Strands of Genius: Do You Think Like a Rice Farmer or a Wheat Farmer, How to Comment on Social Media, Quit Playin'. Wait, No, Actually, Don't!

Guest curated by Rob Estreitinho, Founder, Salmon Labs

May 23, 2024

:: A BIT MORE ABOUT GUEST CURATOR, ROB ESTREITINHO ::

LOCATION: London, UK

Hey genius stealin' friends! Rob here.

I'm a strategist who's been in global agencies for 15+ years, more recently VCCP. Now I work as an independent strategy brain under Salmon Labs, write a newsletter called Salmon Theory, and co-write a newsletter about being a dad called Project Papapalooza. Yeah, I love a bit of email (said no one ever, except I actually mean it!). Anyway, bet you can't guess my favourite fish.

I've known Faris and Rosie for a number of years, since moving to London and begrudgingly emailing Faris about whether he'd like to meet up for a beer because they were in town. And to my surprise, they added me to this get together invite and we stayed in touch ever since!

One thing i don't think i never mentioned to them was how fundamental this response was. It taught me that, contrary to what your social feeds might suggest, people in this industry are more generous with their time and thoughts than you might assume. So ask away! And make sure you pay it back when it's your turn to be asked for advice, or help, or just a chat.

Editor’s Note (Genius Steals): Welcome, friends of genius and creativity! We did indeed meet Rob via the internet lol, like so many of our friends. He was young and smart and hungry and thoughtful, and he still is. We’ve loved see his Salmon Theory newsletter grow and evolve and are excited for his new adventures! We're thrilled to feature Rob in this edition. It’s so fun to see how people grow and change and with Rob we have definitely seen that from his last edition in 2020! We hope that you enjoy his insights as much as we did. Thanks, mate.

:: THE LINKS ::

DO YOU THINK LIKE A RICE FARMER OR LIKE A WHEAT FARMER

In keeping with the food analogies, I love this one by the consistently weird and wonderful Marginal Revolution. Rice farming tends to benefit people with collectivist orientations, whereas wheat farming more with autonomy. This isn't to say one is better than the other, but it matters to know a) what your existing workplace values b) what your clients value c) what YOU value. In theory, this gets relatively easier to control once you run your projects, but don't under-estimate the importance of asking how others like to work before you start. (Marginal Revolution)

HOW TO COMMENT ON SOCIAL MEDIA

I love snark (in occasional doses). I love lists (in industrial doses). And therefore I love a snarky list. This one, by Rebecca Solnit, delivers big time. Not only is it fun to read, it's a useful reminder that just because you have thoughts on why someone is wrong on the internet, question if you want to put that energy into the world, and if you want to get that energy back. Because let's be honest, the nightmare of starting an argument online is that you then feel the urge to constantly check back, which... is not great for your mind, y'all. (Lit Hub)

QUIT PLAYIN’. WAIT, NO, ACTUALLY, DON’T!

On the topic of supporting others just because, i want to give a shout out to Joel Stein. He writes Weirdness Wins, a newsletter which definitely needs to sit in more inboxes, and his recent piece on the importance of play is a great testament as to why. Being the dad of a 2-year-old, i'm extremely aware how a lot of the things we do to teach her have some form of play baked into it. This isn't just a kid thing. It's a human brain thing. We are more likely to learn things if we have fun along the way, so how can you engineer more fun in things? (Weirdness Wins)

Looking for more from Rob? Coming Friday, look for an interview from him in your inbox!

:: AND NOW… SOME FAST FAVORITES ::

:: Game :: Right now, "Stray" on the Steam Deck!

:: City :: Reykjavík

:: Book :: The Body Keeps the Score, by Bessel van der Kolk

:: Podcast :: Pivot, with Kara Swisher and THE DAWG

:: Song :: The “Attack On Titan” theme song (so many genres in so little time!)

:: NO BS ::

I appreciate Rosie, Faris and Chelsea for putting this together. And I appreciate the attention you've invested in this so far. See you on the internet!

On top of being a strategist and now business owner, I'm also a proud dad. So I wanted to leave you with a side project I'm doing with another strategist (who's also a proud dad). It's called Project Papapalooza, and it exists to help modern dads fail forward.

If you'd like to support our work and help fund a healthier debate around dads, you can do it here.

— Rob
Find me on LinkedIn.
Subscribe to Salmon Theory.
Subscribe to Project Papapalooza.

Strands of Genius is currently read by more than 15,000 subscribers. Support us by sponsoring an issue, encouraging friends or colleagues to subscribe.

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 out of Washington, our company is registered in Tennessee, 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 :)

Strands of Genius