Strands of Genius: The Rise and Fall of American Growth, Deep Work, Ethos, Logos, & Pathos
Guest Curated by Wiemer Snijders
This year we’re aiming to highlight 50 creative thinkers that have inspired us, by giving them the opportunity to guest curate this newsletter, Strands of Genius. Wiemer and Faris connected over Twitter and finally met in person 2 years ago when Genius Steals spoke at an event for Wiemer’s client.
:: A BIT MORE ABOUT GUEST CURATOR, WIEMER SNIJDERS ::
LOCATION: Amsterdam
PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT: The Commercial Works
Hi there, my name is Wiemer. A large part of my early youth I lived abroad (Europe, Asia and Africa). I was introduced to other cultures and languages, and needed to make new friends fairly often. Perhaps because of it I quickly appreciated curiosity and collaborative mind set.
During high school I longed to be a famous rock guitarist but by some evil twist of fate, I ended up studying and working in marketing - which some might consider not to be very different (“aren’t they both mainly about showmanship and substance abuse?")...
Reasonably quickly I got interested in what really works in marketing and started reading up on the science. And most of my work consists of helping people understand and apply it to their business so they can sell more stuff. Oddly enough that makes you somewhat of a contrarian in this industry. Birds of a feather flock together, especially on Twitter, and this is how I came across Faris many years ago, and we’ve been corresponding ever since. About two years ago, I convinced one of my clients to invite Faris to come speak at their event, where we finally met in person.
Notwithstanding all the thoughtful pieces Faris has written over the years, the thing that has probably stuck most with me is his ‘just be nice’ motto – which both Rosie and Faris live up to in spades. So, I am grateful to have been asked to curate this week’s newsletter which is of course all about bringing together people and ideas. I’ve tried to offer some perspectives on how to make sense of the world around us, ways of being more productive (no hustle-talk!) and convincingly communicating ideas. Enjoy!
Editor’s Note (Faris): Wiemer is the gregarious and persistent cat herder behind the collaborative book about evidence based marketing called Eat Your Greens. He is a very smart marketing strategist, but more importantly a nice man and marathon runner, with dashing good looks and a disarming smile. Yes, Rosie agrees. Hrmph ;) He’s bananas for negative binomial distribution curves [ask him about it] and it’s been an absolute pleasure corresponding with him over the years and even more so hanging out when we’ve had the opportunity. Until next time, my friend.
GENIUS STEALS PRESENTS THE SCHOOL OF STOLEN GENIUS
We fiiiiiiiiinally got our website up and running, and we’re ready to share it with you. We’ve also simplified our pricing, and FRIENDSOFGS still gets you 15% off our regular prices below— but only through Sunday. Here’s more on what you can expect.
Members - $25/mo | Tools & templates for self-starters.
Apprenticeships - $50/mo | For those looking for more than the artifacts.
:: THE LINKS ::
THE RISE AND FALL OF AMERICAN GROWTH
I found Robert Gordon's book very informative and refreshing. It changed my perspective on a lot of things, especially on the impact of more recent developments in technology. Although Gordon's book is about America, there are clear parallels to many other (developed) countries. This link is a review and summary of the book, which I highly recommend reading, by one of America's most eminent economists Paul Krugman. The book is a hefty read, yet - as Krugman also points out - Robert Gordon very clearly explains his thoughts, even for people with little or no background in this field, like myself. To quote Krugman: "The truth is that if you step back from the headlines about the latest gadget, it becomes obvious that we’ve made much less progress since 1970 — and experienced much less alteration in the fundamentals of life — than almost anyone expected. Why? Developments in information and communication technology, he has insisted, just don’t measure up to past achievements." (The New York Times)
DEEP WORK
Building on the first link, if we allow ourselves to be skeptical about the value and importance of technology for the wellbeing and progress of our societies, we might also question its value when it comes to our own progress and productivity. This link summarises important parts from Cal Newport's book Deep Work. Cal Newport is a computer science professor at Georgetown University, blogger and writer and very much interested in the concept of productivity. I loved reading Newport's Deep Work, as it is full of useful ideas on how to make sure you get the most out of your working day - and life. He touches on the detrimental impact of technology and most notably social media on our ability to get things done. He sees it as a terrible distraction, and offers suggestions on how we can reclaim back our lives - or at least increase the chances of it being more fulfilling.
To quote Cal Newport:
“Professional activity performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit. These efforts create new value, improve your skill, and are hard to replicate.”
This isn't how most of us spend our days, and as a result much of our time slips away towards so-called ’shallow work’.
Inspired by his writing, I also enjoyed the follow-up to this book 'Digital Minimalism' yet found it hard to sustain. That said, it has left a lasting impression on the almost addictive nature/characteristics of social media - and a constant reminder to be wary of its effects. (Doist)
ETHOS, LOGOS AND PATHOS
If the previous link resonated, we’ve arrived at at place where we might ask ourselves how we can put our newfound productivity to good use, in this case when we want to put our thinking into writing. This could be a strategy deck, a keynote, the results from a research project; things where we need to bring people along or convince them to go in a certain direction. I used to think the data and results would often be obvious and speak for themselves.
However, I have found the concept of Logos, Ethos and Pathos - summarised in this link - to be a very useful and valuable concept. It mostly made me appreciate the need to also sway people emotionally to bring them on board. (Farnam Street)
For our members of The School of Stolen Genius, be sure to check out an index of all our expert interviews here.
:: AND NOW… SOME FAST FAVORITES ::
:: Game :: Chess
:: City :: Sydney
:: Book :: Embers - Sándor Márai
:: Podcast :: I don't really listen to podcasts...
:: Album :: Pornograffitti - Extreme
:: RICKY GERVAIS AND STEPHEN COLBERT GO HEAD-TO-HEAD ON RELIGION ::
Ricky Gervais is a great comedian and actor but also extremely convincing in explaining simply why he prefers science over God. In my view, a nice example of Logos, Ethos and Pathos at work.
Hopefully you found something useful in here. If you ever need some help in understanding and/or applying marketing science, we should talk.
Wiemer Snijders
email: wiemer@commercialworks.eu
linkedin | twitter
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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 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 :)