First things first: This is Craig writing this. It’s not spam. This is real.
Welcome to the new additions to Just Three Channels. If this is the first time you are receiving this message and want to know what it’s all about, check out the description underneath the signature. List size has doubled since last week.
Before jumping into this week’s selection, I promised I’d explain where the name Just Three Channels came from.
Years ago I moved to New Zealand after finishing university in Canada. I lived with students down there, and we were poor. We couldn’t afford premium cable so we had “poor man’s cable” which only had three watchable channels. Despite the limited selection, we always found something to watch. Years later when I moved back to Canada and got a real job, I got digital cable, which had literally HUNDREDS of channels….and despite the higher number of choices, I couldn’t seem to decide what to watch. Have so many options was overwhelming. Adding choices and complexity isn’t always a good thing, as you’ll see in the piece below about the paradox of choice.
Calling this list Just Three Channels reminds me to focus on simplicity, clarity, and removing noise.
For what it’s worth, I don’t even own a TV now.
1.) This is How Big Oil Will Die.(Seth Miller, NewCo Shift)
https://shift.newco.co/this-is-how-big-oil-will-die-38b843bd4fe0
This article starts off a bit portentous, but it provides some critical thought new technology disruptions, the pace of innovation, and the tipping point of new technology adoption. While I think that adoption of autonomous electric vehicles is a much more complex situation than adoption of digital cameras in the late ’90s, it’s still worth considering how our relationship with vehicles will change with increasing use of artificial intelligence and cheap renewable power. If you have time for a longer read and analysis, dig into the paper written by RethinkX that this article references.
2.) Maker’s Schedule, Manager’s Schedule. (Paul Graham, paulgraham.com)
http://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html
Paul Graham is a founder of YCombinator, one of the most successful technology accelerators in Silicon Valley. Despite the dated format of his website (which is likely done on purpose and not out of neglect), the articles are pure gold. This article talks about the differences in how managers and makers (creative/knowledge roles) work, especially around scheduling their days. Reading it has helped me understand that sometimes 4 hours of uninterrupted work is more productive than a week of fragmented attention.