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Questions
Michael Wade with a whole bunch of questions managers ought to be asking themselves. As someone who is terrible at this, I find this list totally refreshing.
What is their baggage? How do they learn? Can they explain it? Do they think they’ve completed their education? Do they know the boundaries? Are they game-players? Can they be trusted? How do they treat others? Are they mindful? Are they impatient? Do they value time? Where are they likely to err? Do they have courage? Do they keep promises? Can they be coached? Do they read? Do they listen? Do they admit mistakes? What do they fear? What do they want? Do they laugh at themselves? Can they ask for help? Do they think ahead? Would you hire them? Would you re-hire them? Will you dance if they leave?
Prayer
Praying for something implies that, despite My omniscience, I don't already know what you want.
— God (Not a Parody, Actually God) (@TheTweetOfGod) June 2, 2019
Prayer insults Me.
Not Enough Time
While I was not disappointed with the last season of Game of Thrones, there was something just a bit off. I said to my friends that I think they needed more episodes to make the twists and the turns feel more real and not rushed.
YouTuber Just Write had that same thought, but explained it way better than I could in a great deep dive into the narrative of Season 8 and the problems the writers/producers created for themselves.
Navy Pilots Report Unexplained Flying Objects
Helene Cooper, Ralph Blumenthal, and Leslie Kean, writing in The New York Times, has a story regarding several Navy pilots encountering unidentified flying objects
What was strange, the pilots said, was that the video showed objects accelerating to hypersonic speed, making sudden stops and instantaneous turns — something beyond the physical limits of a human crew.
“Speed doesn’t kill you,” Lieutenant Graves said. “Stopping does. Or acceleration.”
I dismissed this story initially when it came out and I just read the headline. It came up again in my list of things I should read and I decided to check it out. It certainly has an air of The X-Files all over it. Seriously, these are Navy pilots speaking on the record about these unidentified aircraft.
Still, I bet these sightings are easily explained away by some sort of real world explanation. But what if it’s something else.
Write More, Do Other Stuff Less
As we fast approach the middle of the year, I’ve been working on tweaking my focus for my creative output. I’m reminded of a quote from writer Brian K Vaughan.
Write more, do other stuff less.That’s it. Everything else is meaningless. You can take all the classes in the world and read every book on the craft out there, but at the end of the day, writing is sorta like dieting. There are plenty of stupid fads out there and charlatans promising quick fixes, but if you want to lose weight, you have to exercise more and eat less. Period. Every writer has 10,000 pages of shit in them, and the only way your writing is going to be any good at all is to work hard and hit 10,001.
Basically, I’m going to write more. Where that writing resides is a subject for the future. Right now, look for me here as always.
Petrichor
My all-time favorite scent is the smell of rain on soil after warm, dry weather. If I could bottle it up I would.
A Plan to Win the Impeachment Fight
Dan Pfeiffer, writing at his site crooked.com, outlines what he sees as the way Democrats can win what looks like an impending impeachment battle. I’m especially enamored with his main message:
Donald Trump has abused his power to hide multiple crimes and massive corruption. He has used the Presidency to punish his enemies, reward his friends, and enrich himself at the expense of the American people. No one is above the law, not even a rich politician.
This line needs to be said about a billion times between now and Election Day.
Randy Rainbow Profile
Margaret Engel, writing in The Washington Post, has a tremendous profile of political satirist Randy Rainbow. He’s great and this gushing piece matches his gusto.
Hundreds of thousands watch the short videos he produces every 10 days or so, featuring show tunes and pop songs he has refashioned with biting new lyrics. These DIY productions are funny and oh-so-topical and include clever video manipulation of news footage to create sassy mock interviews with prominent political players — mostly of the Trumpian variety — topped off with costumes ordered online.
It’s no secret that in 21st-century America, power over public opinion doesn’t reside exclusively with editorialists or news anchors. We are now Entertainment Nation, and society’s jesters — Stephen Colbert, Samantha Bee, John Oliver, Trevor Noah, Bill Maher, etc. — have become as influential as the Walter Cronkites and David Brinkleys of yore.
Rainbow, with his snappy riffs on the politics of the day, is a prominent part of this new and influential group, but he offers something distinct: a very old tradition of musical satire updated for the YouTube age. Think of him as a modern-day Gilbert and Sullivan, or the millennial version of the piano-playing Mark Russell or Tom Lehrer — the key difference being that his get-it-out-fast production marathons and savvy use of social media bring his commentary to the public quickly, directly and with no filter. Competitors like the Capitol Steps strive to put the mock in democracy as fast as possible, but with multiple writers and cast members, they can’t equal Rainbow’s speed. In a world on hyperdrive, he delivers near-instant gratification: Within minutes of Trump lawyer Michael Cohen’s appearance before members of Congress, for instance, Rainbow was taking song requests from fans on Twitter. Three days after Roger Stone was arrested in January, Rainbow posted “The Donald Trump Cell Block Tango,” a video parody of a number from the musical “Chicago.”
“Musical satire updated for the YouTube age” is spot on. Watch Very Stable Genius and just marvel at his lyrics.
Jack of all Trades, Master of None
I’ve been thinking about my own personal focus for several weeks now. I’m trying to be more focused on my family, focused on my job(s), and focused on my personal projects. My problem is I tend to go scattershot with my attention, and then I run into problems.
This blog, for instance, has no theme or niche. It is about a lot of different things that interest me. Does that mean it’s not really about anything?
I try hard to be a good husband, father, step-father, employee, writer, copywriter, editor, etcetera, etcetera. Can I be great at those things too? Do I need to pare down my list to be great at the most important? Is good enough… good enough?
I like writing about pop culture, productivity, Apple products, politics, being a dog owner, and a bunch of other things. Then I wonder if I’ve put a whole bunch of unrelated eggs in one basket and now can’t give any of these topics enough mental attention and focus.
Being a jack of all trades and master of none seems like a well-rounded place to be. However, I can’t seem to shake the idea that only scratching the surface of whatever is interesting me at the time isn’t as fulfilling as holding a stronger focus on one thing. Additionally, I then can’t figure out the one thing to focus on.
Back to thinking about my personal focus. Maybe I’ll have an action plan soon.
Fakebook
Kara Swisher, writing at The New York Times, has called out Facebook for not doing anything to stop the proliferation of a doctored video of Nancy Pelosi.
This is ridiculous. The only thing the incident shows is how expert Facebook has become at blurring the lines between simple mistakes and deliberate deception, thereby abrogating its responsibility as the key distributor of news on the planet.
Would a broadcast network air this? Never. Would a newspaper publish it? Not without serious repercussions. Would a marketing campaign like this ever pass muster? False advertising.
No other media could get away with spreading anything like this because they lack the immunity protection that Facebook and other tech companies enjoy under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Section 230 was intended to spur innovation and encourage start-ups. Now it’s a shield to protect behemoths from any sensible rules.
I’m seriously considering dropping out of the Facebook ecosystem completely. Honestly, there’s little there that interests me anymore.
The Last Gift
The last gift the three-day weekend gives us is the four-day week.
— Jason L Blair (@jasonlblair) May 28, 2019
So true.
Read the Report
David Frum, writing in The Atlantic, reported on Robert Mueller’s first public address since his report landed echoes what Mr. Mueller wants everyone to do: read the report.
The basics are not in dispute.
A foreign power interfered in the U.S. election to help the Trump campaign. The Trump campaign welcomed the help and repeatedly lied about it. The lying successfully obscured some questions the investigation sought to answer; in the end, it found insufficient evidence to charge a broader conspiracy. President Trump, in public and in private, worked to stop the investigation.
Mueller says he can do no more. The rest, Congress, is up to you.
Time to see what’s next on Nancy Pelosi’s To Do List.
Make a Decision and Focus
As much as I’d like to, it is impossible to change the past. Unless I get into a souped-up DeLorean, the past will always be the past. However, the future isn’t written.
Changing the future starts right now.
I’ve been bouncing around different ideas on what I should focus on. Time to make a decision and focus.
You can do the same.
Check-Lists
Nicholas Bate on making check-lists…
There are fewer mistakes with accurate, easily-accessible check-lists. Ask your pilot. Your surgeon. Your roadie.
It’s time you had a few.
Veterans Day versus Memorial Day
Just a small reminder, Veterans Day celebrates the service of all U.S. military veterans. Memorial Day honors those who died while in military service.
Men Need to Make Friends
Melanie Hamlett, writing in Harper’s Bazaar, has a story that I had saved to Instapaper a while back and then saw again recently. I read this bit, and then I realized it’s me.
Kelly’s boyfriend refused to talk to other men or a therapist about his feelings, so he’d often get into “funks,” picking pointless fights when something was bothering him. Eventually, Kelly became his default therapist, soothing his anxieties as he fretted over work or family problems.
I admit I still do this to my wife, and I recognize I need to stop. She absolutely “soothes my anxieties,” and I see I need an alternative. Part of the problem is that my close friends with who I can have deep emotional conversations aren’t nearby.
I’m not sure what I should do… maybe find some new friends?
Intentional Habits
Jason Fried, writing in his company’s blog Signal v. Noise, has a smart post about advice for young people about to graduate. His advice makes a lot of sense.
The advice was this: Habits are always forming. No matter what you do, you’re also forming habits too. Keep that in mind with whatever you do.
When we talk about habits, we generally talk about learning good habits. Or forming good habits. Both of these outcomes suggest we can end up with the habits we want. And technically we can! But most of the habits we have are habits we ended up with after years of unconscious behavior. They’re not intentional. They’ve been planting deep roots under the surface, sight unseen. Fertilized, watered, and well-fed by recurring behavior. Trying to pull that habit out of the ground later is going to be incredibly difficult. Your grip has to be better than its grip, and it rarely is.
So be aware of what you do, what you’re doing, and how you’re doing it. Every do digs deeper. Every does grips stronger.
It’s something I wish someone would have told me twenty-five years ago.
The 25 Best Star Trek: The Next Generation Episodes
Mike Bloom, writing for The Hollywood Reporter, pulls ye olde chestnut out ranking the episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation in honor of the 25th anniversary of the series finale. Surprisingly, I have little to quibble with his list.
“Family” and “Inner Light” should be higher and the omission of “Unification, Parts I and II” is a mistake. I’d simply remove “The Outcast” to fit it in.
1% Better
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Time is finite, but there’s always too much to do.
I’ve found that I only operate well when I focus. I have to focus on what’s most important, what I can do to make a difference, and where the resources are to help.
Personally, I get caught in the weeds a lot. I can be super detailed and then not detailed enough. I lose the big picture. My wife is really skilled at focusing on the most important thing and seeing the big picture simultaneously. Me, not so much.
Being easily distracted is also not a good thing for me. I have to actively focus on what’s the best thing I can be doing at this exact moment. Otherwise, I’ve blurred my attention, and I’m not going to accomplish anything.
My solution is to write things down because when I don’t inevitably, I will miss things, forget things, or just flat out fail. I’m not as good as I should be at juggling multiple things, but at least I’m aware of my shortcomings and have actively tried to fix them.
All I can do is continually strive to get better at the things I’m deficient in and keep maximizing the skills I excel at. James Clear says, “If you get one percent better each day for one year, you’ll end up thirty-seven times better by the time you’re done.”
Just get one percent better.