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 (BitCurrent, Year One Labs, GigaOM, Human 2.0, the author of Complete Web Monitoring and Managing Bandwidth: Deploying QOS in Enterprise Networks), Hugh McGuire (The Book Oven, LibriVox, iambik, PressBooks, Media Hacks) and I decided that every week or so 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:
- How Geniuses Think – Psychology Today. "This piece struck two chords with me. As a kid, I loved the Paddington Bear story about a game show: The host asks Paddington, ‘If you cut an 8-foot plank in half, and those pieces in half, and those pieces in half, how long would each piece be?’ Paddington replies, ‘8 feet.’ The announcer yells, ‘wrong!’ Paddington pauses, and then declares, ‘But I cut mine lengthwise.’ I’ve also long hated tailored Lego. Once, you made a roof from bricks; now, however, there’s a brick-shaped piece. This robs a child of all the other things that a roof might be. Recent research shows that the ability to come up with many possible correct answers is a better indicator of genius than raw IQ: instead of telling my daughter, ‘that’s right!’ I should spend more time saying, ‘and what else could that be?’" (Alistair for Hugh).
- Steve Jobs and the Purpose of the Corporation – Harvard Business Review. "This HBR piece beautifully stitches together two of the month’s most important news items — the death of Steve Jobs and the Occupy Wall Street movement. Ben E. Heineman Jr. argues that the focus on short-term returns at the expense of all else is what got us into the wealth disparity we see today, and that Jobs’ ability to ignore short-term gains in order to satisfy customers is far better for shareholders in the long term." (Alistair for Mitch).
- Here Are Four Charts That Explain What The Protesters Are Angry About… – Business Insider. "I’ve been puzzled by the negative media reaction to the Occupy Wall Street protests. No, not puzzled, or surprised, but maybe bemused. If you look at the last couple of years of financial turmoil, it’s clear that something is very, very wrong, and that the problems either start on Wall Street and end in Washington or vice versa. We’ve done essentially nothing to fix the underlying issues – and yet on flies Wall Street and on flies Washington (and Brussels). Well, here are some charts that explain what people are so pissed off about, and illustrate the structural shifts in wealth allocation we’ve seen in the past decade, especially. And the question for all of us is: are we on course to maintain a healthy, wealthy and stable society?" (Hugh for Alistair).
- Organizing Mobile – A List Apart. "Awesome article about design for mobile." (Hugh for Mitch).
- The creative class is a lie – Salon. "Is it all a myth? Is it impossible that the Web is not reshaping both business and culture as we know it? Are we deceiving ourselves into thinking that we can be professionals, but instead of suits, ties and cubicles, we have jeans, iPads and square glasses? This article is a wee bit curmudgeonly, but it sure will get you thinking about whether the creative class will truly be the future of our economy (I hope so!) or if we’re all destined for the homeless shelter (I hope not!)." Mitch for Alistair.
- Stan Lee – The Elements of a Page Turner – YouTube. "Comic books are the best. Yes, I’m a comic book nerd. There, I said it. The hybrid of art and literature is what cinches it for me. Now, you could debate whether a comic book is literature or art, but I could argue the same about that which you call art and literature. Stan Lee is considered one of the Godfathers of the comic book world. He is the former chairman and president of Marvel Comics and co-creator of superheroes like Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man and Thor. It’s not a bad resume. The truth is that comics are nothing without a great story that can capture the imagination of a hyper-active, puberty pumping teen. What does it take to make a page-turner for that type of attention deficit individual? Here, the master explains it in a beautiful and simple way. I wish more marketing and advertising professionals would create brand narratives with this kind of simplicity, care and structure." (Mitch for Hugh).
Now it’s your turn: in the comment section below pick one thing that you saw this week that inspired you and share it.