Friends of Dave #167: My Corona
PSA: Wash your hands before AND after reading this....
Thank you for the warm response to last week's intro! I got a number of texts and emails in direct response to the call to check in with people you know.
While in some ways it feels like I check in with each of you every week with this newsletter, it is always great to reconnect with FoDs one-on-one nonetheless. Again, many thanks to those who reached out -- I hope you were able to put it into practice with others in your network and it was well received with them too.
Also, you might find it interesting that the most popular article last week (and among the most clicked on ALL TIME) by a landslide was the one about the history of married couples sleeping in separate twin beds...I'll leave that out there for you think about....
Note that it took me over 120 words before I typed the word "coronavirus"....which may be some sort of record in of itself these days....
I don't know if it is a product of it being a relatively mild winter for much of the Northern Hemisphere and there has been little cause to frantically send people to stores for milk and bread, but the onslaught of coronavirus related posts/tweets/articles/emails/content has been building to epic proportions over the past few weeks. One could even say that the topic itself has (wait for it...) gone viral.....okay, I know, too soon.
But all jokes aside, the amount of hysteria that this has been generating has been almost as alarming as the virus itself. People are now stock piling food and clearing shelves of surgical masks and anti-bacterial gel like it is some sort of apocalypse. Events are being cancelled en masse. You risk being viewed as a pariah if you go to shake someone's hand. Pop songs are being written about the virus and teens are naturally creating dances about it on TikTok in response. People are even being told they can't upgrade their iPhones to newer models due to a supply shortage.....now that is where I must draw the line, Friends....
Look, I am not downplaying the potential severity of the situation whatsoever. It is obviously serious and requires our attention and vigilance. So much is still unknown about how COVID-19 (yes, we have an even scarier clinical name for it) is transmitted and can be treated. It is important to be educated about the reasonable precautions you can take to help prevent catching it.
But perhaps we can all put our germ magnet phones down for a second and collectively take a deep breath.
In many ways the fuel of this hysteria is akin to the outrage machine that social media has become. Our fear of the unknown is being used less to educate us and more to generate clicks, opens and ratings.
Don't believe me? Look at your inbox and your social media feeds this week. How many new facts have you learned in proportion to the volume that has been shared? My bet is very little. But the constant repetition just makes people more uneasy.
The reality is it's going to take time for us to learn about the virus and how to effectively treat it. But we live in a world conditioned for instant gratification, and the absence of facts just creates more anxiety.
Combine this with today's "cancel" culture and what I see is a real potential for us to further isolate ourselves from each other in the name of eliminating anything that has a chance to cause us pain or discomfort. Let's just cancel in-person interaction altogether while we are at it, right? THAT will eliminate ambiguity and make us less anxious for sure!
But fear not, Friends of Dave. There is hope that coronavirus season may dissipate as the temperatures get warmer. In the meantime, be smart, wash your hands, stop picking your nose at traffic lights, and feel free to test out your firm's new board approved work-from-home policy if you are sick.
Rest assured the hysteria should subside in time for the record shark sightings we will no doubt be hearing about this summer on every channel and social media platform. Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water....
Hey, don't forget that for most of us in the US it is Daylight Saving Time this weekend. Click >here< if you'd like to see the global schedule. Some good articles below too -- most NOT virus related I might add. You have one less hour to read them this week, but I think you can do it.
XOXO
Dave
Think on This to Start...
Execution is about the nitty-gritty. Designing experiences. Shipping hardware or code. Nimbly iterating to get through or around new roadblocks. Similar to other disciplines, excellent execution takes sustained effort over a long time.
This one is a bit comprehensive but really good, particularly if you are on a team that is great at ideas but struggles with execution. Highlights how to define execution for the team, what are 5 Pillars you can use as a framework and a toolbox for ongoing work. Takeaways here for everyone.
A Few For Your Day Job...
$19.8B Invested In Agri-FoodTech In 2019 According To AgFunder
The largest growth year over year in funding includes meat alternatives, indoor farming, robotic food delivery and cloud kitchens. Investment in startups operating what the report terms upstream–closer to the farmer and before retail–increased 1.3 percent year over year, accelerating in the second half with the highest numbers for H2 on record.
For those of you interested in seeing where FoodTech is going, this is a good quick read. Also embedded link to the more comprehensive report.
Most People Are Lonely—And Their Work Life Isn’t Helping
With advances in technology, it seems like the world is getting smaller; in spite of this, social relationships are deteriorating. This is going to become a bigger issues for companies to proactively tackle in the years to come.
Your Product Sells Itself. Now Hire Sales.
Good one providing some effective strategies on how to create a go-to-market strategy that starts with product and seamlessly hands off from product to people to minimize internal friction.
There is a Problem with Marketing Leadership
The changes in marketing are making it harder than ever to be a marketing leader. If you liked my take on why everyone hates their marketing departments from a year ago, you'll find this to be a good companion article.
A Dose of COVID-19 Randomness...
The spread of the coronavirus couldn't have come at a worse time for Corona beer
38% of Americans wouldn't buy Corona "under any circumstances" because of the outbreak, and another 14% said they wouldn't order a Corona in public. The survey encompasses polling from 737 beer drinkers in the United States.
JUST IN: Cinco de Mayo HAS BEEN CANCELLED.
'Weird Al' Yankovic Declines To Do Coronavirus Parody 'My Corona'
JUST IN: Weird Al HAS BEEN CANCELLED.
Germans taking part in coronavirus panic-hoarding are doing a “Hamsterkauf”
JUST IN: Hamsters HAVE BEEN CANCELLED.
And The Non-Virus Related Last Word....
What is enough? — www.aestheticsofjoy.com
In this landscape, the lure of more is hard to resist. And in the relentless pursuit of it, our own intuition around what is enough becomes hard to hear.
How do we know what is enough in life? With the relentless pursuit of "more" all around us, it seems like a good time to explore how we know what is enough.