May!!
I’m back writing as in the last month I’ve had more time to read! Switching up the format and just recommending some links this month.
Here are some things I liked this month:
Energy transitions are a lot slower than you think
The Principle of Normality: A normal person says what others say, but does what others do. - Being normal
The future of ideology - skip the first 30% of the video
This video creates a good picture of the current ideological state of most of the world. Predictions made taking the past as an example of how things will almost never work, but what the guy says about the present and past is interesting
Dedication to individual accomplishment: Teams were almost considered socialist institutions. Most great innovations at PayPal were driven by one person who then conscripted others to support, adopt, implement the new idea. If you identified the 8-12 most critical innovations at PayPal (or perhaps even the most important 25), almost every one had a single person inspire it (and often it drive it to implementation). As a result, David enforced an anti-meeting culture where any meeting that included more than 3-4 people was deemed suspect and subject to immediate adjournment if he gauged it inefficient. Our annual review forms in 2002 included a direction to rate the employee on "avoids imposing on others’ time, e.g. scheduling unnecessary meetings." (by Keith Rabois, former Executive Vice President of Paypal)
PS: I’m back in Paris now for the next few months, happy to meet up if you’re here!