Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?

My friends: Alistair Croll (Solve for Interesting, Tilt the Windmill, Interesting Bits, HBS, chair of Strata, Startupfest, FWD50, and Scaletechconf; author of Lean Analytics and some other books), Hugh McGuire (Rebus Foundation, PressBooks, LibriVox) and I decided that every week the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person “must see.”

Check out these six links that we’re recommending to one another: 

• The XOXO 2024 Talks – Andy Baio – Waxy. “I first attended Andy Baio‘s creator conference, XOXO, a few years back in Portland. It was always a work of love, with the talks split evenly between ‘isn’t the Internet amazing? Look at what it let me do!’ and ‘isn’t the Internet awful? Look at how much better it was.’ This was the last year of the conference. Several of the talks were outstanding; Erin Kissane‘s explanation of the Covid tracking project gave me flashbacks, Folding Ideas‘ Dan Olson spoke about creativity and envy and it felt way too close to home. I organized a viewing party for some friends (and my partner, stuck in Winnipeg for a family emergency). One in particular, by Cabel Sasser, had us quite literally cheering; it’s among the best talks I’ve ever seen. I won’t spoil it, but these are all worth your time.” (Alistair for Hugh).
• AI Creativity: Genius or Gimmick? – World Science Festival – YouTube. “The World Science Festival always has excellent talks, and this one in particular is worth watching given the two panelists. The inarguable power of AI runs head-on into the dignity of human labor, and I’m still trying to figure out what comes next. And Brian Greene asks good questions.” (Alistair for Mitch).
• Why Europe Is Unprepared To Defend Itself – Tom Pfeiffer – Bloomberg. “We are entering a new geopolitical age with challenges to the US-ruled Western order coming from many angles: China, Russia and Iran… with other big countries such as India, Brazil and South Africa playing all sides. It’s going to be a challenging few decades, I guess. The peace-time dividend, defence budgets freed up post Cold War, is about spent, and – like it or not – defense spending is going to go up. If you want an in-depth overview of the challenges faced by Europe, this is a good place to start.” (Hugh for Alistair).
• I Will F*&king Piledrive You If You Mention AI Again – Nikhil Suresh. “A quite hilarious bucket of cold water poured on the AI boosters. I don’t think he’s right exactly, but it’s a fun read.” (Hugh for Mitch).
• White-Collar Work Is Just Meetings Now – Derek Thompson – The Atlantic. “I’ve been thinking a lot about work… work from home… AI… the future. I guess I’ve always thought about it, but now it’s all landing in such a different way. I’ve been on the road quite a bit this past while speaking to different kinds of audiences from various industries… trade association meetings… corporate retreats… client summits. I’ve had countless people tell me (anecdotally) that they don’t even know how to network in person anymore… or what the point is. Whether all or part of their work week is now remote, there’s this over-bearing sense of freedom to work in a more personal/convenient way mixed with this haze of loneliness and uncertainty of their professional development. Layer in the thinking of this article and we have a mess when it comes to ‘work’. We’re alone when doing tasks but are often just slammed in meetings… to the point where people like Derek Thompson are asking a more serious question: If all you do all day is attend meetings and then follow-up tasks, what is your actual work/job?” (Mitch for Alistair).
• James Clear and Seth Godin – LinkedIn. “This week, famed Marketer and Thinker, Seth Godin, published his latest book, This Is Strategy (I spent over an hour discussing the book and more with Seth, so look for that conversation in an upcoming episode of Six Pixels of Separation – The ThinkersOne Podcast). James Clear wrote the book, Atomic Habits. You don’t need to know much else about his credentials. This productivity book has sold over twenty millions copies and still resides at the top of the weekly bestseller lists, which is staggering if you consider that it was published over six years ago. We need to think about this: A brand new business book that was just published can’t seem to beat a book that came out over six years ago. In this quick thirty-minute chat, Seth and James jam on what it takes to write, publish and sell a book that has an idea worth sharing. Well, this conversation is worth sharing, if you’ve ever thought of writing a book or are thinking about publishing your next one…” (Mitch for Hugh).

Feel free to share these links and add your picks on X, Facebook, in the comments below or wherever you play.

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