Espresso Shots 8-24-25

Here's my weekly update with a few interesting random findings that I came across the last week or two. I am going to try to make sure they're here in time for you to enjoy with your morning coffee (or beverage of choice) every Saturday or Sunday, and include some of my thoughts around them.

The Latest Drippings ☕️

• Why You Need Systems Thinking Now. I've shared this piece from the Harvard Business Review with almost everyone I know this week, as I've been spending a lot of time thinking about thinking. Last year, in "Goals and Systems", I wrote: 'Looking at things as an ecosystem rather than diving deep into a specific goal has proven to be a valuable exercise. Rather than focusing only on an endpoint, what if you try to see the interconnections, loops, and cause-and-effect relationships—try to grasp the entire structure? Don't just aim for the 'tip of the pencil'; rather, strive to see and understand the entirety of how an overall system works.' and I've been finding it to be an incredibly valuable way to think about ways to supercharge a team.
• Hank Green's Focus Friend Swapped My Screen Time for Bean Time. In a weird retro way, I really love the idea of Focus Friend, a new game for iOS and Android. In Focus Friend, the more time you spend in 'focus mode,' on your phone, the more their bean generates in-app currency, which reminds me of the classic and bizarre 'Little Computer People'. LCP was developed by Activision back in 1985, before Tamagotchi, and served as inspiration later on for The Sims. I was fascinated that each copy of the game generated its own unique character, so no two copies were identical. I can't remember what I had for lunch most days, but I can still remember my "person", whose name was Duncan—an interesting precursor to today's LLMs. Discovered a great podcast and additional 'behind the scenes' on how Focus Friend was made.
• Time is On My Side. What a wonderful read about taking time off from Frank Chimero, who took a sabbatical this year. 'Not much has happened' was the surprising takeaway, that there was no takeaway. 'It becomes clear that the best thing to do with time is to devote it. That is how you get time on your side. When you are working with time instead of against it, every bit matters, it all counts, even the fallow times, the empty times, the time off the path.'
• You Will Never Have Enough. One of my favorite tools to lean into is "through constraint, find freedom" which is why I loved the perspective from this artist on finding ways to work through the creative block - by creating bookmarks. Why bookmarks? 'Those constraints that help me unblock. Having to fit something into such a small space clears out all of the distractions and hang-ups that hold me back, allowing me to create something. They are not always good, but that’s not the point! The point is that they unclog the logjam in my head so I can get back to performing at my best.' Constraints are not liabilities - they're a superpower if used properly!
• Smart Quotes for Smart People. Ah, good typography and how to use smart quotes, not dumb quotes. I guess I'm guilty of using the dumb kind way too often.
• A Screenless Future. I've often thought my next 'computer' will be the AirPods + Apple Watch, a 'personal network', if you will. So I enjoyed this post, which starts with "humans existed without screens for hundreds of thousands of years. They will exist without screens for hundreds of thousands more." A fun look at where our screenless future may end up.
• Selective Laziness, Ultracrepidarian & the Origin of Opinions. Some great thoughts on the origin of where one forms opinions: 'It is often very illuminating to ask yourself how you got at the facts on which you base your opinion. Who actually saw, heard, felt, counted, named the thing, about which you have an opinion? You can ask yourself these questions, but you can rarely answer them. They will remind you, however, of the distance which often separates your public opinion from the event with which it deals. And the reminder is itself a protection.'
• You Can Choose To Be Great, But Not What You're Great At. As usual, Ryan Holiday has some sage advice and how it's a 'moral imperative to develop one's talents to their fullest potential, regardless of market demand.'
• Popular Writing Advice That's Actually Bad. Speaking of advice, here was a fun list of popular topics on writing that are actually bad. If you've spent any time reading about getting better at putting pen to paper, you'll likely come across items like 'write what you know,' 'show, don't tell,' and 'kill your darlings,' and this piece calls out why just junk advice.
• What To Do More (And Less) Of. A solid guide on how to use various prompts for creating healthy patterns in teams using self-reflection and observations. Again, understanding context is at the center of good performance.
• What '5 to 9' Videos Say About Americans and Leisure. I don't understand why our society spends so much time just scrolling away, watching content on how others live their lives. Social networks continue to prove to be one of the most detrimental inventions ever.
• Not the Final Me. A short, brilliant piece on self-reflection. 'The me I am today is not the final me. This is just a version of myself, iterated from previous versions of myself, and every aspect of my being—my life, my career, my relationships, all of it—are prone to revision. That’s how I got to where I am now, and that will continue to happen in the future.'
• How The Internet Died. Wrapping up this week with a very thoughtful post on how the Internet, as we knew it, is already dead. But more importantly, some ideas on how to build a new one.

Amor Fati ✌🏻