My “strengths finder” says I’m a “learner”. I usually don’t put much stock in such surveys, but this one is dead on. At any one time I have 10-12 podcasts going, at least one or two audiobooks, and then plenty of good ‘ole fashioned bound paper books. Don’t get me started on my Twitter rabbit-holes.
Here are five things I discovered or enjoyed this week.
YouTube Channel I’m Enjoying
Last week I mentioned Ali Abdaal in passing. I’ve subscribed to his podcast, and although I jump around a bit, I enjoy it (I jump around every podcast I subscribe to). I’ve also subscribed to Ali’s YouTube channel, which is where he really has made his mark. There are plenty of great episodes, but I’ve found quite a few book recommendations from his “Book Club” episodes (there’s a “Book Club” playlist if you go to his channel and search “Book Club”).
You can find Ali’s YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoOae5nYA7VqaXzerajD0lg
Book I’m Re-Reading
I read “Making Vision Stick” by Andy Stanley years ago. Besides being a mega-church pastor (I mean that in the absolute best way possible; please don’t hold it against him), he’s a bit of a leadership guru. After all, if you can motivate thousands of volunteers on a common mission every single week, you’ve got a talent for leadership.
“Making Vision Stick” is a tiny little book that gives you the bare bones of taking your vision (he assumes you already have one) and embedding it in the culture of your organization. I’m sure I’ll do an exhaustive blog post soon, but here’s what I’m reading it for: how to embed a vision in a family. I first read this book when my kids were little, and I remember thinking to myself, “Why wouldn’t this work in my family?” Moms and dads should have a vision for how their family works together and works in society. They should embed their vision in the lives of their kids, and they should start early. I used some of these ideas in my own family, and now I’m working through how to translate them more completely for parents I mentor.
If you’re a leader of any organization, “Making Vision Stick” is a helpful read. If you’re a mom or dad, try reading it with the lens I’ve described here.
Get “Making Vision Stick” at Amazon (affiliate link).
Book I’ve Started Reading
Traveling down a rabbit hole, as I often do, I stumbled on another little book this week, “The Predicament of Modern Man” by Elton Trueblood. This gem was penned in 1944, just as World War II was coming to an end. It explores the predicament man has found himself in where he has developed incredible technology that has the potential to bring the world together, but instead, has used it only to destroy itself. (Remember, this was written in 1944, before the Internet, smart phones, Facebook, Instagram.) This blurb from Wikipedia drew me to it:
“[The Predicament of Modern Man] received much attention near the end of World War II for the way it addressed a widespread interest in finding spiritual meaning and morality in the face of such extreme suffering during World War II”
A quote explaining the actual “predicament”:
“We are now in the tragic third possibility inasmuch as man has been more successful in making engines than in achieving the will and wisdom to use his engines for humane purposes. This is the predicament of Western man. He has built up a complex civilization, but he may lose it because, in his proud hour of achievement, he has so largely lost or never developed the inner resources that are needed to keep a possible boon from becoming a calamity.”
The book is all but out of print, but I found a PDF freely available here: https://ia801608.us.archive.org/28/items/in.ernet.dli.2015.264588/2015.264588.The-Predicament.pdf
Topic I’m Wrestling With
This week on Peter Attia’s “The Drive” podcast (Ep. 195) Peter’s guest Sebastian Junger threw out a statement that didn’t make sense to me:
“Statistically, the more affluent the society, the higher the incidence of PTSD.”
Wait – that can’t be right. Can it?
And yet, here’s the result of a quick Google search: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/jul/27/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd-more-likely-to-affect-people-in-affluent-countries-scientists-say
This article points to a study that says that Canada, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Australia and the U.S. have a higher rate of PTSD than do countries such as Nigeria, China and Romania.
Junger offers some hypotheses for what may be the cause. Question: What would you think would cause comfortable, western, cultures to have such a high rate of PTSD, especially compared to less developed societies?
And for the record, this was one of my favorite episodes of “The Drive”.
Quote (actually, Haiku) of the Week
On giving advice (or not):
Talk less and ask more.
Your advice is not as good
as you think it is.
– Michael Bungay Stanier, “The Coaching Habit”
If you’d like another (two for the price of one!), try this one from “The Fellowship of the Ring” by J.R.R. Tolkien:
“Advice is a dangerous gift, even from the wise to the wise, and all courses may run ill.”
Have a great weekend.