Commentary
"Geniuses differ from ordinary men less in the character of their attention than in the nature of the objects upon which it is successively bestowed." – William James
I recently mentioned having finally seen the musical Hamilton. Now I'm in the midst of the biography Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow. It's a hefty tome (818 pages!), which is up there with Chernow's other biographies of Rockefeller (832 pages), Washington (928 pages) and Grant (1104 pages).
It got me to thinking about proflicacy. (There's a word for you!)
Chernow marveled at Hamilton's prodigious output, calling him "an exuberant genius who performed at a fiendish pace and must have produced the maximum number of words that a human being can scratch out in forty-nine years."
He was a genius. But also flawed. His brilliance was the type that made him impatient, and he must have known his time on Earth was limited, as he ran roughshod over all who didn't agree with him.
Ultimately (and I'm over-simplifying here; this is a newsletter, not a Chernow-length opus), it led to his duel with Aaron Burr and his resulting death on July 12, 1804—exactly 215 years ago today.
It's taken me a few years and some hard lessons, but I've learned that even when you're the smartest person in the room on a subject, humility will get you much farther than ego. There's nothing wrong with sharing your knowledge about a topic; but bringing others along and acknowledging their contributions is equally as important.
May your ego and proflicacy move in opposite directions.
| | Curated Stories
"I have gathered a posy of other men's flowers, and nothing but the thread that binds them is my own." – Montaigne
Google is giving social networks another shot. Shoelace, a hyperlocal network for people who want to find others to join them in activities like sports and attending shows, is currently in invitation-only beta mode (The Next Web). Will this new platform go the same way as Google+ and Wave?
YouTube is giving Creators more ways to make money. In an effort to keep Creators happy and on the primary video platform, YouTube introduced the ability to use stickers in livestreams, new membership levels, and expanded merchandising options. This comes amid increased competition from platforms such as Twitch, Instagram, Snapchat, and even Patreon. (TechCrunch)
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak says most people should get off Facebook permanently. We'll leave that decision up to you, but the Woz thinks that the loss of privacy isn't worth it. (Gizmodo)
Email is still the best way to reach customers—it has the greatest reach, is customizable, and permission-based. And email is 40 times more effective at reaching customers than Twitter or Facebook. (Inc./McKinsey)
These journalists hired the author of Black Hawk Down and the illustrators from Archer to adapt the Mueller report so people would actually read it. It's all about the art of storytelling. Structure a narrative in a way that's compelling and interesting—as opposed to a Terms of Service agreement—and you'll get people to follow along. (The Insider)
We all know that it's more effective to retain customers than to find new ones. Some of the tactics used to reduce customer churn vary from B2B and B2C, but discounting and bundling seem to be among the top efforts. (Marketing Charts)
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"Curiosity is the lust of the mind." – Thomas Hobbes
Many stories from our ancestors were designed to keep new listeners from repeating the mistakes of the past. But in an era where the closest we get to modern folktales are TED talks, are organizations at risk of losing touch with the lessons of the past? In a time of great technological change, which demands reflection and a clear corporate culture as well as creative propulsion, this is a vital question. (MIT Sloan Management Review)
Stranger Things is back for a third season. Here's how Stranger Things got its iconic title sequence. (Vox/YouTube)
The reuse of woodcuts in popular print were the 17th century versions of memes. Expensive and laborious to produce, a single woodcut could be recycled to illustrate scores of different ballads, each new home imbuing the same image with often wildly diverse meanings. An interplay of repetition, context, and meaning, shows us how we can see a parallel to meme culture of today. (Public Domain Review)
The last Volkswagen Beetle rolled off the assembly line this week, bringing to a close an iconic era that saw over 23 million of them made. Perhaps it's appropriate to pause and enjoy the classic Last Will and Testament ad from the 1970s. (Cool Hunting / YouTube) | | Recommended Reading/Listening
"Let me recommend this book." – Arthur Conan Doyle
| | | Wondery has done it again. Inside Star Wars is the latest in a series of shows by Mark Ramsey Media, told in seven parts. Told in part narration, part documentary style, Ramsey brings us to George Lucas's origin story and gives background on how the film came to be (or in this case almost didn't happen at all). It follows previous shows Inside Psycho and Inside Jaws. | | | | As you know, resilience and self-reflection are key attributes of emotionally intelligent leaders. Molly Cantrell-Kraig's new book Circuit Train Your Brain can help you cultivate daily habits to turn your life around with steps designed to make you more resilient. | | | | I keep a list of the books that influence my thinking. You can find it here. And just in case you want more links and more stories, I curate everything to The Full Monty on Flipboard. You can follow along there. | | | |
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