Lewis Gordon - "The Glitch Art of ‘Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’"

https://artreview.com/the-glitch-art-of-zelda-tears-of-the-kingdom/

 

In this context of speed and avatar movement, it's fitting that the word glitch should derive from German or Yiddish words meaning 'to slide' or 'to slip'. It was subsequently popularised in the 1950s and 60s by employees at NASA, coming to mean 'a spike or change in voltage in  an electrical circuit'. And now in video games and other digital media, glitches tend to to produce moments of horror, disruption and incongruence, by virtue of interrupting whatever reality principle has been established. This is partly why the similarly hyped but bugridden Cyberpunk 2077 was panned by some critics and players at the time of its 2020 release. Nathan Wainstein, writing in the LA Review of Books, described Cyberpunk's glitches as "bald" in two distinct ways: "in their transparently unintended nature" and also their "surreal puncturing of reality itself". They broke immersion in a game that was intended to represent the apex of modern graphical prowess. By leaning into stylised, decidedly cartoonish graphics and animations, Nintendo's game operates according to a different reality principle, one that is ultimately more forgiving.

Anthony Gottlieb - "The Man Who Thought Too Fast"

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/05/04/the-man-who-thought-too-fast

 

 Ramsey Theory, which analyzes order and disorder. (As an Oxord methematician, Martin Gould, has explained, Ramsey theory tells us, for instance, that among any six users of Facebook there will always be either a trio of mutual friends or a trio in which none are friends.)

Keri Leigh Merritt - "Capitalism and underdevelopment in the American South" / The Southern Gap

https://aeon.co/essays/capitalism-and-underdevelopment-in-the-american-south

deaths of despair (those from alcohol, drugs or suicide) have skyrocketed, as has substance abuse. Southerners in general are isolated and lonely, and wealth and power are heavily concentrated: there are a few thousand incredibly wealthy families - almost all of them the direct descendants of the Confederacy's wealthiest slaveholders - a smaller-than-average middle class, and masses of poor people, working class or not. The South, with few worker protections, prevents its working-classes from earning a living wage. It's virtually impossible to exist on the meagre income of a single, low-wage, 40-hour-a-week job, especially since the US has not social healthcare benefits.

“It’s complicated”: an introduction to the Remontoire

https://www.watchaffinity.co.uk/blog/its-complicated-the-remontoire/

marginal gains: whereby a number of small improvements throughout any process can ultimately show significant improvements when combined together.

Marginal gains theory is perhaps easiest to see manifesting in the arena of sport, where former performance director of British Cycling Sir David Brailsford described it as "improving everything by 1%"

Hiroko Oyamada - "The Factory"

Strange story about three people who start working in the Factory, this sprawling thing with restaurants, forests, enormous buildings, etc. One does shredding, one does roofing with moss, ...

Joel Golby - "Four Stars: A funny and absurd review of modern life from of one Britain’s best-loved journalists"

Dale Carnegie - "How to Win Friends & Influence People"

 

 

"Education," said Dr. John G. Hibben, former president of Princeton University, "is the ability to meet life's situations"

 

When you are confronted with some specific problem [...] hesitate about doing the natural thing, the impulsive thing.

 

"What mistakes did I make that time?" 
"What did I do that was right- and in what way could I have improved my performance?"
"What lessons can I learn from that experience?"

Record your triumphs in the application of these principles. Be specific. Give names, dates, results.

Few of the criminals in Sing Sing regard themselves as bad men. They are just as human as you and I. So they rationalize, they explain. They can tell you why they had to crack a safe or be quick on the trigger finger. Most of them attempt by a form of reasoning, fallacious or logical, to justify their antisocial acts even to themselves.

Criticism is futile because it puts a person on the defensive and usually makes him strive to justify himself. Criticism is dangerous, because it wounds a person's precious pride, hurts his sense of importance, and arouses resentment. [...] By criticizing, we do not make lasting changes and often incur resentment.

Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain - and most fools do.
    But it takes character and self-control to be understanding and forgiving.
    "A great man shows his greatness," said Carlyle, "by the way he treats little men."

People who would think they had committed a crime if they let their families or employees go for six days without food; but they will let them go for six days, and six weeks, and sometimes sixty years without giving them the hearty appreciation that they crave almost as much as they crave food.

I shall pass this way but once; any good, therefore, that I can do or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me now defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.

 

Bait the hook to suit the fish.

I got this reduction without saying a word about what I wanted. I talked all the time about what the other person wanted and how he could get it.

"If there is one secret of success," said Henry Ford, "it lies in the ability to get the other person's point of view and see things from that person's angle as well as from your own."

First, force yourself to smile. If you are alone, force yourself to whistle or hum a tune or sing. Act as if you were already happy, and that will tend to make you happy. Here is the way the psychologist and philosopher William James put it:
    "Action seems to follow feeling, but really action and feeling go together, and by regulating the action, which is under the more direct control of the will, we can indirectly regulate the feeling, which is not."

Whenever he met a new acquaintance, he found out his or her complete name and some facts about his or her family, business and political opinions. He fixed all these facts well in mind as part of the picture, and the next time he met that person, even if it was a year later, he was able to shake hands, inquire after the family, and ask about the hollyhocks in the backyard.

Jim Farley discovered early in life that the average person is more interested in his or her own name than in all the other names on earth put together. Remember that name and call it easily, and you have paid a subtle and very effective compliment. But forget it or misspell it - and you have placed yourself at a sharp disadvantage.

Carnegie said: "Good evening, Mr Pullman, aren't we making a couple of fools of ourselves?"
    "What do you mean?" Pullman demanded.
    Then Carnegie expressed what he had on his mind - a merger of their two interests. He pictured in glowing terms the mutual advantages of working with, instead of against, each other. Pullman listened attentively, but he was not wholly convinced. Finally he asked, "What would you call the new company?" and Carnegie replied promptly: "Why, the Pullman Palace Car Company, of course"

Haruki Murakami - "The Strange Library"

Quite short and "proper" magic-realistic, or maybe just fantastic, story about someone who gets abducted when they go to a library, by an old man forcing them to read books, with a sheep man and a girl without voice as their companions.

Molly McGhee - "Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind"

Interesting story about a somewhat dim Jonathan Abernathy, scraping by, who gets lured into "auditing" dreams. 

He has been in this position before, so knows relief is soon incoming. All Abernathy must do is await a DEATH OF THE SELF TO KICK IN. DEATH OF THE SELF is a type of thing his brain does whenever he has to keep on keeping on. You know, despite it all. Once his self dies (the egoy, embarrassed part of him that feels things), he can do anything. He can work sixteen doubles, dumpster-dive at midnight, walk three hours home in the rain, you name it. Experience tragedy. Homelessness. Loss. If there is no one inside him, if he vacates his own body's premises, there is no one to experience the humiliation that goes hand in hand with poverty.

    Here are two of the secrets they are keeping from each other, as they sit, hushed, huddled closely together on the couch.
    We know Abernathy's. He has tripped and fallen into love. He fell fast and hard and now he is scared, so he is denying that he is here. He feels drawn to Rhoda on the level of one soul being drawn to another soul, an unexplainable process that has plagued and blessed the human race since its creation. It is more than just a physical attraction. It is a deep appreciation for who she is. He feels grateful that she is alive, on this planet at the same time he is alive on this planet. He cannot imagine his existence on this planet without her existence.

    Does she want to be pulled in?
    Neither one of them is sure.
    In the end, she wants it to be his decision.
    Abernathy does not bring her closer. He can feel her right there, right there, but he hesitates. There it is: something within him he can't overcome. Instead he drops his hand and whispers as he pulls away, "Happy New Year, Rhoda."
    For now, Abernathy thinks, this is enough.
    This will have to be enough.

Abernathy is very confused. He starts to get the feeling that there is a conversation beneath the conversation that he has somehow missed. He has the feeling that this happens to him a lot. That things happen and then he doesn't notice and then they are gone before he can enjoy them. Conversations taking place beneath the conversations taking place. Who knows what all he's missed. He could see how, to someone else, he may seem like a completely different person.

    The officers who brought the box come back with their packs whirring. The woman turns toward them, but she must deem them harmless because she begins to expand, growing taller and wider, curving ther body over the boy.
    From where Abernathy sits at the woman's back, it looks as if she's trying to grow large enough to envelope the water pourer whole. Turning away from the officers is a mistake, at least on the woman's part. The taller one starts to package her. Black wisps break from her body and are sucked into the hose of the demonstrator.

Not that he knows, really. It's not even that he dislikes the auditor, it's just he's found he must establish an air of authority otherwise fall victim to extreme episodes of unprecedented self loathing. He wonders if Kai knew what she was doing. For the most part, all Abernathy does is guess and hope he's right.

Peter Szasz - "How to Represent Decisions You Disagree With"

https://peterszasz.com/how-to-represent-decisions-you-disagree-with/

The expression "shit umbrella" does a great job of conveying this idea [of managers being a shield] visually. I have multiple problems with this interpretation of the role, to sum it up; it treats team members as children who need protection, it hides useful context that could be helpful for them to accept and work with change, and puts unsustainable pressure on the manager.

I prefer a different analogy; the Shock Absorber. Ed Batista in his article here does a great job explaining this concept, so I'll just summarize it here: cushion the blows by giving context and reframing: provide the appropriate level of resistance (to both directions!) and pay attention to your own resilience.

Disagreeing and committing is probably even harder for the less senior people on your team, and the best way for them to learn it is by seeing it practiced by their leader, you. Be objective and clear about the arguments of both sides, but explain that the time to debate is over, we need to move on so we can progress and eventually learn from this decision.

Use empathy with the members of your team, people process change differently. Create a safe space for them on 1:1s where you hear them out without judgment. Avoid starting with counterarguments against their concerns. It's more important to let them share their unfiltered frustrations first and acknowledge that they feel upset (without agreeing with them - you might, but that's not the point now). When they are ready, you can start discussing the details.

It can be tempting to let some steam off in safer spaces like 1:1s with folks on your team. While having a common adversary builds camaraderie, the long-term effects can be much worse. You're effectively building an "us vs them" culture, which will push the team away from collaboration and will eventually erode their morale and efficiency.

the risks of delaying information are bigger:
- the later the team knows about a new direction, the longer they operate the old way, and the harder it will be for them to implement the change.
- if the team finds out news from somewhere else, you're forced to be reactive and defensive in a sudden – the opposite of controlling the narrative
- witnessing an example where their manager was not sharing information destroys trust and gives anxiety to the team. They will start thinking "What else is being worked on without me knowing?"
- when people lack information, they assume the worst, and the anxiety is impacting their morale and engagement