Jane McGonigal, Imaginable:

This is how you become a pioneer. And it’s something I’ve seen again and again: it’s so much easier to come up with new innovations, to imagine new products and services and businesses and art forms, when you play with ridiculous, at first, ideas — because far fewer people are thinking about and getting ready for these “unthinkable” futures. You get to the ideas first.

Tue, 19 Dec 2023

Jody Rosen, The Genius of Lionel Messi Just Walking Around:

If you ask any astute observer – an experienced coach or player or tactically tuned-in analyst – how to understand the game, they will advise you to take your eyes off the ball. There may well be an analogous precept, with a German name, in philosophy or art history or mechanical physics. The idea is this: to apprehend the main thrust of the narrative, to really wrap your mind around what’s going on, you must shift your focus from the foreground to the background.

Making me want to articulate the product management challenges of oscillating between broad awareness (which drives good decision-making) and directed storytelling (which drives clarity). Especially tough during periods of technological disruption, when swinging from one to the other must happen frequently and quickly.

(Via Jason Kottke.)

Mon, 18 Dec 2023

🍂 December 17th. Humid and warmer than usual, rain in the forecast. Standing in the morning air, typing this in one hand while Zeke pulls on his leash. Zeke is my six-year-old shepherd mix, he had ACL surgery back in August and is almost back to normal now.

The neighborhood is quiet, but the woods are lively. Merlin Bird ID picks up Junco, Chickadee, Nuthatch, Woodpecker, Robin, Goldfinch. Wishing to go hiking with my daughters, but between the weather and our usual Sunday responsibilities I don’t think it’s in the cards.

Today’s agenda is week planning, meal prep, setting this week’s workouts and vitamins, processing mail, and tidying up. Eileen and I do most of this together, over coffee, and it’s a highlight for me each week. We’ve recently subscribed to a physical Sunday newspaper too, so we may read a bit. Oh, and we’ll figure out what’s left to prepare for Christmas.

Sun, 17 Dec 2023

Clayton Christensen, The Innovator’s Solution:

Instead of asking what their company does best today, managers should ask, “What do we need to master today, and what will we need to master in the future, in order to excel on the trajectory of improvement that customers will define as important?”

Fri, 15 Dec 2023

Robin Rendle, The Next Wild Thing:

Making something as good as this requires an especially rare quality from a multi-billion dollar company though: you have to trust your employees to go find that thing. Without that trust you can’t build anything good, let alone great.

Fri, 17 Nov 2023