Mental Pivot #22: Be Remarkable, Newsletters, Bach
A Lyft ride that surprised me, newsletter discovery and newsletter directories, and a lesson on managing complexity from practicing Bach.
I use ride-sharing services like Lyft and Uber regularly. I’m conditioned to expect competent drivers, clean cars, and hassle-free transportation to my destination. Despite the convenience of these services, most rides are unremarkable: I have expectations and those expectations are routinely met. No more, no less.
Charles was different. My son and I requested a ride on a Monday morning and Charles arrived promptly driving an unassuming silver Toyota Corolla. We opened the rear door and received an overly enthusiastic greeting.
As my son scooted into the seat, his eyes grew wide. Charles had two organizers hanging off the front seats festooned with snacks. Before our eyes stood a tantalizing array of candies, packaged cookies, chips, and bottled drinks.
“Wow, you have a lot of snacks,” I commented.
“No,” Charles responded cheerfully, “you have a lot of snacks!”
My son giggled.
“How much do they cost?” my son asked.
“Nothing. They’re for you,” said Charles. “Help yourself.”
Despite wearing a face mask, I could tell my boy was smiling from the crinkles that formed around his eyes. After much deliberation, he eagerly tucked a pair of Lindor truffles into his backpack.
As we exited the vehicle, I could only grin, having witnessed a wonderful moment of entrepreneurial spirit. Charles reminded me that surprise and delight go a long way towards generating memorable experiences and happy customers (no doubt better tips too).
Charles was just different enough from his peers to stand out from the pack. In that, he was wholly remarkable: Charles is now the gold standard by which my son will measure all future Lyft and Uber drivers.
As for me, I didn’t take a snack from Charles’ bounteous offering. Charles did, however, leave me with a morsel of insight. It’s something I’ve been chewing on all week: what small move can I make to be remarkable? As Charles skillfully demonstrated, it doesn’t take much. Surprise and delight are good places to start.
Now onto the updates...
What’s New on the Blog:
1. My List of Newsletter Directories for Creators, Writers, and Readers
Content discovery can be a chore for both creators and consumers. This post highlights the best newsletter directories I’ve found for discovering new content and, for creators like me, for submitting your newsletter to spread the word (the latter is still on my to-do list).
Since not all directories are created equal, I’ve split my list into 4 categories: big general interest directories (300+ listings), small general interest directories (some are highly curated collections), platform listings (e.g. Revue and Substack), and niche-specific directories.
2. Bach, Sight-Reading, and Managing Complexity
In this piece I discuss my thoughts on practicing Bach, why his harmonized chorales are great for sight-reading, and an effective strategy for dealing with the complexity of these pieces (when sight-reading).
While the post is largely devoted to the specifics of keyboard sight-reading, there are some generally applicable principles:
Be thoughtful about selecting the tool best aligned with your goal.
The tools from one kind of practice aren’t always the best tools for another.
Understanding your primary objective helps you determine which trade-offs are acceptable.
Bach really is good for you. I promise.
Articles & Podcasts of Note:
As an experiment, I’m noting my favorite picks with a small star. Thanks to reader EM for the suggestion.
All Stories Are Wrong, but Some Are Useful: ⭑ Neil Kakkar writes about the fictions embedded in everyday life, their role as tools for sense-making, and the fundamental techniques of master storytellers.
Do Less and Do It Better: DJ Adams short piece about consolidating and improving on the skills you already have in a mindful and deliberate fashion.
Don’t Grow: ⭑ Joan Westenberg considers the enduring legacy of centuries-old businesses in Japan and other slow-growth, long-view companies (e.g. the software maker Basecamp). It’s a paradigm of commitment and conviction that eschews fads, opportunism, and getting rich quick. “The ideal is no longer the driven creator, whose dedication to her craft enabled her to design and sell a product. It’s the founder as a personality who has sold their product, their company, and ultimately themselves.” Become the best, not the biggest.
History of Ideas: Rousseau on Inequality (podcast): Host David Runciman explores the ideas of the Enlightenment philosopher. I enjoyed the discussion of “gate posts, guards, and laws” whereby private property gave way to complex legal systems (which are social fictions) that enable the justification and preservation of self-interest.
Is Culture Stuck?: Interesting piece by Paul Skallas that makes up for its lack of a satisfying conclusion by raising several provocative questions. Among them: our perception of progress and innovation as well as the idea of pre-internet “mono-cultures” vs. the present-day “mono-platforms.”
The Multitude of Books: Is it reassuring or disheartening to realize that people have been complaining about information overload since the dawn of the printing press?
Quad Gods: The World-Class Gamers Who Play with Their Mouths: Uplifting story about a competitive esports team comprised of quadriplegic video gamers. They play using innovative controllers that take input from their mouths, head, and breath (sip/puff control) and succeed through a combination of skill, tenacity, and teamwork.
Robert DeNiro Sits in a Chair: Author Steven Pressfield (The War of Art and Gates of Fire) discusses the concept of a “private moment” in storytelling through an example from the film True Confessions. Private moments are short but meaningful interludes despite exhibiting little action, and being entirely absent of dialogue or narration. These are genuine “show, don’t tell” moments.
Why It’s Usually Crazier than You Think: ⭑ Morgan Housel continues to deliver sensible advice for making sense of investment markets. This piece looks at feedback loops and linear vs. exponential supply and demand. Donella Meadows (and other systems thinkers) would have a lot to add to this argument.
Write Short Sentences Is Bad Advice: “Sentence length and rhythm are linguistic tools at the disposal of a writer just like word choice and grammar. Short sentences are useful for certain things, and long sentences are useful for other things.” Reminds me of the famous Gary Provost quote on varying sentence length.
Odds & Ends:
Technology analyst Benedict Evans posted a slide deck and video of a presentation he recently gave titled The Great Unbundling. The presentation which starts at the 8:00 mark if you watch the video, looks at tech trends accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the unbundling of goods and services, China’s increasing economic influence, and regulatory policy.
Vox Stoica is a YouTube channel for students of Stoicism. There are dozens of videos that explore the philosophy in the form of summaries, commentaries and audiobooks. Shoutout to reader Sam H. and his Wiser than Yesterday podcast which alerted me to this helpful resource.
Logical Fallacies is a nifty reference with for dozens of reasoning errors (syllogistic fallacies, appeal to emotion, begging the question, false dilemma, etc.). Each entry has a short definition along with helpful examples.
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