Spring Gems

Spring Gems.

“On building & maintaining a knowledge garden: “Gardens require work, but it’s work that gives you life.”
— @jarango” via @marshallk

I review what caught my attention in May and June 2024 on media tools and in my personal archives. Here are the insights.

Table of Contents

On Identities

“I don’t know what kind of career I want to forge for myself. But I want it to be one where I love the work that I’ve done. And I like to think that I have good instincts.” — Anya Taylor-Joy

“I don’t really feel like I belong anywhere, which makes me belong everywhere.” — Anya Taylor-Joy

George Miller‘s latest movie, Furiosa, was such a treat to see in the cinema.

“How right it is to love flowers and the greenery of pines and ivy and hawthorn hedges; they have been with us from the very beginning.” – Vincent Van Gogh via Meredith Lewis

“i do not know what it is about you that closes and opens; only something in me understands the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses.” – e.e. cummings from ‘somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond via Meredith Lewis

“I like to bundle SWOT analyses into my PESTLEs. There’s always possibilities we can’t predict. Good ol VUCA!” – @ddrrnt

On Focus

“Planning, daydreaming, predicting, worrying, reflecting, or anticipating add up to time we spend thinking about what isn’t going on around us.

Contemplating or re-experiencing events that have happened in the past = retrospection.

Thinking about what might happen in the future = prospection.

The part I find interesting is that animals can mull over events they’ve experienced before. But only humans can think about the possible consequences of future events they’ve never experienced by stimulating the future in our minds. We are unique voyagers through time.” – Rachel Botsman

“The volume of our communication, and our unfettered access to information and other people, have made it more difficult than ever to focus. Despite this reality, there is another truth: Opportunities to focus are still all around us. But we must recognize them and believe that the benefit of focus, for yourself and the people you lead, is worth making it a priority in your life. In other words, before you can lead others, the first person you must lead is yourself.” – Mike Erwin

“Through books I was introduced to the world of Hayek, Machiavelli , Locke, Adam Smith, Hobbes and Rousseau as well as that of Tolkien and the beauty of ideas and language.

I will keep my hardcopy of books and make sure that my grandson can always read them so that the ideas contained therein are not ‘updated’ to reflect the mores of the time

I will always use it to ride that magic carpet over the seas to Cathay or into the vast reaches of space, armed with a notebook a comfy chair and a good cup of freshly brewed coffee.” – Andrew Trickett

I went back this spring and rediscovered Strasbourg, France’s first UNESCO World Book Capital, with great pleasure. You can listen to this podcast in French. Here is an excerpt:

“Reading is an indulgence that helps us grow”.

On Engagement

“Implicit in the language of engagement are the following behaviors:
Noticing
Validating
Supporting
Assuming Commitment
Seeking Understanding
Supporting
Promoting
Inviting
Empowering” – Rachel Happe

“Ecosystems emerge from platforms that provide safe spaces for collaborations to form. While we cannot manage ecosystems, we can manage the rules, activities, & participants on the platform. Japanese scholars Nonaka and Konno call these safe spaces “Ba”. – Ed Morrison

“To break free from analysis paralysis, it’s crucial to take the action step to move to “What will we do?” – Jane Rogan

What are you up to?

How and why to make a /now page on your site to work and learn out loud.

“Creativity: having the courage to finish. “Do the best work you can, forgive yourself for not doing what you wanted to do, and show your work.” – Meredith Lewis

“According to this paper #Serendipity is not merely about chance but is deeply intertwined with the proactive elements of triggering, connection, follow-up, and the capacity to perceive and capitalize on unexpected opportunities.” https://asistdl.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/asi.23273” – @ddrrnt

“(…) Twitter used to be the most wonderful platform for serendipity: Those gloriously off-piste encounters that lead to connections with people or events or ideas or content from all over the world that I doubt I would have found without social media, and especially Twitter.” – Meredith Lewis

“As Google+ was shattered end-user behavior, in general, changed across social media networks. Much of this change was sometime coming. The closure of Google+ didn’t materially affect it but it catalyzed some of it accelerating the process as rivals sprung up and decentralized networks started getting the upper hand (which has led to the rise of the fediverse).” – David Amerland

What is the Fediverse? It is explained by Common Craft in this video.

“A recent study on the customer (and fan) psychology associated with parasocial relationships highlights why social media is as necessary as it is tricky and why trust that’s so hard to build is also so easy to lose.” – David Amerland

On Super Skills

“Soft skills are the way for us to future-proof [/now-proof] ourselves & our workforce and drive sustainable success in the age of AI. Because our edge will always be human.” – Taruna Goel

“(…) “HCD is an umbrella term that covers the likes of design thinking (DT), User Experience design (UXD), customer experience design (CXD), and Learning Experience Design (LXD). They’re all variations of a theme, and that theme is that everyone provides a service to someone.”

“(…) In the age of AI, human centered design is a super skill because it puts people first. It ensures the numbers that the software crunches will provide intelligence to inform a decision that your customer needs to make. It ensures the process that the agent automates will service a need that your customer has. As the popular saying goes, it ensures your plane lands at the right airport. In this way, HCD is a soft skill that complements and galvanizes your suite of hard skills. It’s a super skill that not only empowers you among the robots. It also empowers you among your fellow humans with whom you compete for jobs, bonuses, and promotions.” – Ryan Tracey

I have completed the Human Centered Design Crash Course hosted by Ryan Tracey. Here is my review:

This is an excellent, clear, actionable and straightforward course. Each theme is well woven and provides a trigger to be ready before moving on to the next step.

I enjoyed walking through this learner experience and found it beneficial in strengthening my innovation muscles and being more consistent when it comes to figure out and level up fellow newbie innovators.