canceled return to the office due to the delta variant,' he began. 'A few predictions on what else is going to happen.' His first salvo was titled 'Office Death,' and claimed that 'by the time people can return to the office a lot of companies will no longer have space to return to.' His next prediction was about 'City Flight.' He stated that workers would continue to flee cities and would quit if their employers forced them back into urban offices. The thread continued with sixteen more tweets."
Article: Is Going to the Office a Broken Way of Working?
Organizational Productivity
An idea is just an idea if you don't make it into something.
Photo by SwapnIl Dwivedi on Unsplash
"Historically craftsmanship was celebrated as much as the ideas, if not more. And I think many still appreciate it when looking at physical objects, like furniture or architecture.
"But with less 'physical' objects, such as services or digital products, there is a tendency to celebrate and value ideas at the expense of craftsmanship.
"When ideas are valued over craft, when the craftsmanship is not appreciated, there can be a tendency to jump from ideas straight to delivery with unrealistic time expectations based on how long it took to generate ideas, maybe concepts. The effort in good craftsmanship is underestimated.
"But where ideas is a sprint, the craft is a marathon consisting of a number of things that need to be done—and done right—for maximum success."
Article: Why Craftsmanship is More Valuable Than Design Thinking
Organizational Health
How to use building blocks to co-create a healthy workplace culture
This week I stumbled upon a new tool that I am eager to integrate into my work. Gustavo Razzetti developed the Culture Design Canvas to support leaders in mapping, assessing and designing company culture. It starts with purpose and values, then captures more subtle components like rituals, norms and rules, and boundaries around psychological safety.
You can download the canvas here. Here's a post about how to map your workplace culture.
He's also posted a good article that describes the key elements of Slack’s workplace culture using the Culture Design Canvas framework. (He reversed engineered this with a good amount of homework. Slack did not use the canvas as a map.)
"At Slack, people work hard and go home. The company culture understands that people have lives — they expect high performance and total dedication, but only during regular working hours. Funnily enough, employees are forbidden to use the Slack app after 6 pm or during the weekend.
"The power of words plays a crucial role in Slack culture. Employees are encouraged to speak well and with purpose. There's an obsession with continually improving communication — both their own and their clients'.
"A strong sense of community is essential to Slack's powerful company culture. Empathy is vital to not only understanding the end user, but also their colleagues. Slack promotes diversity and recruits people with diverse backgrounds and voices. Everyone has an obligation to contribute and make things better."
Packaging, History
The ubiquitous Chinese food to-go container was invented to carry oysters.
"The rise of Chinese food couldn’t have come at a better time for the oyster pail. Pollution, disruption to the mollusk's environment, and over-harvesting had caused oyster numbers to dwindle to alarming levels, forcing a scaling back of consumption and rise in prices. Chinese takeout, however, remained cheap and tasty, and the oyster pail’s design is ideal for Chinese takeout and delivery. Eating out of the container is ridiculously easy with chopsticks, and hell, it's downright romantic. Usually made from bleached paperboard with a coated interior, the pails are inexpensive and microwave-safe with the metal bail removed."
Article: The Chinese Takeout Box is As American As Baseball and Apple Pie
Playlist
Carolyn Franklin (standing) coaches her sister Aretha through a demo of Ain’t No Way, a song that Carolyn wrote.
Ever since first hearing my first Kenny Burrell record, Midnight Blue, I have been a serious fan of jazz guitar. Which means that I've also been a serious fan of Bill Frisell ever since hearing him first decades ago. Bill is still performing and recording, and still blowing minds with his quiet and centered confidence and virtuosity. He knows all the chords, and all the songs. So, he can piece everything he knows into something completely new.
Recently he's been playing with a trio that includes Thomas Morgan on bass and Rudy Royston on drums. This summer they played a magic concert at Arts Center at Duck Creek in East Hampton, NY. Looked over by paintings by Abstract Expressionist master John Little, they conjured what one commenter on YouTube described as "Zen Jazz. Nothing is said/played that does not need to be played, and everything that is played is perfect for that moment, pearl after pearl, or drop after drop like rain."
Lovely. I will play this concert again and again.
Video: Bill Frisell Trio, Recorded July 3, 2021
Image of the Week
The image of the week is titled Clapham Junction, by Alan Burles. It won him series finalist recognition in the Street Photographers Foundation Awards 2021. The photographer said: "I never asked why the man had a huge eyeball lying next to him on the station platform - maybe he worked in a props department. But then his train came in he got on and this lovely accident happened."
Article: Surreal Scenes and Broken Dreams: 2021’s Best Street Photography – In Pictures
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