Hoist the Colours!

"It’s more fun to be a pirate than to join the navy" is one of my favorite all-time (rumored) quotes from Steve Jobs. I say "rumored" as it was supposedly used as inspiration during a 1983 off-site retreat in which the Mac team set the tone for their mission. Who knows if it was actually said or not. :)

But by billing the team as "pirates", they wanted to inspire and set forth a challenge to a key problem (that continues to exist in 2021) in most large successful organizations - companies grow and gain revenue, but slowly morph into disciplined structures and become tied up in bureaucracy.

A pirate's nature is to rally against the norm. A pirate is an agent of change.

A pirate can function without a bureaucracy.

Pirates support one another and support their leader in the accomplishment of a goal. A pirate can stay creative and on task in a difficult or hostile environment.

A pirate can act independently and take intelligent risks, but always within the scope of the greater vision and the needs of the greater team.

If you're looking to stir things up a bit, try to shift your focus; consider the ‘code is more what you'd call guidelines than actual rules’, have a little fun and feel the wind behind your sails - I'd suggest fly the flag; you'll be surprised in what a little disruption can bring to your team. :)

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Forward Thinking

This one struck a cord with me; I've spent countless hours refining my own systems and automation regarding my own workflows and productivity systems.

Anne-Laure has a wonderful watch on "our desire to be more productive can turn into a harmful addiction to productivity content: this is toxic productivity. It's completely disconnected from reality, it can be addictive, and if you take it at face value you may pick up some completely ineffective methods."

Latest obsession

I've started to explore the idea of taking microadventures (more on this in a follow up post) and one of the best items I've found for my bag to accompany the Matador Pocket Blanket is the CLIQ 'bottle-sized chair for anywhere'

While I don't recommend sitting for a 10 hour day in this chair (I've tried, your butt will hurt), having an ultra-light small form factor chair that's weatherproof and waterproof is a game changer - it's no bigger than a water bottle and 3.65lbs.

This weeks "Deep Links"

Here's a few of the articles and videos that resonated with me over the last week:

• Glorious! I've been the most excited to the new Loki series on Disney+ out of any of the new offerings. The first episode has finally landed this week and it is everything that I hoped for. "A Marvel Series That Cares Little for Marvel’s Universe" dives into the series (minor spoilers) - More
• "Miranda Kerr And Gwyneth Paltrow Endorse Wim Hoff Breathing To Ease Anxiety And Stress" is a conversation on Wim Hoff (which I've mentioned previously) view on the importance of breathing for mental health - More
• "In Praise of Small Menus" examines the 'true luxury (is) having someone else make decisions for you', the effect of the pandemic on the size of menus, and the joy of experiencing restaurants by eating exactly what they want to feed you - More
• I was 50 when I learned "Do You Know What the Color of Your Bread Bag Twist Ties Really Mean?". How did I not know that the bag twist colors actually meant something - More
• I was also 50 when I learned that "Knowing the Difference Between a Couch and a Sofa Can Make Furniture Shopping Easier". Big learnings this week! - More
• Something that I've been devoting a lot of time thinking about is the value of "experiences over stuff". Having "openness to a wide variety of life experiences, from visiting interesting places to considering unusual political views, brings happiness." is a key theme for "Don’t Approach Life Like a Picky Eater" - More
• Criminals flocked to using a new encrypted messaging app; instead it turned out to be an FBI-run sting operation. "Hundreds arrested in massive global crime sting using messaging app" explores the app that was designed to monitor drug smuggling, money laundering and even murder plots - More
• "I Think in Flowcharts" is a wonderful read on using charts to help figure out how to use flowcharts to decision making to help "give a sense of control when it’s hitting the fan" - More
• The NSA recently published new documents that dive into techniques that "a skilled code-maker should leave at least some non-random patterns in the cipher, so as to not make their puzzle impossible"."Declassified Cold War code-breaking manual has lessons for solving 'impossible' puzzles" is a great read on puzzle solving and thinking - More
• "Hey, so, I Think I Fucking Hate the Internet" is a no holds barred look at the horrible state of what's going on with social media, people, and "feeding off of others in an effort to stave off the boredom, frustration, and despair a global catastrophe inflicted upon us". Definitely food for thought on how much time and energy you put into these things - More
• As a reader of this weekly newsletter, you already know how much I love notebooks. "100 Ways to Use Your Pocket Notebook" expands on some really useful ways to use them - More
• "No" is not a dirty word; "The Audacity of Nope“ explores more avenues in which saying "no" can actually be a good thing - More

Fin

To wrap up this week, I wanted to share a wonderful TEDx talk from 2015 that I recently stumbled upon called "The creative act of listening to a talking frog".

Some very wise words on "why are we here", and magical lessons learned along the way with the conspiracy of craziness, presented by Kermit the Frog.