Circle Three 77 / Only the Wild Ones
I fought my way through the week after catching the flu bug that seems to be everywhere. All recovered today. Somewhat related, hard to believe it’s the end of Januray.
Contents:
brain bites: Psychology & Health
The Tire Iron and the Tamale
Biggest Life Decisions
brain bites: Business & Investing
Meet McKinsey Global Managing Partner Bob Sternfels
Your stuff is actually worse now
brain bites: Technology
ETH Smart Contract Deployment
Lyric: Only the Wild Ones by Dispatch
brain bites: psychology & health
The Tire Iron and the Tamale. This piece from the NYT is worth re-reading to step out of myself and put more into the world with no expectation of anything in return. Put yourself in the author’s shoes and see how kindness can change disgust to gratitude or the dad’s shoes and see how service and generosity can help bring happiness.
Biggest Life Decisions. The biggest decision for 20-29 year olds according to the study is starting a new job/position. That importance falls over the course of life (see below), as other priorities take root. Another standout from the article is the causes of regret, a helpful section in the context of Jeff Bezos’ Regret Minimization Framework.
brain bites: business & investing
Meet McKinsey Global Managing Partner Bob Sternfels. Bob’s similarities caught my eye: he played water polo and runs ultra-marathons (with his wife). He also leads with the “notion of enabling people and what it takes to do so,” something I aspire to do. His quote about water polo is something I’ve reflected on: feel gratitude to have been part of awesome teams that have set new heights for their programs.
One of the great lessons I’ve learned is that irrespective of talent mix on a team you have to figure out how to work as a unit. A unit that works together that may not have a superstar can beat a unit that has a superstar but is not working as a team. This notion that a great team can beat great talent has stayed with me.
And, you know, sports aren’t easy—and water polo in particular is a pretty difficult sport, so there’s a resilience aspect. You will have setbacks. Leadership isn’t about avoiding setbacks—it’s about knowing how to pick yourself and others back up when you run into them.
Your stuff is actually worse now. I don’t agree with everything here, but do believe that we have an appetite for more, faster; that appetite has shifted our priorities as consumers. Design melds form (appearance) and function (utility), and unfortunately the function is typically what’s cut in the budget. These are broad statements, but generally how I feel, as I wrote in my senior thesis. It’s also why I like companies that go out of their way to ensure quality, fair compensation, and a fair price. Fox & Robin is one example [this is not an ad].
“Design has shifted more toward manufacturability and appearance than functionality, when it should be a balance of all three.
Arguably, it’s nearly impossible for corporations to avoid participating in the trend cycle as long as consumers have an appetite for more – whether it’s a predilection for cooler clothing or whatever new incremental yet buzzy technology just came out.”
brain bites: technology
ETH Smart Contract Deployment. Like many in the space, I started to almost whisper like it’s a bad word. ~crypto~
But there are still reasons to be bullish, such as the below from Alchemy’s recent developer report.
The takeaway? Smart contracts are computer programs stored and executed on a blockchain. More smart contracts means increased transactions, applications, and demand. We’re down but not out. (Don’t look now, but bitcoin is the best-performing asset of 2023.)
Lyric: Only the Wild Ones by Dispatch
This song echoes the message of the Tire Iron and Tamale article above: “only the wild ones give you something and never want it back.”
It’s an apt artist for the line. Dispatch has donated ticket proceeds towards education programs and starving Americans. The band is adored by fans, too, even through a seven-year hiatus from 2004-2011. From Wikipedia: 20-30,000 people were expected at the farewell tour. 160,000 showed up.
Let’s go be wild. Video here from Red Rocks Amphitheater.
Only the wild ones
Give you something and never want it back
Oh, the riot and the rush of the warm night airOnly the wild ones
Are the ones you can never catch
Stars are up now, no place to go but everywhere
No place to go but everywhere
Stay Curious,
Dan