đď¸ LongForm
Want to reduce the noice and just focus on things with a little more meat - the this category is for you. Like so much on this site we have a ‘WIP’ as i take some out - and put some in - but safe for at least starting in 2026.
WeWork - 'uck 'em
I wrote this over three years ago about We Work - and they have been high on my list of âFTW - you gotta be kidding' posts since along with my old buddies Uber, Theranos and yet to be confirmed
Of course the âmetaphoricalâ hit the ârotating bladesâ this past week and all kinds of words from Monday morning quarter backs are popping up through the woodwork.
I posted this yesterday linking to a couple of posts from people that have also been calling BS for a while.
But this one from Matt Stoller came out a couple of days ago and I missed it - but definitely worthy of addition.
Highlighting because it in turn highlights that same lay off over three years ago - **and then reporting on the after party ⌠**
âMass layoffs followed by an expensive alcohol fueled party hosted by a celebrity reflects a problematic leadership style, to put it mildly.
As Galloway wrote âŚ
âThe boards of Theranos and WeWork included former and future Secretaries of Defense, Supreme Allied Commanders, and billionaire CEOs of iconic firms. These individuals can assess geopolitical markers, troop movements, and business trends better than anybody on the planet, maybe in history. But put a young woman from Stanford in a black turtleneck, or a guy with great hair, in the same room, and these global leaders couldn’t recognize blatant fraud.
I can explain it all …. as I wrote in one of my many groups earlier today …
⌠âthis - just like Theranos - is more greed than stupidity ⌠and âthey' wonder why âthey' are increasingly viewed with suspicion.â
Dirty Secrets
A Ted Talk from Nick Hanauer - rebel VC ... if that isn't an oxymoron!
Interesting that he concludes his talk with 5 rules of thumb behind 'the new economics' that answers the question. Interesting because all 5 are some of the building bricks (tenets) of the Pillars of the People First Business Equation.
Rewriting History
Did John Lyndon Hate The Floyd?
Is Pink Floyd a punk band?
Are people really surprised when Roger Waters delivers protest?
Why is the film not Called 'Us and Them'?
All this and more in this week's newsletter.
We have a steady stream of images that are being pushed into Instagram - like these.
One Word Art
Following Your Passion. Finding Your Purpose
'Real Stories | Real People' is a new occasional series that will start to appear on this blog in the not too distant future. But that's not the point of the newsletter. The point was first to share the story of Richard MontaĂąez
The Pain Of Boiling An Ocean
Sometimes the task in front of me seems to be so large and never
I wouldn't normally link to something like this - at least not on this blog - but this morning I also happened to catch Rob Long's Martini Shot Podcast ... a 'shot' in the arm over a few minutes. It's the one dated August 21st that I want you to listen to. Sage advice and not far off from what I was writing about in this week's newsletter and then seeing this ... well 'put up or shut up' as they say.
Employee Experience and Motivation
At Booming Toptal, No Stock for Employees or Investors
I mean none - 100% owned by Taso Du Val and I assume none by all the rest on this page.
As Toptalâs Chief Executive Officer, Taso manages Toptalâs core team of hundreds of team members distributed throughout the world, with a focus on innovation. Since Toptal was founded in 2010, Taso has led it to become the largest high-skilled, on-demand talent network in the world. Taso serves on the board of multiple organizations, advising on talent strategy and innovation for Fortune 100s and nonprofits. Taso has guest lectured at Harvard Business School, Wharton, and Oxford on talent management and entrepreneurship.
Toptal's Web Site
Anyway, what he does and how he runs his business is - well - his business. But it got me to wondering ... what he is advising those other companies to do when it comes to employee engagement? Employee motivation?
From where I sit, these words resonate;
Questionnaire
It a little more political than the usual People First fayre - but the fact is everything ... everything ... is becoming political in these times. So, why not.
'Fitting In' Might Be All Bullshit
Itâs easy enough to carry a Legal and General umbrella in a sea of âbankers black umbrellasâ, itâs a very different proposition to take a more meaningful stand against the status quo.
Shareholder First
Leading US bosses drop shareholder-first principle.
As the article opens ...
"The real test will be in deeds not words."
Have to say until action - and I mean real action - this jury is out!
Read the opinion by Larry Elliott in The Guardian
Watching. I donât think People First has won just yet!
People First - What Next
I have a schedule of material that I am working on, but what would you like to read about next? What drives you to read this weekly missive? What topics are you most interested in reading about. Learning about?
Content
)
Content is a horrible, generic, cheap, âanything will doâ kind of word. Which is why it has no value.
STOP using their words to describe OUR work. OUR soul. OUR beliefs. Our passion. OUR effort.
START using our words to describe OUR work. OUR soul. OUR beliefs. Our passion. OUR effort.
Play, Passion, Purpose
Needless to say those three words grabbed my attention immediately. And then when he said ...
The culture of schooling is radically at odds with the culture of learning that produces innovators.
Tony Wagner
I was hooked.
Very good Ted Talk - just one gripe ...
He just about opens the talk with
I came to understand, that there's a set of core competencies every young person must be well on their way to mastery before he or she finished high school.
- critical thinking and problem solving
- collaboration across networks and leading by influence
- agility and adaptability
- initiative and entropenorialism
- effective oral and written communication
- accessing and analyzing information
- curiosity and imagination
Tony Wagner
i.e. if you have left school, sorry - we taught you all wrong as to how to succeed in the life in front of you.
What he should have said was
I came to understand, that there's a set of core competencies every person must master.
I know he doesn't mean it and I guess it is about education - but the implication is that you have left school then 'we taught you all wrong'.
Keeping that in mind ... well worth a watch.
Double Digit Delivery
Though this Newsletter has been around intermittently for a few years now, I only harnessed it as a vehicle to share People First thinking in May of this year, Issue One going out on May 31st. Since the launch in May, readership has been steadily growing and judging by the emails received I have hit some nerves with some of the pieces. Definitely a good time to take stock and recap where we have got to.
Age And Your Chances Of Success
Albert-LĂĄszlĂł BarabĂĄsi
Alberto Laszlo Barabasi @ LinkedIN
Alberto is a pioneer in network science, Albert-LĂĄszlĂł BarabĂĄsi uncovers the hidden order behind complex systems.
My Thoughts
Excellent summary of how what we just assume to be the truth is bunkum. This applied to our assumptions about age. Bottom line - you are never too old
Rating
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Thinking Allowed
This is a People First post that was originally on the People First domain. It has been moved here as part of my domain consolidation program. Itâs a steady and slow WIP as I check each entry, so do please bear with me.- More about People First
- Other People First Posts
(not just from the âother domainâ ⌠all of them.)
đ§ Ditch The Binary - Redux
As I finished this short post, I headed out to the 'google-web-net' to see if I could find a suitable and representative image. I was failing unitl I focussed on 'Redux'. The images associated with Redux are highly Redux oriented, with a high degree of focus on their logo. What you might expect, given the name - but this is not about what they do. So I kept looking and discovered this.
It's as if Karin Edgett read my mind. The image was perfect and the words so in tune with my thoughts, that I couldn't resist.
My entry 'let go of everything or anything and breathe' is part of a series of paintings and haiku exploring infinity in it's transformative sense.
Karin Edgett
Back On Topic
Interesting to read this post from Doc Searls today - which also happens to be his birthday.