The Power of Myths by Joseph Campbell is a must-read for anyone that is interested in human history, religion and philosophy. I’m embaressed that I haven’t read it until now. It would had answered so many questions and started do many new thoughts.
Religion is starting to make sense to me and the fact that all different religions are based on very similar mythology is fascinating.
I don’t remember how I found Connect!: A Guide to a New Way of Working by Anne Truitt Zelenka on Amazon.com but the combination of the $2.03 price tag (no longer available) and it being a Web Worker Daily production made me interested. I’ve for the past 20 years been thinking, practising and experimenting with new ways of working thanks to emerging technology.
In 1995 I sent the first SMS on top of a mountain and later that year travelled across Europe working from London, Paris, Barcelona, Milan and other wonderful cities. Nokia had just released their first PCMCIA card (i.e. a 9,600 baud mobile modem) that I just had to try out. Today’s Edge network is about 40 times faster than my old modem just as a comparison. If that doesn’t impress, just think about that Internet (20MM worldwide) and cellphone usage was considered early, early adoption. Hell, it was even before the majority of the world had ever heard of the web.
Anywho, the book is really good. I expected the usual mobile work / telecommuting utopia / drivel but these guys have done their homework. The essential premise is that by leveraging the web the way you work can and will change - for the better. The difference between corporate busy work and independent bursty work rings very true. But it’s also about working smarter not harder, focus on quality and not quantity, and exploding your career.
It’s a great practical and philosophical guide to the future of work!
I recently read the fantastic book The Fourth Turning by William Strauss and Neil Howe. They hypothesize that American history can be divided into cycles of history - roughly 80-100 years (the length of a man’s life). The current cycle started around WWII and will end within the next 5-10 years to make way for a new cycle. Every cycle is divided into four turnings. The fourth turning (2005 - 2020) will be a period of civil unrest, financial crisis and lots of change.
Just as the period between the American Civil War and WWII had it’s unique characteristics and challenges, so does the current cycle and so will the next.
Robert Prechter makes a similar argument as a result of his studies in Socionomics (about human social behavior and social mood). He argues that we have been in a bear market since 2000 which will continue for another few years (bear markets are on average 16 years).
Bear markets are defined by periods of social unrest, lack of tolerance and anti-globalization. Prechter is predicting a stock market crash in 2010 that will make the previous look like child’s play.
“The bear market will bring back nationalism, racial exclusion and perhaps even religious conflict. Thinking technically about events, that is, observing what they reveal about social psychology, prepares you for those changes, whereas trying to predict the future from the events themselves leads you to the opposite, and wrong, conclusion.”
The above creates a great framework to understand what’s going on in society today. Why the Swiss wants to ban mosques, why nationalism is on the rise and why people are becoming less tolerant.
When I took time off from studying economics and business administration I choose literature, art and theory of science as my focal points. Very unconventional (most people would say crazy) but the latter taught me - through Thomas S. Kuhn among others - that scientific discovery is not linear but goes though paradigm shifts.
It starts with an anomaly that deviates from the previous way of thinking, analyzing and making decisions. An anomaly is the event that tells us to break the rules and to rethink. It’s part of scientific discovery and progression.
The web is a fantastic example of an event that challenged the way we think about business, living and working. Back in the 90s few people saw the web as a place to make money or have a career. Those were the fun days, the passionate days, the creative days. Once it became evident that the web would change the world, the MBAs marched in to create structure and profit. The fun ended. (I’m not against making money but have aversion towards personal greed.)
All the above is part of creating a bigger picture and trying to understand what is really going on in society today and why. The CNN sound bite details doesn’t really matter in major social paradigm shifts, having “keep it real” perspective does.
The unrest is due to change of the current rules. People are angry cause they were told to follow - for example - the financials rules (“buy-and-hold”, invest in your 401K and real estate et cetera) but now those rules are no longer valid. New rules are emerging and before the fog of war has settled it’s hard to understand what the new rules are.
I think we are going through a process of collective grief, initiated with denial back in 2007-2008, the present is infected with enormous anger and will be followed by bargaining, depression and acceptance. The current political blame game doesn’t matter. Was it Clinton or Bush’s fault that the financial markets crashed? Who cares? The dirty deed is done and nothing is going to change that.
There were clear events that pointed towards the financial crisis for people who cared enough to try to understand the bigger picture. But who wants to look at the forest when the trees are filled with hundred dollar bills.
The past few years have taught me that our lives have become too dependent on financial and individual success. We manifest any financial progress with taking on more debt. We celebrate celebrities that alter their appearance to be more bankable. We determine the social pecking order by what car you drive or what corporate title you have.
In the light of all this I’ve to say that I welcome the current change with open arms. The article “21 Things We’re Learning to Live Without” is just one great example of how we are slowly becoming human again.
“We keep being amazed at how having less stuff, with no deprivation, actually gives us better quality of life,” says Deborah Merchant. “We’ve gained emotional and spiritual maturity.”
But mostly I’m excited about all the cool new endeavors that are peculating under the surface of mainstream society. In every time of unrest or crisis there are people who are defying the conventional thinking to realize what they believe in. Sure, the real estate crash has made a lot of people renters again, but it has also enable a new wave of frugal and affordable entrepreneurship and artistic expression. Necessity is the mother of invention, bear markets and recessions fertile soil.
I think the next decade can be glorious if we accept the new brave world. A place that we can influence and design to our liking. I feel for the people that got defrauded and swindled by the government, financial institutions and mainstream “common sense” stupidity but I also salute the cool future that we could create as we are getting ready to accept change.
The Greatest Trade Ever by Wall Street Journal’s Gregory Zuckerman was the perfect follow up on Too Big to Fail that I enjoyed reading in a palapa in Mexico in December last year. It’s a much faster read that ties well into Too Big to Fail. The book chronicles John Paulson and a few other maverick trader’s sub-prime mortgage trades that made them millions and in Paulson’s case billions - $15BN to be exact.
I love the fact that the book quotes Andrew Lahde’s farewell letter to his investors. It’s absolutely and utterly brilliant in it’s prose, expression and message.
I was in this game for the money. The low hanging fruit, i.e. idiots whose parents paid for prep school, Yale, and then the Harvard MBA, was there for the taking. These people who were (often) truly not worthy of the education they received (or supposedly received) rose to the top of companies such as AIG, Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers and all levels of our government. All of this behavior supporting the Aristocracy, only ended up making it easier for me to find people stupid enough to take the other side of my trades. God bless America.
And who said reading is harmless?
The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work by Alain de Botton - the celebrated contemporary philosopher and writer - is a fantastic book about work. His language is eloquent, thoughtful and elaborate, his mind fresh like a spring morning.
I’ve to share my favorite paragraph that so well describes a very common sentiment about work and career:
We are diluted in gigantic intangible collective projects, which leave us wondering what we did last year and, more profoundly, where we have gone and quite what we have amounted to. We confront our lost energies in the pathos of the retirement party.
My first book - out of the promised 101 - was The Monk and The Riddle: The Art of Creating a Life While Making a Living. It’s a wonderful pseudo philosophical book about finding your professional passion. It’s written by a Silicon Valley veteran, making it even more relevant for me as a reader. The perfect feel-good, Saturday afternoon book.
The article about entrepreneurship in Detroit in the New York Times was inspiring and started a number of new thoughts. The first thing that came to mind was all the passionate people behind these new small businesses. It’s just fantastic that despite all the negative economic news that is peddled across the major media outlets there are still people who just rise up through the ashes to rebuild and build new. To claim their human right to their own destiny, to take risk and to create. To follow their passion.
Secondly, I was reminded of how energizing pre-gentrified or turn-around neighborhoods can be. It’s in these beaten down, urban environments that magic happens and that innovation takes place. It starts with a few creative minds that are looking for a place where they can spend enough time - what now is called runway in venture speak - to reach their goals. Think artists, bohemians and mavericks.
Just imagine energizing neighborhoods like Quartier Latin, Shoreditch, Palermo Viejo, West Hollywood, The Village, El Born, Notting Hill and Södermalm. Before they became gentrified and world known they were where bohemians, artists and other renegades hung out. House and food was cheap, the camaraderie heartfelt and the architecture inspiring. Due to the lack of wealth these hoods are usually fairly run down.
But they offer a refuge for people that need time to create on the cheap. And that’s what entrepreneurship and creativity is all about. It’s about creating tomorrow, following your passion, realizing your ideas and have enough time to fail to succeed. It’s never about over-paying, flaunting your wealth or being cool.
Once a neighborhood has become gentrified the creativity moves out and the money moves in. Just look at Notting Hill. When I lived there in the end of the 90s it was still shady, somewhat dangerous and oh so fun. We had Jac’s which was a hard to find late night hangout behind Westbourne Grove. You knocked on a wooden door and if approved let into paradise for any late night desolate.
Today this hood has become the home for people with more money than time. Rents and prices have been skyrocketing and the international brands have all moved in, making most of the Westbourne Grove extremely uninteresting. Thoughtless and tasteless creations aspiring to satisfy the need of being perceived as cool.
That’s why I felt inspired by what’s going on in the Cass Corridor in Detroit. This is the beginning of the neighborhood life-cycle. It’s the reboot that starts with the risk-takers, the artists and the bohemians, dying to create and explore the wonderful life of borderline urban living.
I’ve never been to Detroit but after reading that article I’ll definitely visit and my desire to travel to keep exploring the world grew even stronger. If that is even possible.
Is there anything as annoying as getting a voice mail with the single message “call me”? I understand that AT&T is doing backflips as a message like that could result in record-breaking phone tag sessions. But for any person of normal intelligence and sanity it spells lunacy.
Most activities (scheduling meetings, getting feedback, accessing reports et cetera) that used to demand a phone call can now be managed via the web. We also have excellent technology to return a well-formulated voice mail via other communication technologies such as email, SMS and messaging.
But there is a certain expectation that a voice mail should be returned as a voice mail even if it costs time, attention and money. A phone call spells urgency and should be responded to in the same manners as it was received. Therefore “call me”.
I don’t mind the use of voice mail per se. A voice memo can be very personal and it’s great to hear a real voice - especially when working in virtual environments. But “call me” - c’mon, that is plain stupid. Be concrete, god dammit!
What kind of douche lists reading as his 2010 resolution? A real resolution should be about losing weight, gaining muscles, making money or getting promoted. Big time events that that are visible, competitively macho and can be bragged about at social gatherings and in (sports) bars.
I’ll tell you why, punk:
So for 2010 I’ll satisfy with only one resolution: to read 101 real books. Through these books I’ll learn patience, the value of time, expand my vocabulary in English, Swedish, Spanish and German, improve my writing, exercise my brain and find solitude. Instead of watching mindless TV, checking emails every 5 minutes or hacking on my computer while traveling, I’ll read a real book (not audio, no Kindle).
My first book this year was The Monk and the Riddle: The Art of Creating a Life While Making a Living. Today I’ll start on On Intelligence. Then I’ll proceed to reading A Peace to End All Peace, followed by El Simbulo Perdido. After that anything could happen.
I’ll be more fearless, open-minded and adventurous in my work, life and travels. I’ll let people, art, books and real food inspire my life. I’ll let perspective rule over details, embrace what really matters and focus on the bigger picture.
I’ll challenge myself and others to ask why, to look for the truth, to think for themselves. I’ll focus on mind, body and soul. I’ll trail-blaze but also follow, balancing my ego with the universal truth.
I’ll minimize consumption to necessities, freeing up time for friends, freedom and thought. I’ll live vicariously through ideas, people and travels. I’ll dare to be inspired and inspire to greatness.
I’ll love every day as if it would be the last. Greet the sun in the morning and wave the sunset auf wiedersehen.
Made a delish bread frittata for tonight’s dinner.
Having access often beats ownership - both from a practical and a financial perspective. We are mentally conditioned to believe that ownership is the endgame, may that be cars, movies, furniture or a house. But taking the 30K foot view, it’s the unrestricted and unlimited access to all these things that we really value. The sense of ownership is to a certain extent a fabrication, a product by savvy (evil) marketing.
Today, most things are within comfortable wallet reach: rental cars, summer cabin, your pad, movies, music, furniture, travels and literature. None of these things needs to be owned (or tangible) to be fully enjoyed. Some things are practical or financially sound to own, like furniture, clothes and certain equipment. In some cases even your main residence. And prices for most things - except aspirational (i.e. luxury goods) products - has come down over the past 10 years.
But as everything is becoming abundant, cheaper with shorter shelf life and so easily accessible, behavior will change through experience and necessity and drive the need for new solutions. Just look at Zipcar - the car sharing company. They have made it financially possible to share cars with a bigger community of people in urban areas where parking is scarce and not everyday usage is needed. It’s “wheels when you want them”.
You can apply the same solution to bikes - a solution that is becoming very popular in European cities as Barcelona, Amsterdam, London and Paris - or gaming consoles and electronics.
The few things that is really beneficial to own can easily be resold via online marketplaces as Cragslist and eBay. Every-time I buy a new Apple gadget I sell an old one that I no longer use, usually for 50-70% of the original price. The same goes for furniture; they are just mass-produced dead things designed to solve a problem. When you can buy a chair that *looks* like it has been worn, you know that it’s all fake.
The real benefit of this approach is less clutter, more mobile and frugal lifestyle, much lower burn-rate and access to the coolest stuff in the world. Instead of spending the Saturday fixing the bathroom toilet you can cuddle up with a great library book in your soon to be sold sofa.
I think this is a mega-trend in the making that will free up time, money and attention; our most valuable and scarce commodities to be spent on growth, perspective and new insights.
My thought in the end of 1999 as I had entered my second year working for Yahoo!. I created this long wish-list of things that I wanted to do with all my media, and low and behold, 10 years later it has all come true:
There are still a number of flaws such as lack of real real-time streaming, using proxy server to use Spotify and only being able to have one iTunes app open at a time (if not using Home Sharing).
Since this wishing thing seem to be working here are a few more for the upcoming years:
Apple will most likely introduce music streaming thanks to their acquisition of lulu. Legally getting access to *foreign* news, shows and movies is much harder as the world is already divided into regions, strongly guarded by old media.
I’m getting ready to give away my DVD and CD collection!
Turning nostalgic when going through my old british GQs. This is a great article about “The 10 things every man should have in his fridge at all times”. I’d swap the mayonnaise for duck fat.
