Daily Reads:
I re-listened to Esther Perel and Trevor Noah conversation "Sex, Comedy and Context". They’re both splendid interviewers. I hear it in their voices, how they inflect and echo each other. The imagery I had most of the time was two graceful dancers bringing each others talents to life. Sometimes, it was two fencers – I don’t know the precise language of fencing for analogy but balestra sounds right for now – making a fast jump forwards to make a point, then back to dancing. Noah’s ‘huh’ when he’s impressed, Perel’s silence when she wants Noah to elaborate, helping each other peel the layers off their ideas… it is an exemplar to learn from.
On Hidden Brain’s Innovation 2.0 series, Leidy Klotz talks about doing less. Companies reward the idea of doing more – more people to manage, more projects under supervision etc… – but innovation comes often from doing less. There may be fewer artefacts to show for this effort to reduce, but simplifying is a life principle that both Stoics and good engineers seem to have in common.
Deirdre Cerminaro on Dart Lindsley’s podcast Work for Humans made several observations that took my breath away. She’s taken a few months off from work to design her own life. She brings human centred design and systems thinking together, with the idea that practitioners of either disciplines can learn problem solving with the tools and techniques of the other.
QOTD:
We love those who know the worst of us and don’t turn their faces away.
-Walker Percy, author
Music:
Muddy Waters sings the Bus Driver blues 😆