Monday Musings (4/29/19)

Hey everybody, 

Good news! The launch of Write of Passage was a roaring success. We exceeded all our launch goals. We have 150 students signed up, and the course begins on Wednesday evening. 

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I’m reading The Timeless Way of Building by Christopher Alexander. It’s excellent. It’s a book about life and nature, disguised as a book about architecture and design. At times, it reads like poetry or religious scripture.

Yesterday, as I was reading the book, I realized that masters of their craft work with less information, not more. 

• Painters focus on the essence of an object.

• Investors focus on needle-moving variables.

Experts always surprise me. They consistently focus on 2-3 variables. But within those variables, they see layers of nuance and shades of complexity. They find the differences that makes the difference.

When you first study a subject, there are so many paths to explore. The possibilities seem infinite. But in the experts mind, there are a few variables, and each one is critical. 

Simple rules inspire excellence. For example, Turkish prayer rug designers say that wherever there are two areas of color, side by side, you should add a third color between them. When you do, you get a dance of color.

Likewise, in architecture, a big room should have daylight from at least two sides. 

If a room follows this rule, it will be pleasant to be in. That is why bay windows make a room so pleasant. 

This is exactly the kind of book that will seep into the nooks and crannies of all my future writing. 

Above all else, Alexander has a knack for explaining things you’ve always known but never had the words to describe. 

Fresh Ideas

North Star Podcast: Jason Stein

Jason Stein was the first person to hire me out of college. He sent me a Direct Message on Twitter, and convinced me to move to New York to work for his company, Cycle. 

Jason has successfully predicted the future more than anybody I know, and in this conversation, we explore the future of sports and media.

We discussed: 

• The Direct-To-Consumer Commerce Boom

• Why TikTok is spreading so fast

• Jason’s philosophy of “Always be Paranoid”

• Collective action challenges in sports advertising

• The future of marketing and how product and marketing are increasingly connected

You can listen to the podcast here: Spotify | iTunes | Website

Note: I’m writing an article on friendship and would appreciate your