I hope you and your families continue to be well, safe and healthy.
The Articles section looks at several key themes: 1) a suite of articles on the importance of and need for ongoing learning, even in this tumultuous time; 2) several pieces imagining the future of work and how best to prepare now for what that may look like; and 3) a couple of profoundly sobering analyses from The Atlantic re: what the current global pandemic will mean for both Millenials and Gen C (or Gen V if you are of the mind that there will be more of these to come). The Articles section is rounded out by an incredibly thoughtful and thought-provoking piece by David Brooks from the New York Times. His musings on resume virtues, eulogy virtues and the need for our own inner work left me with a lot to reflect on. There is also a great article and podcast examining the impact of the coronavirus on women, their careers, family obligations, etc.
The “Greatness” podcast is a 10-minute masterclass in world-class leadership accompanied by an amazing visual presentation of the key ideas. The Australian surf photos of the year in the Arts and Culture section are stunning works of art. Just beautiful. And finally, my main visual diversion for the next few weeks will be ESPN’s “The Last Dance,” a 10 part documentary detailing the Chicago Bulls’ 1997-98 season.
As always, happy reading and listening! And please stay safe and look out for your families and your community. Be well,-kj
Articles
“Keep Your People Learning When You Go Virtual. Cultivating a learning culture is not just a catch phrase or a luxury in these times. It is a way to protect your organization and its people. Courage matters as much as competence when, as we are all doing now, we have to take work virtual and we need to keep it human.”
“The Transformer CLO. The fast-changing nature of business today requires organizations in every industry to constantly enhance their capabilities…Transformer CLOs are positioning employees to succeed in their current jobs and adapt to future changes. They’re making learning and development an integral part of their companies’ strategic agendas. It’s a profound and important shift.” [While this piece is aimed at Chief Learning Officers, there are many valuable insights that we can all benefit from.].
“Your Organization Needs a Learning Ecosystem. If individuals aren’t learning, neither is the organization…When we facilitate learning, even require it of individuals, we create new carrying capacity for growth throughout our organizational ecosystem. If we don’t…well, we live or die by the growth of our people.”
“How Your Organization’s Experts Can Share Their Knowledge. All companies have subject matter experts who hold knowledge critical to their businesses. As a leader, how can you make sure to not only preserve that know-how for future generations but also multiply its impact? Through something we call a knowledge cascade: the diffusion of experts’ ‘deep smarts’ to and through multiple learners in a way that minimizes the burden on the experts.”
“A Portal and a Trap: The Many Ways Coronavirus Will Impact Women. The real idea here is that economic forces can play an important role in shaping the way families are organized, raise their children, and the social norms surrounding them. As women continue to close the gap in education (as they have already in younger generations) and earnings (in some strata, they already outearn their husbands) it will be in the best interest of families to more equitably share home care and house care demands. In that sense, once change occurs, the economic forces are there to reinforce these changes and sustain them.”
“The Future Is Not What It Used To Be: Thoughts On The Shape Of The Next Normal. It is impossible to know what will happen. But it is possible to consider the lessons of the past, both distant and recent, and on that basis, to think constructively about the future. We believe the following elements will be important in the shaping of the next normal—and that business leaders will need to come to terms with them.”
“The coronavirus butterfly effect: Six predictions for a new world order. The world may soon pass ‘peak virus.’ But true recovery will take years—and the ripple effects will be seismic.”
“Preparing Your Business for a Post-Pandemic World. The management theorist Henry Mintzberg famously defined strategy as 5 Ps: plan, ploy, pattern, position, and perspective. We have adapted his framework to propose our own 5 Ps: position, plan, perspective, projects, and preparedness. The following questions can guide you as you work to bounce back from the crisis.”
“Build Your Team’s Resilience — From Home. To make it through the current crisis and return to a new normal, you and your team will need to be resilient. The good news is that leaders can help create the conditions that make this possible…The key is to focus on two things: people and perspective.”
“Millenials Don’t Stand a Chance. They’re facing a second once-in-a-lifetime downturn at a crucial moment.”
“Generation C Has Nowhere to Turn. Recent history suggests young people could see their careers derailed, finances shattered, and social lives upended.”
“The Moral Bucket List. It occurred to me that there were two sets of virtues, the résumé virtues and the eulogy virtues. The résumé virtues are the skills you bring to the marketplace. The eulogy virtues are the ones that are talked about at your funeral — whether you were kind, brave, honest or faithful. Were you capable of deep love?…Many of us are clearer on how to build an external career than on how to build inner character.”
TED Talks/Podcasts
“Want a Job in the Future? Be a Student for Life. New digital technologies are expected to take away many jobs. They will also create several new ones. However, to grasp these new opportunities, everyone must continuously learn new skills.”
“HBR Women at Work: We’re Beyond Stretched. Women from around the world tell us how the coronavirus crisis is impacting them both professionally and personally. We share how we’ve been coping and give advice for handling all of this extra stress.”
“‘Greatness.’ This Inno-Versity Inno-Mation was adapted from Captain David Marquet’s talk on Greatness, and is based on his book, Turn the Ship Around!”
“WorkLife with Adam Grant Bonus: Relationships at Work with Esther Perel. Work relationships are complicated. Who holds the power and why? What are effective ways to solve conflict? And how do you know when it’s time to walk away? Adam gets personal with therapist Esther Perel to explore the dynamics of trust, power, and people pleasing.”
Blog Posts (excerpt below with links to the full post)
“You Should Always Find Something to Learn. There is always something to learn—from everyone and in any situation. Even if it is only a reminder of why you do the things you do the way you do them. But hopefully you seek out disconfirmation even more than confirmation.”
“React, respond or initiate? But now, right now, is the single best time to initiate. We’re in for a slog, but there will be an end to it. Make things better by making better things.”
Arts, Music & Culture Corner
“ESPN’s 10-part documentary, ‘The Last Dance,‘ which chronicles Michael Jordan and the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls, premiered on Sunday with Episodes 1 and 2. Jordan and the Bulls allowed NBA Entertainment to follow them throughout the season and document their final championship together. The series will feature never-before-seen footage, as well as interviews with more than 100 people close to the team.”
“Being Bill Murray. When you’re one of the most beloved stars in the world, you can get away with almost anything. So what’s that kind of freedom like?”
“The Nikon Surf Photo of the Year and Nikon Surf Video of the Year awards showcase the finest work taken by Australia’s best surf photographers and filmmakers during the past year.”
“Over the last few years, every Friday as the work day wound down, I would gather at my local brewery with some of my closest friends to celebrate the end of another week. We call it ‘Happiest Hour’ and…that’s what I want to bring back with The Paste Happiest Hour, a new livestream video series from Paste, every weekday at 5 p.m. ET.” [For you music fans…]
