Fifty page report becomes a five page report.
Five-page report becomes five paragraphs.
Five paragraphs become five sentences.
Five sentences become five words.
Did you know?
Mini satellites: This fall, a few American satellites, each no bigger than a brick, will enter the atmosphere of Mars, 33.9 million miles away — demonstrating a powerful new technology that will undoubtedly shape our futures. These miniature satellites, called CubeSats, were designed to follow NASA’s Mars robotic lander, InSight, as it attempts to land on the red planet in November, and they will relay information back to Earth. The goal is to demonstrate how low-cost CubeSat technology can be used in deep space and travel farther than any miniature satellite before.
A traditional communications satellite can be as big as a school bus and weigh 6 tons. Today’s microsatellites can weigh between 22 and 220 pounds, with some nanosatellites weighing under 22 pounds.
The US plans to sequence 1 million genomes: Three DNA sequencing centers have been chosen for the project in Texas, Massachusetts, and Washington.
Recyclable packaging: Environmental campaigners in the UK have been mailing their Walkers potato chip bags back to the PepsiCo-owned manufacturer, in protest of what they see as an overly-slow plan for phasing out non-recyclable packaging.
37: Sub-Saharan Africa will account for 37 percent of the world’s births by 2050, according to UN forecasts.
Too much screen time, too little horseplay for kids: study: AFP reports, only one in 20 kids in the United States meets guidelines on sleep, exercise and screen time, and nearly a third are outside recommendations for all three, according to a study published Thursday.
On average, children aged eight to 11 spent 3.6 hours per day glued to a TV, mobile phone, tablet or computer screen, nearly double the suggested limit of two hours, researchers found.
CNET: Impostor Syndrome leaves most tech workers feeling like a fake https://cnet.co/2NHAa5M
A new informal study shows that 58 percent of tech employees from companies like Facebook, Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft feel like frauds.
Did you know?
How meditation can make you more creative http://bit.ly/2N4G5g5
I prefer loud EDM to spur creativity or a good walk or skiing down a steep hill.
The internet will be split in two by 2028, former Google CEO predicts: China and the US could lead two different versions of the internet in future.
Intranet = China
Internet = USA
Lax: The Sports & Fitness Industry Association identifies 2.17 million lacrosse participants in the US, an increase of 35 percent from 2012. Moreover, 57 percent of them have an annual household income of at least $75,000, making the group attractive to advertisers.
Straws: Caesars, like other Vegas resort operators, begins saying goodbye to single-use plastic straws.
It's all about wellness: CB Insights reports, the $3.7 trillion global wellness economy is exploding, and it's not just affecting food and personal care. Wellness is transforming everything from how gyms operate to the way retailers design clothing to how smart cities are designed.
Vampire facials: The treatment involves taking the client’s blood and reinjecting the plasma back into their face. Yes, this is happening.
WEF: The future of jobs 2018 http://bit.ly/2N4UOY4
As technological breakthroughs rapidly shift the frontier between the work tasks performed by humans and those performed by machines and algorithms, global labor markets are likely to undergo major transformations.
Brigadoon Weekly: ROI, Detroit, Clippers, Behavior, Juventus
ROI, India, Detroit, Clippers, Behavior, Juventus
Brigadoon Weekly
September 23, 2018
Curation and commentary from Marc A. Ross
Reporting from Alexandria, Virginia
The Weekly = Enterprise + Culture + Sport + Policy
Brigadoon is Education + Events + Engagement for Entrepreneurs and Thought Leaders.
Subscribe here: http://thebrigadoon.com/subscribe/
ROSS RANT
What's the ROI
Famously Steve Jobs was once asked at an Apple shareholder meeting by a shareholder who wanted to get some insights into his most in-depth thinking: “What keeps you awake at night?” Jobs replied, “Shareholder meetings.”
Can you envision Jobs in a shareholder meeting being bogged down by endless questions all focused on ROI?
I don't have fancy shareholder meetings, but I do have sales meetings.
Sales meetings where the question of what is the ROI for someone attending a Brigadoon gathering usually comes up.
The exchange usually proceeds down this path:
Question to me: "What's the ROI of me attending a Brigadoon event?"
Response from me: "I have no idea."
Question to me: "Will the people in the room buy my product?"
Response from me: "I have no idea."
These two responses are usually less than satisfying to the person posing the questions.
There is usually silence as well. Plus the questioner is generally puzzled, perplexed, and many times perturbed.
Being shaped by consumer environment where the customer is always right, hand-holding is demanded, and orange slices are provided for everyone, such cavalier responses from a seller can be unsettling.
After this breathless, how does this conversation move forward moment, this is how I usually respond:
"If you are interested in having conversations with compelling entrepreneurs and thought leaders in dynamic settings, Brigadoon is probably for you. The ROI of Brigadoon is up to you on how you use the conversations and settings to your enhance your business, mental health, investments, and performance. If you need a clear, from the start ROI, Brigadoon is probably not for you."
From my observation, those Brigadoon attendees that are free from seeking a calculated ROI from the start have the best experiences and leave the gatherings smarter and more energized. Not having a predictable and repeatable ROI for Brigadoon works because the result is divergent and distinctive for each attendee.
It's tempting for those of us selling a product to obsess about providing secure, measurable, and help me explain to my boss what this is results for a customer.
It's tempting to make it easy, black and white, and predictable for customers - it is called industrialization.
It's the difference between dinning with Ronald McDonald and Grant Achatz.
Ronald McDonald spends all his time focused on delivering value meals, predictable experiences, and repeatable french fries.
Grant Achatz spends all his time focused on delivering expensive meals, unpredictable experiences, and unrepeatable french fries.
The market, management, and mainframe reward the industrialist with short-term accolades followed by a relentless need for ever more of the same growth and productivity that got them accolades in the first place.
Today's industrialists define our economy, secure the headlines, get interviewed on CNBC, and win awards from magazines, but they offer very little excitement for tomorrow. Their work makes it easy, black and white, and predictable for customers. It's industrialization.
Some products, services, and outcomes must be designed from the start to alter the culture, eschew ROI, and operate in ways that will ensure the customer must define her ROI that is individually divergent and distinctive.
As long as industrialists are focused on ROI, uncomplicated, black and white, and predictable, there will be a gap for those of us that want to engage in a customer experience that is ambiguous, smoky, and unpredictable.
If you are working in an overly industrialized business, I would recommend adding a little unknown to your offerings. Customers will find the outcome they desire. Customers will be comfortable in finding their value. Customers will want more.
Thinking back to Steve Jobs and the iPhone environment, when you unpack an iPhone, there is no roadmap, no predictive outcome where the device will take you. Each smartphone experience is divergent and distinctive.
That's the ROI.
-Marc A. Ross | Brigadoon Founder + TLC
Marc A. Ross is the founder of Brigadoon and specializes in thought leader communications and event production. Working with doers, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders, Marc helps them create compelling communications, winning commerce, and powerful connections.
FIVE ARTICLES TO READ
From ‘why I hate Detroit’ to ‘why I stayed’: Eric Thomas’s 2016 blog went viral. What does he think about his changing city now? https://on.ft.com/2DcvMH1
"Detroiters’ honesty means we have real conversations about the future without sidestepping unpleasant details"
Why the Clippers landed Lee Jenkins as executive director of research and identity: LAT reports, the team announced the hiring of Jenkins, 41, as the executive director of research and identity Monday. In media and NBA circles, the title sparked confusion. To Frank, it is almost beside the point. Jenkins, whose in-depth NBA profiles at Sports Illustrated earned him a reputation as one of the nation’s top sports journalists, clicked so easily with Clippers brass that they believed his skills could benefit the organization in ways that transcend title. https://lat.ms/2xxl5t4
Coca-Cola is eyeing the cannabis market: Bloomberg reports, Coca-Cola says it’s monitoring the nascent industry and is interested in drinks infused with CBD -- the non-psychoactive ingredient in marijuana that treats pain but doesn’t get you high. The Atlanta-based soft drinks maker is in talks with Canadian marijuana producer Aurora Cannabis to develop the beverages. https://bloom.bg/2xBa3mI
How to stay fit forever: 25 tips to keep moving when life gets in the way http://bit.ly/2Oso9NQ
Only human, after all: How evolution left us ill-equipped for modernity: With so much potential for change looming, three books evaluate the body that nature has left us with. https://on.ft.com/2xzGNNk
BRIGADOON EVENTS - FALL 2018 + WINTER 2019
Brigadoon Detroit | Salon Dinner = October 11, 2018
Brigadoon Cincinnati | Salon Dinner = November 1, 2018
Brigadoon Coral Gables | Salon Dinner = January 17, 2019
Brigadoon Sundance 2019 = February 24-26, 2019
More details and ticket information @ thebrigadoon.com
PICS FROM BRIGADOON ANNAPOLIS
Here are some pics from this week's Brigadoon Annapolis event shot by Brendan Kownacki. We enjoyed a spectacular meal at Flamant and an in-depth conversation with Frederik De Pue, followed by a morning sail on the Chesapeake Bay with lectures from Ron Layton and Antoine RJ Wright. Overall a great event and one we will be organizing again in the fall of 2019.
You can see the pics here: http://bit.ly/2MX0hjy
BOOKS
FT & McKinsey business book of the year award: The shortlist https://on.ft.com/2Ou0Cfe
Future of capitalism, from universal basic income to India’s rise, dominates annual prize.
TRENDS + BUZZ
Cocaine production industry is having a banner year: Coca shrubland is up 17 percent in Colombia to 171,000 hectares, up from 48,000 hectares in 2013.
High school wake up time: 87 percent of American public high schools start before 8:30 am.
Commutes: The average American's commute now stands at 26.9 minutes.
Annoying calls: The FCC estimates that Americans get 2.4 billion unwanted, automated calls every month.
54: By 2022, 54 percent of all workers will have a “significant” need to boost their skills to deal with advancing technology, according to a new World Economic Forum survey, with over a third requiring additional training of up to six months.
Video game sales in the US increased year over year for the fifth straight month in August.
Social media blamed for the rise in unhappiness among girls: The Times reports, far fewer girls say they are happy than a decade ago, with many blaming social media and exams for making them feel anxious.
Keep it private: Growth in sales of private-label products have outpaced the sales of branded products by 3x.
Less choice and less thinking consumers: Amazon has beat out most of its competition with a simple philosophy: endless choice at super-low prices. But now, two new trends could be a warning sign for that model. Food, clothes and makeup firms are among sellers that are becoming either highly customized or, at the other extreme, one-size-fits-all, says CB Insights' Zoe Leavitt. The common goal — the elimination of choice, and the confusion that can accompany it, thus challenging the very calling card of massive retailers like Amazon and Walmart.
The death of the cell phone call: Nearly half of all calls will be spam by 2019.
SONG
Milky Chance - Doing Good https://goo.gl/UBdC5A
SPORT
FT: Ronaldo: Why Juventus gambled €100m on a future payday https://on.ft.com/2OrVc4p
“It was the first time that the commercial side and the sporting side of Juventus came together in assessing the costs and benefits [of a signing],” says Mr. Agnelli, a scion of the billionaire family that has owned the club for 95 years. “The opportunity of Ronaldo was thoroughly assessed . . . and it made sense, both on and off the pitch.”