Wednesday What’s Up

February 7, 2018

What I’m Contemplating

Steve Jobs Knew How to Write an Email. Here’s How He Did It – A great decomposition of an email that Jobs wrote. Much to learn from this. My favorite comment: “This language is conversational, vulnerable, and paints the picture of Apple giving it their best shot, pursuing bias for action, and preparing to learn from any mistakes.”
Attacks Reveal What U.S. Won’t: Victory Remains Elusive in Afghanistan – How many times have we heard the same story: victory is just around the corner? This is Vietnam all over again: we know we can’t win, but we are too proud to walk away.
Understanding how Design Thinking, Lean and Agile Work Together – Good stuff here that I’ll be using in my Project Management Class.
Letter to a Junior Engineer – I sent this to Jacob, of course.
Glamping at BaseCamp 37°: Perfectly Peaceful, and Perfectly Appointed – Julie is writing again! We will be heading back to this part of the country in about 7 weeks.
The Strenuous Life – A merit badge program for manly men.

I read Coach the Person Not the Problem: A Simple Guide to Coaching for Transformation as I’m trying to improve my approach to 1:1 professional coaching. On the one hand, I applaud the author for keeping the book short and too the point; no fluff here. On the other hand, I was craving more specific examples or stories on how to implement his ideas.

“Out in the Open” by The Steep Canyon Rangers on Amazon Music – This one showed up on a recommended list within the Amazon app and I enjoyed it. Bluegrassy / classic country.
I’ve been on a bit of a George Harrison kick (both playing on the guitar and listening), so of course I listened to “All Things Must Pass (Remastered)” by George Harrison on Amazon Music. My favorite song of his to play right now is “If I Needed Someone.”

Julie and I played Five Crowns in one of our closest matches ever.
Doug and I continued our Blitzkrieg in the West campaign in Advanced Squad Leader, finishing the third-to-last scenario BWN–4, Brush at Tilburg.
We played Tichu with neighbors who are really starting to enjoy the game. Much fine Indian food and quite a lot of wine consumed.
During the Superbowl we played Sunken Sailor, a light adult party game (mucho adult language) that is more an activity than a game. Fun but not awesome.