Issue Two: No Real Through Line

If you are click on the links below, you may get irritated that one or more of these articles is behind a paywall. This is a curious phenomenon of our age: so many amazing resources at our fingertips, combined with the expectation that they should all be free. I think I recall having paid subscriptions to several of these publications before the Internet Age, so what's changed? Also, as the saying goes, consider who might be the product if you are not paying.

Even Creatives Get Organized.

The Name of This Interviewee Is David Byrne (NYT). Many of us have this belief that "creative people" were just born that way, and that there is something contradictory about "getting organized" and "creating." After all, getting organized "makes sense," and David Byrne's exhortation to "stop making sense" appears to be just the opposite. However, just as checklists free up the mind to do the important work, some degree of organization sets the table for creative endeavors.

Software is Eating the Truck World

America's Favorite Pickup Truck Goes Electric (New Yorker). This discussion of the way the entire concept of an automobile is likely to change as vehicles go electric is fascinating. Will the assembly lines comprise only robots? Will companies like Ford become more like Apple, as regular software patches and updates are supplied to F-150s? Will the term "driver" even make sense, as vehicles become increasingly autonomous? (Plus, I had no idea Henry Ford and Thomas Edison worked together).

Consider Joining a "Doubt Club."

Here's Our Plan and We Don't Know (Your Undivided Attention Podcast). How often do you hear "I don't know"? Do you have time or the inclination to share honest concerns about the direction in which you or your organization is headed? When we've all been trained to play up our extrinsic successes (see below) and keep doing things they way they've been done, most conversations never allow for doubt or the possibilities created by looking at problems and situations in different ways.

A Plug for The Intrinsic.

How to Want Less (Atlantic). I am a big fan of Arthur Brooks and his thoughts on happiness. Chasing money, power, pleasure, and honor (extrinsic rewards) may leave you a little short. Consider seeking happiness from some intrinsic sources (faith, family, friendships and meaningful work). But you'll have to make the decision to pursue them, as they won't happen by default.

Employ the Visual.

(Tanmay Vora). If you are telling a story (and I suggest we all are), consider whether speaking or writing a great many words alone will be effective in conveying your ideas. Images, mind maps, and sketches all provide additional explanation and context for just about any subject. Plus, the exercise of visualizing is an additional learning tool for the creator.

In Case You Think I Am Virtue Signaling

Why do you think I create newsletters? It's not as a result of having figured anything out. I need to work to temper my desperate need for things like money, compliments, and publicity. Or maybe I do this to feed my need for those things. Anyway, Todd Snider says it best, but from time to time I repeat his words.