Tapestries-26 | Open Book: #5
Tools, power, experience, Lebron.
The object
16 October 2020
I recently started using Roam Research (which is where I draft these pieces) and Readwise. Both are very useful tools that fulfill important functions in my daily routines, namely supporting my writing and reading, respectively.
I've noticed that since starting to use these tools, my interaction with the underlying activities they support has changed slightly. The completeness of my Roam Graph or Readwise database has now taken on standalone importance. The initial reason for using the tools was to scaffold my thinking and curiosity, and they're absolutely working as advertised, But now when I write or read, updating or refining the tools as I go occupies a some low level awareness in the back of my mind. A passage read is not just a passage, but a potential Readwise inclusion; a paragraph drafted is not just text, but a potential bi-directional link to another bit of text.
I guess it makes sense. If you want to systematize these activities to mine their potential for compounding over time, you need to invest incrementally alongside the actual activity. I'm down for that. I guess what I didn't appreciate is the way the tools would change the way the tools would change the actual activities. I guess this seems obvious in hindsight.
There's no such thing as free investments. The question to always ask is there asymmetry in the investment; do I stand to gain more if it pays off than I do to lose if it doesn't. In this case, I'm not sure yet, but I'm happy to keep investing for now.
Power games
15 October 2020
The forecast I pay most attention to is showing Biden with his largest leads (national and state) of the entire race; a Democratic sweep of the presidency, congress and senate is now in play.
I’ve often talked about the period following the election as arguably more important than the election outcome itself, and that’s what I want to touch on here. One story dominating news here this week has been the Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Amy Coney Barrett, which will likely result in her eventual confirmation.
I think this story alludes to what is going to be a key issue in the next 6 months: power – and what you can vs what you should do with it. In this example, the Republican-controlled judiciary committee can push her nomination through, even though doing so violates certain norms and practices.
One of the key narratives of Trump’s 2016 election was that it was effectively “payback” for 8 years of Obama; I just finished reading Michael Lewis’ “The Fifth Risk”, which bares this out in detail. My concern is that with a Biden win, the empowered Democrats (potentially with a sweep) will seek their own form of retribution, to “punish” Republicans and their interests for the Trump disaster that they have been complicit in.
They will most likely have the legitimate power to do so, but I don’t think they should; while I believe history should judge people like Lindsey Graham and Mitch McConnell as the irredeemable scum that they are, I am worried that a punitive Democratic (and broader societal) response to 4 years of Trump will be disastrous and escalate the dangerous trajectory we’re already on towards more division and violence.
Where power itself is the object, things will not end well; the country will either calm down and heal, or go the other direction, and the way the Democrats (should they sweep) exert newfound power will be critical in that.
Experience eats connectivity for breakfast
13 October 2020
Note: I wrote this following a chat with my good friends, Jonathan and Sebastian at JOON. Check them out.
Some years ago, Peter Drucker, famed management thinker, said that "culture eats strategy for breakfast". It makes intuitive sense. Strategy, the stuff you find in slogans and presentations, is easier to project and a source of being "busy", but is arguably less impactful than culture, which is more subtle and pervasive. In this period of working from home, I'd like to coin a similar phrase of my own: experience eats connectivity for breakfast, and I think there's an analogy worth exploring here.
The pandemic has massively accelerated the adoption of remote work. With large portions of the white-collar workforce now plying their trade from home, there's been an explosion in the use of tools like Zoom, Slack, Teams and many others. These companies and products should be commended for the way they enabled a relatively seamless transition in the context of titanic operating changes. What they did is create a bridge from the experience of working in an office to the experience of working at home. They ensured that connectivity remained despite physical fracturing.
But 7 months into the experience of working from home, I'd suggest cracks are starting to develop. We are rich in connectivity and poor in shared experience. Working with or for someone is a very human experience. Often we are compelled to do actual work out of a sense of loyalty to, or camaraderie with, our peers and colleagues. The experiences of success, failure, embarrassment, excitement, dejection, frustration and elation are ones traditionally shared with our colleagues in a much more human and textured environment. These emotions exist while working from home, but are experienced in silos and abstracted through screens.
There is no commonality of experience, and we all know it. Even the previously shared experience of "getting to work" has changed, to subtle effect. A frigid winter's day means that when sitting next to your colleague, you know that you've both braved the cold to get there, and will brave it again when you leave. Arriving at the office on a Friday, irrespective of where your commute started from and where the afternoon will take you, you're both filled with the same contemporaneous relief that the weekend is here. None of this is groundbreaking, but it's worth re-stating that sharing something other than work creates the conditions for colleagues to work together and go above and beyond for each other. Acknowledging the importance of shared experiences opens up the possibilities for engagement moving forward.
I've previously discussed how video games present a very effective way for distributed teams to connect. Working together, in the shared experience of a "game", provides a parallel channel of interaction to supplement the "work" to be done together. I've also suggested that managers should buy their employees plants to keep in or around their home office; raising it creates a tactile, shared experience, something for team members to share outside of their regular tasks. And NO! Zoom drinks or trivia don't count! While the content of the interaction may be more "experiential", the texture of the channel - the same one used for every meeting - undermines its potential for shared experience.
Connectivity in this paradigm is critical for business continuity, but it is not the most important piece of the puzzle. When I reflect on strategy vs culture, I often rely on the car analogy, where strategy is the driver and culture is the engine. The analogy is equally applicable here, where the connectivity is the driver and experience is the engine. Strategy and connectivity both share an important trait: they're visible. It is relatively easy to work on strategy or show you're online and connected. What's difficult, truly intangible, and infinitely more valuable, is developing culture and enabling shared experience.
You can have as many meetings and check-ins and Zoom-socials as the calendar permits. But in the working-from-home paradigm, unless you use shared experience to cultivate the camaraderie that is at the heart of every successful team, you'll very quickly run out of gas.
“The King”
12 October 2020
Lebron James won his 4th NBA championship last night. That's the first line. The second line I wanted to type was his box score from the evening, or his averages in the series, or his career statistics in the Finals. But that's an exercise beyond the scope of this piece. He literally has one of the most flawless careers - in any domain - imaginable, one that's impossible to capture in this short note. Sports provide us with statistical categories that make it easier to assess performance or achievements across a career. But I struggle to think of many people across history, in any field, that have excelled as comprehensively as Lebron James.
As the Lakers blew-out the valiant Heat in Game 6 of these Finals, I turned to Tali and tried to rattle off the key points of Lebron's life and career arc to give her context for the moment we were witnessing.
I gave her the shpiel about being born to his mother, Gloria, at the age of 16; of growing up impoverished in Akron, Ohio; of finding his "family" in his junior basketball squads; of being anointed "The Chosen One"; of the burden of carrying 7 years worth of mediocre Cavaliers teams; of the warranted derision of "The Decision"; of his successes and failures with the Heat; of delivering Cleveland a championship on his return; and of now bringing a title back to Los Angeles in the year of Kobe's passing.
Describing this story to Tali, and writing it now, gives me chills. Lebron's story genuinely makes me dizzy. He entered the national spotlight as "The Chosen One" and has grown into "The King" before our eyes. Not only has he exceeded the stratospheric expectations placed upon him as a 17-year-old, but he has done it without putting a single foot wrong. Barely even a toe on the line.
Most importantly, and of greatest relevance to whatever his legacy becomes, he has completely changed the nature of athlete activism. If Jordan laid the groundwork for athletes' global celebrity and brand, Lebron has taken that platform and molded it in his own image. The NBA isn't perfect, maintaining an uncomfortable relationship with China, but through the example Lebron has set, it's a model of player empowerment and progress.
Lebron James isn't perfect either. But he's a reminder that even if you get close to that completely unattainable standard, there will be those who try to discredit, undermine or vilify you. Perfection is not what we should strive for. Instead, we should aspire to greatness within our own unique spheres. To doing things on and off our respective courts that make people feel something. To be remembered.
Throughout his career, there's been a running commentary about Lebron's greatness, generally in reference to "His Airness". Comparisons to Jordan along the way have fueled wonderful debate, but they're generally about the spectacle. With each championship and accolade, the "gap" narrows between Lebron and Jordan in pursuit of being called the GOAT. Lebron now has 4 championships, 4 Finals MVPs and 4 regular season MVPs. There was a real query as to whether he'd get here... but here we are. And incredibly, he may not be done!
Our desire to constantly rate, compare and measure Lebron against Jordan has meant we've spent the better part of one of the greatest careers of all time in an ongoing critique. I'm not suggesting we shouldn't partake in this - it's what makes sport amazing! Only that we should acknowledge that the debate is about entertainment as much as it is truth. We should be savoring the time we have left with him on a basketball court.
When they finally write Lebron's story, I believe his post-basketball chapters will rival those of his playing career for impact. As he has told us from the beginning, We Are All Witnesses.
Photo by ASTERISK