A week of reading

We read a lot and there is a lot to read. This blog aims to give some pointers to original thinking that was published last week. Hope you enjoy some of it.

First up are two questions that intrigued me. One is: “What have you learned in the past week that you’ll still care about in 5 years”. The question was put on Twitter by Shane Parrish. It led to wonderful contributions. Click here to read some of the many suggestions. One I liked a lot was: “Broad funnel, tight filter”.

The second question was: “What will history teach us tomorrow about today?”. The first lesson in the article is “We’re better off when we lift one another up than push each other down”. For the other four lessons click here. I’m sure we can come up with other lessons history will teach us tomorrow but we can already pay attention to today.

Seth Godin will feature regularly as his blog posts hit the mark most of the time. Last week’s “The big hill” is no exception. It’s about shortcuts that may make things better in terms of ‘quicker', not better in terms of ‘impact'.

Fourth up is a 2-minutes video on ‘coach-ability’. With all the focus on talent - selection and management - is there enough attention for people’s ability to be coached? It’s about people wanting to learn and realise potential, not only about whether they can. Listen to John Maxwell by clicking here.

Lastly for this week an article on Pessimism by philosopher Alain de Botton. He believes that an optimistic mindset can make us lose control over our expectations. And if we believe that the formula for happiness is Reality/Expectations, the higher the expectations, the harder it is to be happy. I’d say that pessimism and expectations should not be confused with aspirations. If we can manage to live in the present but aspire to a better future we will help shape that future and make things better. That sounds good to me. Read the full article here.