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 (Just Evil Enough, 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:
- Take All Unreasonable Measures – Jordan Furlong – Substack. “This week, I decided to give ChatGPT‘s reasoning and research model a try. I sent it off on a task to script a narrative arc for a series of events, find data for each event’s introduction, and recommend panelists. It did very, very well. In seven minutes and twenty-nine seconds, it produced a quality of work I would have expected an experienced employee to complete in a week. Worse (for me), the topics and panelists were spot on. I knew half of them personally, and had already been thinking about it. In this post by Canadian lawyer Jordan Furlong, he urges lawyers – a class of professionals literally trained to make reasonable arguments – to start being unreasonable. Ostensibly about the impact of AI on law, it’s also about the dismantling of democracy.” (Alistair for Hugh).
- I Made An Evolution Simulator (With Silly Little Guys) – Icoso – YouTube. “This is some amazing education. The calibre of science explainer content is just so damned good these days, it surely outperforms what most teachers can do in class. A decade or so ago I gave a talk at Bitnorth about flipping the classroom, making the point that we should do homework at school (actually doing the work in the classroom) and listening to the teaching at home (the best science teacher is unlikely to be the one in your home town). That’s only gotten more true – and with personalized agents that can walk a student through problem solving at whatever level works, it feels increasingly wrong not to be overhauling education in its entirety. Watch this video and you’ll know more about evolutionary biology than almost anyone.” (Alistair for Mitch).
- The Hardest Working Font In Manhattan – Marcin Wichary – Aresluna. “I can’t remember who is the bigger font nerd, Alistair or Mitch, but this is a deep, DEEP dive into what I might call the ‘old elevator button font’, which, it turns out is everywhere in Manhattan, and probably in your city too.” (Hugh for Alistair).
- Men Actually Crave Romantic Relationships More Than Women Do – Clarissa Brincat – Scientific American. “I’ve been fascinated (not in a good way) with the data about the degree that boys, and young men are struggling in North America. Suicide rates 4x young women, 60% of college students are women, 10% decline in workfroce participation etc etc. Here’s another maybe counterintuitive study: men want and need romantic relationships more than women. Surprising or not? I can’t decide.” (Hugh for Mitch).
- Just Evil Enough – The Subversive Marketing Handbook – Alistair Croll & Emily Ross. “Earlier this week, many of Alistair’s friends and colleagues gathered at a beautiful venue in downtown Montreal (Le 9e) to celebrate the launch of his new book, Just Evil Enough – The Subversive Marketing Handbook. So, I thought I would divert from my usual sharing of a link that I know Alistair might enjoy and simply gush over how great the book is… how smart Alistair is… and, most importantly, implore you to buy this book… read this book… and do something serious with your business because of the gems and insights that Alistair and his co-author (Emily Ross) have generously offered up within the pages. It was so great to see so many people, listen to Alistair’s thoughts on the book and to cheer him on. Looking for reasons to why your marketing and growth might be stalling? This book will show you how overcome just that… it’s great read!” (Mitch for Alistair).
- The Secret Weapons Of Marketing Psychology – Rory Sutherland – Chris Williamson – Modern Wisdom – YouTube. “I was looking for something interesting to pair with the launch of Alistair’s wonderful new book, and when you ask the Internet Gods to deliver… the algorithm frequently does. Here is another personal brain crush I have… it’s advertising legend Rory Sutherland… whom I have featured here before… and he even blurbbed Alistair’s new book (note to self: Get Rory on Six Pixels of Separation!). Here is two hours of fresh, smart goodness around the state of business but, more importantly, a peek into how consumers think, what makes them buy and how marketers make it work in their favor…” (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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