The Weekly Minute - September 17, 2023

Since last Friday, my Vikings have already played two games – and lost both. :( 

I’m an eternal optimist; I still think there’s plenty of time to turn the ship around. 

Onto this week:

What I Read

• How To Do Great Work (via Paul Graham)

• This is an excellent (and long!) essay on how to do great work. I’ve broken down a few of the key highlights here, but it’s worth the read.

• “There's a kind of excited curiosity that's both the engine and the rudder of great work. It will not only drive you, but if you let it have its way, will also show you what to work on.”

• “If you're excited about some possibility that everyone else ignores, and you have enough expertise to say precisely what they're all overlooking, that's as good a bet as you'll find.'“

• Four steps of doing great work:

  • Choose a field

  • Learn enough to get to the frontier

  • Notice gaps

  • Explore promising ones.

  • This is how practically everyone who's done great work has done it, from painters to physicists.

• “The three most powerful motives are curiosity, delight, and the desire to do something impressive. Sometimes they converge, and that combination is the most powerful of all.”

• Key principles that are common to all great work, according to Paul, regardless of the field, include:

• Focus on strengths. Simply focus on the things we’re naturally good at and we enjoy.

• Work on things that matter. Don’t waste time on projects that don’t have any real value. Spend time on things that will make a difference.

• Be persistent. Great work takes time and effort. We should not give up if we don’t see results immediately.

• Take risks. Don’t be afraid to try new things while stepping outside of our comfort zone.

• Get feedback. Constantly get feedback from the people who are working with you and/or using your product/service.

• The Simple Power of Communicating with Kindness (via Harvard Business Review)

• In today’s world a host of issues are eating away at our connections with each other: Lack of focus, high-speed interactions, political polarization seeping into professional interactions, lack of trust. It’s easy to let daily civilities go by the wayside — or to approach difficult conversations with anger and ferocity — but, the author tells us, her experience as a corporate communications executive points to the benefits for leaders who double down on kindness instead.

• There are three tactics that work:

  • Breaking down defensiveness with graciousness

  • Giving credit

  • Making space

A Single Thought

• Achieving grand visions always requires a burst of energy. Motivation and inspiration energize people. Strategy and tactics important, but don’t underestimate the power of energy. 
  

Healthcare Corner

• What the chaos era for Netflix and Disney spells for healthcare (via Becker’s)

  • Streaming wars are one analogy that comes close to the enhanced choice consumers will have for care in their home. Streaming disrupted traditional content gatekeepers of movie studios and TV networks, much like home care could disrupt the traditional care gatekeepers of health system contracting and networks.

  • "When you move into the home, even in this day and age, you're sort of returning to the ability to a la carte your care. You might have these third parties offering pieces of care that used to be delivered only by the hospital. You can imagine what that will end up looking like — confusing for anybody involved in that care and very fragmented. People might have a whole lot of options to sort of piece things together for themselves if there's no overarching provider coordinating it all for them."