The Cult of Hard Mode
Your goal is not to build a perfect system. Your goal is to solve the problem and move on. Think of productivity tools like duct tape or zip ties: functional, replaceable, and emotionally neutral.
Stop trying to impress your peers with the complexity of your systems. Impress them with the clarity of your thinking and the speed of your execution. The baroque dashboard is a crutch. Simplicity is a tool.
The “No Politics Rule”
In my experience, there are typically 3 main reasons people don’t say something to one person that they will say to another: (1) I’m scared of his/her reaction, (2) it’s not going to do any good anyway, and (3) it doesn’t help me and it may hurt me if I say something.
To overcome those fears people have to be honest with each other, and leaders have to show people that it turns out OK when ideas are exposed to sunlight. You have to do it over and over again for it to be natural because it’s easy for all of us to fall out of genuine, open communication.
Normal Kids Get F*cked
Elite universities went to war against fraternities and fun while indulging Hamas-admiring collectives, and the students have noticed
In pursuit of decent coffee
All of this may sound a bit ridiculous. It is just coffee, after all. But while jokes about $10 lattes and millennials who will never be able to afford homes might persist, I do think there is something special about the way we are able to make little parts of our life better. We turned what was once gulping out sludge to get out of bed into a truly culinary activity in the morning—and of course you are still able to drink the sludge if you prefer it.