Minimum Viable Culture
Writing over meeting, farm over factory, and social revolution
👋 On time for your weekend: a weekly round-up of stories at the intersection of #technology, #business, #design and #organisation that stood out.
📚 Reading
No Meetings, No Deadlines, No Full-Time Employees:
Instead of having meetings, people “talk” to each other via GitHub, Notion, and (occasionally) Slack, expecting responses within 24 hours. Because there are no standups or “syncs” and some projects can involve expensive feedback loops to collaborate, working this way requires clear and thoughtful communication ... Everyone writes well, and writes a lot.
🙏 A kinder version of the Bezos Mandate—Sahil Lavingia
The Innovation Farm:
There are no committees serving as “stage gates” in evolution and no PMO starting each day with a list of activities and tasks for the forest’s inhabitants. With a beautiful rule set, energy, and materials, a lot of wild stuff gets invented and work gets done with incredible efficiency.
👩🌾f🏭 Take a pick: farm or factory?—Jay Erickson
The Rise of Human Capital Theory:
Yes, many individual traits are heritable. But it is a fallacy that traits that are good for individuals are also good for society. That’s the core scientific flaw in eugenics. And yes, it’s true that some people earn far more than others. But it’s a fallacy that this income is caused by traits of the individual. In reality, income is a social trait.
Some very dark pasts, and an outlook to a brighter and more just future—Economics from the Top Down
🎧 Listening
The Great Transition:
Our belief is that the most digitally native way of regulation is one that requires the system to be programmable (just like the original vision of Twitter was to be a programmable network). That is the direction regulation should be heading into.
Albert Wenger—What’s Next
Turn the Ship Around:
I would see leaders use this phrase ‘empowerment’ as an excuse. It was laziness: rather then them figuring out what they should do—the way they should run a meeting, the way they should ask questions which made it easier for the rest of us to contribute—they wouldn’t do that hard work of self-reflection and self-change. Instead they would do the easy thing and point to us: “now you’re empowered”
David Marquet—The Wicked Podcast
Digital Minimalism:
Just like Marie Kondo took everything out of the closet and the only thing going back in is the thing I really care about, that's the same thing with your digital life. You don't just go back to what you were doing before, you say "now that I know what I am all about, I have this high bar". If I am thinking about downloading an app, or returning to some service, the question is - is this thing going to really help one of those things I really value?
Cal Newport—Rich Roll Podcast
👷🏻♀️👷🏻♂️Our Work
A short keynote on embedded finance—video and the full event
One of the perks of dwelling in the platform innovation community: a 15% discount to the live Entrepreneurial Platform Innovation program—Part 1, Part 2 (promo pik2021)
📬 Suggestions?
Please, feel free to send tips and ideas for a next issue by replying to this email. Or, send them directly to hello@futuring-architectures.com 🙏