Weekly Download 15.5
Posted: March 18, 2015 Filed under: Business, Weekly Download | Tags: data scientists, Dieter Rams, Disney, Essentialism, Fusion CEO-CIO Symposium, Greg McKeowen, Jeffrey Hammerbacher Leave a comment
Here’s a recap of news and notes from around the Web that caught my attention over the past week or so.
I like Indian food, and now I have scientific evidence to explain why. Scientists have figured out what makes Indian food so delicious. You have to look at consumer price sensitivity to understand Why delicious Indian food is surprisingly unpopular in the U.S.
I have been hearing that data scientists are in high demand. This past week at the Fusion CEO-CIO Symposium, the cry reached a crescendo. Really smart people with amazing backgrounds bring tremendous value by mining mind-boggling volumes of data to provide predictive analytics.
- On the Case at Mount Sinai, It’s Dr. Data (adapted from a soon-to-be released book) chronicles the work of an expert in the field and an amazing personal interest story at the same time.
- There is no shortage of data being generated across all business sectors. Just imagine what can be discovered from Disney’s $1 Billion Bet on a Magical Wristband.
Whether in architecture, product design, software design, or more generally, business. I firmly believe less but better is an effective strategy. Dieter Rams, the designer behind many of Braun’s most iconic product designs (among many things), outlines a handy 10 Principles of “Good Design”.
At a later date, I’ll do a more complete review of Greg McKeowen’s book Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, but for now, this article does a pretty good job of succinctly getting to the point.
The Journey
Posted: March 12, 2015 Filed under: Leadership | Tags: Robert Hastings, The Station 1 Comment
Things won are done, joy’s soul lies in the doing.—William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida, I.ii.287
“The journey” is a common theme in literature. I distinctly recall reading the essay The Station by Robert Hastings some 30+ years ago in high school. This was my first exposure to the idea that there is more to life than where you’re going—how you get there matters, too.
I recently stumbled upon a chapter in the book The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom that further examines this subject. It discussed that human emotion tied to making progress toward a goal (the journey) has a much stronger effect than any short-lived contentment from goal achievement (the destination). The author makes a clear distinction between “gratification” and “delight.” Gratification may be thought of as deeper and longer lasting, gained from learning, feeling progress, self-motivated improvement and building strengths. This is from the journey. Delight is more like listening to a new song or eating a bowl of ice cream—short-lived or ephemeral. It’s that rush of pleasure when you arrive at a destination.
Gratification versus delight is a new twist on the importance of focusing on the journey. While delight may seem like a stronger emotion, unfortunately, it doesn’t last. By comparison, gratification stays with you and can nourish your soul. Learn how to put this insight into practice with How to Become Happier.
I Don’t Disagree
Posted: March 10, 2015 Filed under: Communication 3 Comments
I’ve been hearing this phrase a lot recently and I dislike it. But why? It’s a double negative and also strikes me as a bit of a cop out. It clearly doesn’t mean “I agree.” Rather, I think it only eliminates “I disagree” from a range of opinions. Alternatives left on the table include “I partially agree,” “I’m undecided,” “I partially disagree,” or any number of other variations.
What bothers me most is when an explanation doesn’t follow. This sentence cries out to be finished with another clause that begins “…but…” and ends with an explanation. Left as is, it effectively closes off the conversation. Instead, I would prefer to continue a dialogue that would reveal points of agreement and disagreement, eventually leading to consensus. It seems like the person saying “I don’t disagree” expects me to keep offering ideas until, by some stroke of luck, they finally agree or disagree. It feels like a tool of passive aggression.
Do you agree?
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