Feldman's Faves: January 23, 2023

GOOD MORNING EVERYONE

I hope you all had a great weekend. I love the snow and loved being outside yesterday. It felt a like an actual Canadian winter. It also felt like a Canadian winter given that the Bills lost once again. Oh well, I guess they were not the team of destiny this year. Oh well, there’s always next year (said every Bills fan, every single year since the creation of that team…).

As we continue our return to the office, this week’s theme focuses on the way we live our personal and work lives and interesting perspectives on this topic.

THE FUTURE IS ANALOG By: David Sax – Toronto born writer, David Sax always finds original topics of interest. One of his previous books, Save the Deli is one my favourite food/travel books. In Future is Analog. Sax describes the limits of humans relying on living a digital life and how the WFH and stay at home movement was a disaster for humanity. One area on which he focused is the disaster that our kids suffered through when they had to learn from home. His basic premise is that humans are fundamentally analog in that we need to be with each other, we need random interaction and we are not our best when we live remotely. Sax understands that we will never go back to the way it was and that there are huge benefits for many people in allowing greater flexibility in life than we had prior to Covid. However, for individuals to thrive we need to get back together. As one reviewer describes the book, “A sociological study arguing that the pandemic reinforced a widespread desire for old-school, “analog” connectivity. Toronto-based reporter and writer Sax follows up his well-received The Revenge of Analog by testing its thesis against the upheavals caused by Covid-19: “Digital technology will continue its advance [but]…the analog world remains the one that matters most.” The author considers how unpleasant months of enforced isolation upended his life, tartly noting, “The digital future was finally here! And it fucking sucked.” In response, Sax envisions a future “where digital technology actually elevates the most valuable parts of the analog world rather than replacing them,” and he organizes the text into seven sections, reflecting the priorities we encounter in a typical week: work, schooling, commerce, and so forth. In each chapter, he first outlines the unexpected pitfalls of digital life and then suggests more humane, contemplative approaches that acknowledge progressive solutions from pre-pandemic society, which he terms “rear-looking innovations.” For instance, he argues in favor of “the physical space of the office and the human relationships that occur there,” noting how remote work proved frustrating in many fields. As a parent, Sax grimly views virtual schooling in terms of its “soul crushing disappointment,” recalling how, “as weeks turned to months, everyone except the heroic teachers stopped caring.” He discusses how this misadventure revealed rampant economic inequality in student preparedness while highlighting the emotional aspects of learning relative to the physicality of schools. Likewise, Sax examines how digital commerce proved both helpful and destructive. The shortcomings of gentrification in cities became clearer, and issues of personal faith, communication, and political discourse were likewise strained. The author relies on (virtual) interviews throughout, synthesizing the views of academics, other authors, and his suburban peers. This creates a pop-psych feel to the text, rendered in an approachable, witty style punctuated with personal asides poking fun at his own relative privilege during the pandemic. Deft, colorful discussion focused more on social prescriptions than on specific, tangible analog things.” I know getting back to the office will have its challenges for many people but I do believe that in the long run being together is the best and most healthy way we can move forward in the (hopefully) post-Covid world. Here is a good review from Book Marks - https://bookmarks.reviews/reviews/the-future-is-analog-how-to-create-a-more-human-world/

Masters of Scale - Rapid Response: The rise of the “wisdom worker,” w/Modern Elder Academy’s Chip Conley- I found this discussion to be absolutely fascinating in which it covers the fact that for the first time in history the workplace will consist of people from FIVE GENERATIONS. In this new world there is a valuable role for everyone to play and the way it will be most successful is if people – at all levels – are willing to be both mentors and mentees. The simple premise here is to check egos at the door and take the opportunity to learn from each other and to structure the workplace where that is possible in both formal and informal ways. This idea makes so much sense to me. Here’s an excerpt from the PODCAST itself: “As we live and work longer, leaders need to redefine how they think about attracting and developing intergenerational talent. Modern Elder Academy's Chip Conley is at the forefront of this mindset shift, explaining why “wisdom workers” will take the place of “knowledge workers.” A close mentor to Airbnb founder Brian Chesky, Chip stresses that those in mid-career face both more angst and more opportunity than ever. He provides a roadmap for reframing midlife from crisis to calling, and argues that five generations in the workplace requires a new generational compact”: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/masters-of-scale/id1227971746?i=1000590262027

Thank you for your ongoing engagement and participation.

And remember to stay safe, stay healthy and to docket daily.

Jon