Daily Reads:
Tom Kerwin on why OKR’s don’t work. I found myself nodding in agreement. Recent events at my work have revealed similar if not identical phrasing, while the inexorable march towards mediocrity continues unabated.
Get your Mac Python from Python.org and other helpful advice which is, of course, too late for this particular user.
Asimov’s The Last Question was a breathtaking read. I remember some quotes from this but I hadn’t read the whole thing before.
Began re-reading The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Data, Google’s 2009 article in the IEEE.
Richard Merrick’s weekly reflections are food for thought, and more importantly, action. His idea of type 2 fun and work resonates very strongly with me: Type two work as the long, hard slog of seven years to become a doctor in public practice, an artist grasping the means to convey a feeling or a business that has no desire to be a unicorn but rather a part of a community it serves and is respected in.
Nate Kadlac: Define your own visual style in 5 steps also has some practical tips for a collector of ideas like me 😉. The five steps are:
- Get personal: Connect to a favorite place or story to find inspiration for your visual style.
- Get curious: Create a visual research board to collect images, icons, and typography that resonate with your theme.
- Embrace frequency bias: Look for patterns and recurring elements to solidify your visual direction.
- Check yourself: Confirm your theme is personal and relevant to you.
- Create a definitive visual taste palette: Compile an edge-to-edge board filled with visuals, type, color, and shapes that expresses your unique visual style.
QOTD:
“Of all the strife in the world — strife of every imaginable variety, from conflict over crumb cake to conflict in the Middle East — a staggering amount of it arises from the clash of mutually incompatible, entirely unshakable feelings of rightness.”
– Kathryn Schulz
Music:
I loved this simple, clear explanation of the style of guitar playing I’m currently trying to learn. Introduction to Arpeggios and the Rest Stroke Picking The accompanying chords, backing tracks, and written explanations are here