Week Notes // 23rd October
The Young V&A in Bethnal Green
School half term meant a week off work. I’ve am incredibly grateful for the break given recent workloads. Some time off means I can go back into work on Monday energised ahead of the final push to Christmas.
We opted not to go away, but instead have had a week filled with lots of little activities. The week has gone quite quickly, but no one is knackered from travelling and we’ve managed to fill the time with lots of variety.
The main highlight for me was a visit to the recently opened Young V&A Museum in Bethnal Green. It’s just big enough. It is essentially made up of four corridors. It’s not overly serious, but there are serious things on display, juxtaposing toys and trinkets with more significant artefacts. The thing I enjoyed the most was the way it posed questions to visitors at every juncture. Something I’m going to translate into a wider post in next couple of days. In Strategy roles we have latched onto our role as being one of problem definition and problem resolution. I think that perhaps we should take a step back, elevating the role and value of questions in our processes. If we’re to become more consultative, then perhaps a strong repertoire of questions is a vital skill - how do we help our clients identify, unearth and solve for the problems they face - rather than solving them ourselves?
Reading (Watching, Listening)
Started Annie Ernaux’s Shame. Some amazing writing and thinking in this brief (80 page) autobiographical study. Plenty of examples of great insight. My favourite being that “the social distribution of goods is far more significant than their actual existence”. A pre-cursor to Gibson, perhaps.
I love it whenever John Lanchester writes for the LRB. In the recent issue he turns his attention to the trial of Sam Bankman-Fried. Two books about him have been published recently. Michael Lewis’ puff-piece in disguise Going Infinite and the infinitely more scathing Number Go Up by Zeke Faux. I’ve started Faux’s book and already am gripped by the fucking-bat-shit-craziness of the characters we meet. It’s not making me any less of a crypto sceptic. I can see why the decentralisation the technology offers is of value, but it would also appear to me that those who have taken control of this represent just another form of centralisation. Xiawei Wang’s brilliant Blockchain Chicken Farm illustrates this point excellently via the examination of farming practices in rural China.
Vibe-shift seems to be a phrase I’m hearing more and more of at the moment. Enjoyed David Carr’s article on the vibe shift in Digital marketing and Business Transformation. His big diagram of the forces at play intersects neatly with some of the thoughts I discussed last week regardining challenger and early stage businesses, especially those with a significant DTC component.
Finished Bodies. Who doesn’t love a Grandfather Paradox, eh?
Watched The Cell. Which, despite being desperate to see when it was released I’d never got round to watching. Utterly horrifying yet absolutely beautiful at the same time. Some of the most incredible art direction I’ve ever seen in a modern, mainstream movie release. And, some themes and ideas which place it well ahead of it’s time. The Cell struggled so Inception could flourish.
Doing
As per the above: Went to the Young V&A. If you’ve got kids then you should probably go.
Went to the Roald Dahl Museum.
Played Golf at Swinley Forest. A very idiosyncratic club. Enjoyed the breaded Plaice for lunch. Wasn’t disappointed by what Harry Colt described as his ‘least bad course’. Not a bad hole on the course. Even managed to play half-decently.
Bike practice with the boy. He’s getting there. Just needs to learn to use the steering facilities and the brakes. Also, indoor climbing. Last time we went it was not a great success. This time, it was. It’s amazing and gratifying to watch his confidence grow - especially where sport and physical exercise are concerned.
Working
Thinking about a side-project. Continuing to push myself based on the conversation last week with Andrew. Need to become more of a completer-finisher. Ideas are cheap. Execution is not.
Started scribbling on the two blog posts referenced in last week’s notes, started a third (which will be easier and quicker to produce) on the value of questions in the strategic process. More stimulus (mainly from the V&A), but also from Willsh and Prento and ultimately, Eno I guess.
A Keith Haring Poster at the Young V&A. My son might not understand everything that is being communicated here, but he can at least understand some of the message.
