Strands of Genius: Billionaire Overconfidence, The Origins of Patriarchy, Shunning Remote Work
Plus: we're coming to APAC!
WRITING FROM | Portland, OR
WORKING ON | workshop modules for our full day workshop with Yahoo
LOOKING AHEAD
June 14-19 | Lake Tahoe, NV
June 19-25 | Albuquerque, NM
June 26-June 30 | Nashville, TN
June 30-July 2 | Beersheba Springs, TN for a family reunion & 100 YEAR CELEBRATION of the family house!
July 2- 9 | Nashville, TN
July 10-27 | Worcester Park, UK
July 28-Aug ? | Sydney, AUS
:: WHAT’S NEW & WEEKLY GRATITUDE ::
We’re visiting our dear friend Rachel (she gave a reading at our wedding) and with the pando-interval we realized we haven’t been together IRL for 7 years. While so much has happened in both of our worlds, it also feels like no time at all has passed. One of the weirder things about nomad life is that our friends are massively distributed and we see them rarely. Though was we get older, we wonder… is a distributed friend group really that weird? Economic and pando migration has flung the ‘anywheres’ even further afield. People have kids and move out of the city like at the end of Friends. Community is hard to maintain if you move and/or are always moving. But it’s such a joy when you are able to pick things up just where you left them off.
We’ve had a lot to celebrate with Rachel this week, but mostly we’ve enjoyed getting to hang out and catch up and talk about all things related to life!
This week, we’re especially thankful for:
Rachel Coady, Colin, blueberry pancakes, backyard conversations, charcuterie boards, Portlandia, gardens, Heidi (& hidden mustard packets), amazing thai food, Silo, peonies, Ted Lasso, Tomorrow&Tomorrow&Tomorrow, gardening, Hixon, Carmen, trips to the farmer’s market, reading in the garden, realtors, daffodils, great weather, loads of vegetables, neighbors, phone dates, house tours, friends, walks, making decisions & YOU.
:: THE LINKS ::
WHEN DID THE PATRIARCHY BEGIN?
Much more recently than you are likely to think. There is a standard semi-EvolutionaryPsych myth about patriarchal societies that boils down to the idea that men are in charge because they are physically bigger, on average, than women. Individually, on average, this phenotypical advantage rings true to any woman who has walked home alone at night. More broadly, however, this is a challenging argument to make hold water, since humans are inarguably smaller and weaker than lions, tigers, and bears. (oh my!) The standard explanation for this is that we, as social creatures with language, can coordinate ourselves in a way that makes us stronger in tooth and claw, but since women are famously better at ‘social’ that leaves a conceptual gulf to traverse for patriachists who are currently promoting the tradwife myth. This BBC article points out some well-known history: before recorded history societies were mostly if not universally matricachal…and then somewhat suddenly, they weren’t. “Rather than beginning in the family, then, history points instead to patriarchy beginning with those in power in the first states. Demands from the top filtered down into the family, forcing ruptures in the most basic human relationships, even those between parents and their children.” (BBC Future) (Bonus: A fun book that makes the case that the trigger was writing…The Alphabet Versus the Goddess: The Conflict Between Word and Image)
BILLIONAIRES ARE OVERCONFIDENT, TOO LUCKY & TOO THIRSTY
Of late Twitter has become polluted with a strain of content that used to be more at home on Linkedin, to whit, the (threaded) remarkable biography of billionaires (with lessons you can learn and apply to your non-billionare life!) or people who ape what they believe to be billionaire lifestyles to enchant money out of the guileless for prosperity pablum. Obvious issues like selection and hindsight bias aside, there is so much narrative bias in this form it’s hard to take seriously. Just act this way and do these things other billionaires did and you might…well, pay them some money for nothing, most likely. “Unlike the spelling bee, which is good at rewarding a specific, measurable talent, becoming a billionaire is a bit more like winning the lottery. Sure, you often have to have a good idea (which is like buying a ticket), but it’s also about being in the right place at the right time—and having the connections, resources, and luck to translate your idea into a business empire that can scale…” But when if they should make a billion, it is never enough “people who think like that — who have an insatiable thirst for money — are more likely to get obscenely rich. But they don’t usually end up very happy.” (Forking Paths)
THE SHUNNING OF REMOTE WORK
We’ve spoken to so very many leaders about remote work, and can’t tell you just how many speak of wanting their teams back in the office. When we ask why, it’s about productivity. When we ask to see some stats that back it up, it becomes about collaboration. When we ask to see stats that collaboration is weakened with remote workers, it becomes about culture. We push back, time and time again, often saying “It feels like there’s something else going on. Is there something else? We’ll keep it just between us.” And then it comes out: They’ve already spent money on offices. It’s a sunk cost fallacy. And they feel like employees should show up because they had to. Or because they enjoy it. While this piece by Betsy Cooper is focused on Washington D.C., she echoes what we’ve been hearing: “Arguments in favor of in-person work generally fall into three camps. The first is about productivity: Managers have a visceral sense that workers are more productive in the office. The second is about people: Teams work better together in person than they do remotely. Finally, in-person work is about places: It’s about the investments already made in office workspaces and the need — sometimes for national security reasons — to work in those offices.” And then she proceeds to outline exactly why those aren’t really great arguments against remote work, how productivity is actually slowing because of a return to the office, how culture and camaraderie doesn’t require in-person work, how physical spaces aren’t a requirement, even for most government jobs. (The Hill)
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:: SHOWS THAT ARE OTHER SHOWS ::
:: WE’RE COMING TO AUSTRALIA! ::
We’re very excited to be invited down under it’s been way too long and we LOVE Australia and NZ! If you are a local media leader consider applying to Yahoo Academy.
We are doing a day long immersive workshop thing where we will equip leaders with insight, ideas and tools to work in the automated future. “No one knows exactly what the future holds, but one thing that is certain is that anything that can be automated will eventually be automated. As AI becomes an increasingly hot topic in the industry and beyond, we believe that the best way to future-proof agencies and careers is to focus on uniquely human attributes, namely creativity and collaboration.”
Here is some PR
And if you are just local and want to play or collaborate on something while we are proximate - hit us up!
If we can ever be of help to you, even outside of a formal engagement, please don’t hesitate to let us know.
rockON,
faris & rosie & ashley | your friends over at geniussteals.co
@faris is always tweeting
@rosieyakob hangs out on instagram
@ashley also writes for deaf, tattooed & employed
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It's called Genius Steals because we believe ideas are new combinations and that nothing can come from nothing. But copying is lazy. We believe the best way to innovate is to look at the best of that which came before and combine those elements into new solutions.
Co-Founders Faris & Rosie are award-winning strategists and creative directors, writers, consultants and public speakers who have been living on the road/runway since March 2013, working with companies all over the world. Our Director of Operations is nomadic like us, our accounting team is based in Tennessee where our company is registered, our admin extraordinaire is based in Playa del Carmen, and our collaborators are all over the world. Being nomadic allows us to go wherever clients need us to be, and to be inspired by the world in between.
Hit reply and let’s talk about how we might be able to work together :)