Circle Three: the tenth

Email. Enemies. Products.

Jan 26, 2021

Last week’s Inner Circle on fear and newness got me thinking about new habits. As we get older we typically see others’ success without seeing their efforts. We see the fruits of what could very well be years of commitment.

It’s like we forget that the first few were bad. Writing, playing, podcasting, investing, etc. The first reps suck.

If you want something to be successful, give yourself permission to suck for the first 10, 20, 50, or 100 reps. Just commit to the process.

On that note, this issue marks double digits for Circle Three. Thanks for all the support and interest during these first reps! I’m always open to your feedback or if you have a link you want to share. Just reply directly to the emailed newsletter.

This week find a Big Idea from Ender’s Game, links about the 5 Why’s, TV shows, and planet-centric design, and why email is the best technology. Enjoy the issue!

Cheers,

Dan

So what’s Circle Three? For new readers, the name comes from Seth Godin’s Linchpin, where he posits that the internet has created a circle beyond family and business: a tribe. Where knowledge is exchanged and our gifts are shared.

Thanks for being a part of this third circle. Let’s create something.

One Big Idea

“I've had a lot of fights and I've won because I've always understood the way the enemy thinks. When I truly understand them, I also love them. I think it's impossible to truly understand someone and not love them the way they love themselves.” - Orson Scott Card, “Ender's Game”

There’s a spectrum of beliefs for the positions, decisions, roles, and viewpoints we hold. How can you learn to understand your enemies, and love them, just a little more this week?

Circles of Thought

Khe Hy is an author and Notion expert. (I use Notion to organize my digital life.) Here, he writes about the 5 Why’s Process to get to the root motivations behind the actions we take.
This video is for any “entrepreneur, college student, any small business owner or anyone wanting to see the process” behind a product launch. Jesse Itzler offers a 10-minute crash course, behind the scenes of product and launch.
Speaking of products, use this product placement database to search any TV show, music reference, or movie for brands and products. Now you can know the episode and season that Chandler wore Puma sneakers on Friends.
“We Create Futures” is a design firm working on thinking about the future through design thinking and critical analysis. “What is Planet-Centric Design?” has new ways to think about users and sustainability.
Spotify Web API powers this website focused on finding new music quickly. Check out the Discover Quickly project to find new music.

Inner Circle: Email as the future

Why I couldn’t live without it.

In a practice video interview, a woman started with the question:

“What's a piece of technology you couldn't live without?”

With only 20 seconds to prepare, my brain raced through my day and the technologies involved. A car's keyless start? A smartphone?

Then I realized without a doubt...EMAIL.

Here’s why.

Email is asynchronous. Corporate communication has shifted “from Email to Slack or, better said, from asynchronous to real-time,” says techie/writer Kevin Indig. We expect results and replies immediately. (Especially impatient Millennials.)

Email response times are typically within a day, sometimes a week. The email inbox makes time go a teeny bit slower and removes the expectations of immediacy we have come to expect in other aspects of life.

Email is controlled. We have ultimate authority over what enters our inboxes. Contrast this to social media, home to the infinite feed, the rabbit hole, “the doomscroll”. Even more importantly, social media feeds are curated specifically for each person. Algorithms and paid promotions control your attention. (Watch The Social Dilemma for more on this and what the future might hold.)

The unsubscribe button is the carrot we dangle over emails. We are in control of what we receive, who we are in contact with, and the messages that hit our inbox.

M.G. Siegler of Google Ventures writes of email, “there’s something nice to feeling like you’re slowing down the pace of info that’s coming your way.” And while I agree, it’s easy to get lost in a sea of advertising emails and spam. It requires fine-tuning every now and then.

Email has been and continues to be challenged by Slack, messenger apps, and countless others. Yet the email is thriving as a way to get news, newsletters, and be in touch. It is asynchronous and controlled, both of which hold sway over 'competition.'

And Email, unlike Tweets sent into the ether, allows for personal connections. Maybe that's what we need a little more of.

So, “What's a piece of technology you couldn't live without?”

Email.

What’s yours?

State of the Circle

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Dan is a mechanical design engineer interested in the intersection of design and technology who loves making connections between concepts and passions.

Circle Three