PROGRESSION: Why Personality Tests Are Bogus, How Constraints Unlock Creativity, and the Best Money Book I’ve Read
September 2020
Orange skies, wildfires, power outages. September sure was a crazy year here in California. Hope everything’s going well on your end.
I’ve been thinking a lot about this quote from Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra: “Everyone overestimates what you can do in a day and underestimates what you can do over the course of months or a year.”
While I hope his team gets demolished in the NBA Finals (game 1 is tonight!), Spoelstra’s words are insightful. We can all accomplish exceptional things if our efforts are consistent and we maintain a long-term vision.
Books, articles, etc.
Personality Isn't Permanent: Break Free from Self-Limiting Beliefs and Rewrite Your Story by Benjamin Hardy (Book)
I heard about this book during an interview the author had on Whitney Johnson’s Disrupt Yourself podcast. In Personality Isn’t Permanent, Hardy leverages thorough research and personal experiences to destroy the notion that personality is innate and unchanging. Rather than falling for the trap of spending our efforts trying to discover our “true selves”, Hardy teaches how we can intentionally become the people we want to be.
This book may be the best one I’ve read this year. I read the hardback and found myself constantly underlining passages. It’s hard to point to the biggest takeaway, but one that stands out is how powerful (and destructive) labels can be. Hardy teaches that labels can serve goals but that goals should never serve labels. The more labels we have for ourselves, the dumber we are, because we now view the world from a more limited mindset. Instead, we should start with what we want to accomplish and who we want to be rather than letting a non-scientific assessment (e.g. Myers-Briggs) make that decision for us. Overall, I highly recommend this book. If you’re on the fence, start with this podcast interview.
Amp It Up! by Frank Slootman (Article)
Arguably the worst-titled piece I’ve shared since I started this email, but the content more than makes up for it. Slootman is the current CEO of Snowflake (which recently IPO’d and is currently valued at over $72 billion) and the former CEO of ServiceNow and Data Domain. This article has made the rounds at DoorDash as it’s a deep dive into how to run a winning organization.
To quote Slootman: “Bottom line: There is room up in organizations to boost performance by amping up the pace and intensity. Considerable slack naturally exists in organizations to perform at much higher levels. The role of leadership is to convert that lingering potential into superlative results.” Interestingly, this piece was written two and a half years ago, well before he took the reins of Snowflake.
The Psychology of Money: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness by Morgan Housel (Book)
I’ll be short on this one. This is the best personal finance book I’ve read. Period. I listened to the whole thing in two days and it kept my attention throughout. Like any good book, it challenged my assumptions and helped me view a topic (money) from a different perspective.
Observations
How Constraints Unlock Creativity - an Interview with Kyle Fackrell, Creator of Space Race
When COVID hit, Kyle Fackrell had to hit pause on the musical he was creating. Thankfully, this gave him space to make Space Race, the hit musical series on YouTube. Space Race is literally a one-man show where Kyle did all the writing, composing, singing, acting, and editing. In this conversation, Kyle discusses his creative process, reveals how Space Race came about, and shares how constraints unlock creativity.
Episode #16: The Profound Power of a Kind Word
Before publishing Not Your Parents’ Workplace, I was overwhelmed with imposter syndrome. I kept thinking, what am I doing? Who am I to write a book?
In this podcast episode, I discuss how a specific act of kindness had a dramatic impact on me and share how we can have a similar impact on others.
Career Q&A with Heather Hatlo Porter, Chief Communications Officer at Chegg
The next Career Q&A is with Heather Hatlo Porter. Heather offers exceptional advice on how mentors can help us get unstuck, how failure can be a career accelerator, and how to find the courage to seize opportunities that may initially intimidate us.
Gratitudes
I’ve found power in regularly expressing gratitude so I’ll continue the habit. I’m grateful for Sunday morning walks with my two youngest. Sometimes we see wild turkeys. Other times we see dogs. We tell stories. We collect leaves. Our pace is slow. We’re in no rush. It’s a special time for us.
If you've read anything worth sharing I'd love to hear about it. And do let me know if there's anything I can do to help you.
Nathan
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