Author: Fabrizio

Single-tasking

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If there is one thing we can learn from moments of crisis is the importance of focus.

We can only be effective if our attention is on one thing at a time. It is not possible to work as you are helping your kids through their day. It is not possible to enjoy time with your son if all you think about is the email you will have to send later in the evening. It is not possible to engage in a meaningful conversation with your partner if you are surfing the news at the same time.

Different interests and pursuits have their own time, and you should become accustomed to isolating your attention as you dedicate resources to each one of them.

Multi-tasking is a myth, rarely a necessity, never a skill.

We should get rid of it.

Google

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Google’s mission used to be “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful”.

It still is.

Yet, that’s no longer what Google does.

Google is now in the business of deciding what information is and what it is not, it shapes the way people consume the internet and its content, with a clear bias towards information that is either owned by Google or that companies pay Google to promote.

So much for accessibility and usefulness.

Of course, companies change as they grow. But should we trust Google to offer us the type of information we need, at the right time? Probably not.

That’s not what they do anymore.

Good eggs

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Business decisions can be good marketing too. A way to differentiate from your competitors, express your values and tell everybody what you stand for.

Good Eggs got this right. And for once, a page stating corporate values does not sound like shallow promises.

The original article by KQED is here. The full chart here.

On a journey

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When your focus is on self-awareness and self-understanding, there’s a risk to end up feeling lonely and isolated. Partly because it’s yourself you are focusing on, and partly because it is difficult to relate what we feel and think to others (“Am I the only one who feels or thinks this?”).

The importance of those around you and of peer-support cannot be underestimated. Go on this journey with people you value and care about.

The greatest failure

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Sheer logic and numbers struggle to convince people that they need to act.

When is the last time you have done something because of a wonderfully illustrated argument? When were you last impressed by the architecture and technology beyond a new piece of software? When have you last felt you belong in a percentage?

If you are anything like me and most of us, you are rarely moved by logic, rationality and utilitarianism. What instead changes our minds and makes us feel as if we want to do something right now are stories and feelings.

While the majority understands this, very few practice it. And this is the greatest failure in businesses nowadays.