Feldman's Faves: June 6, 2022

GOOD MORNING EVERYONE

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. There is nothing better than Toronto in the spring.

I wanted to take this opportunity to once again congratulate Paula and Georgia on their amazing 25 years of service here at Goodmans (I also want to congratulate Paula on the engagement of her daughter, so exciting….). As I am a fan of nostalgia, I wanted to note that 25 years ago - Titanic ruled the box office, Allen Iverson was the “Answer”, we first met Destiny’s child and Austin Powers, the Jerky Boys reigned supreme, VH1 Behind the Music debuted, Mike Tyson bit off Evander Holyfield’s ear, and many of you were either in diapers or not even born yet…. I hope we can get at least another 25 years from you both (but will definitely understand if that doesn’t happen)….

And of course, happy birthday (yesterday) to Megan.

No theme this week, just interesting stuff.

Truman By David McCullough – When kids are told that “one day you can be anything you want to be, even President of the United States”, you have to think they must have someone like Harry Truman in mind. Truman was a simple man from a small town in Missouri who one day found himself becoming the most powerful person in the world and the only person to ever authorize the use of nuclear weapons in war. Underestimated his entire life, Truman was a failed businessman (men’s clothing store) that became a plain speaking representative of his district, then Senator of his State and then appointed by FDR as his Vice President. Like most VEEPS, Truman had no real relationship with his boss and was wholly unprepared to take over as President… and yet he did. The most famous Truman picture is the “DEWEY WINS” photo (look it up), which reflected the general view that he could never get elected on his own. David McCullough is an American treasure (in the same stratosphere as Robert Caro and Ken Burns) when it comes to telling the story of American history. His book, Truman is enormous, full of detail of the times in which Truman lived and about his spectacular rise to power and then when he was finished how he and his wife Bess just moved by back home. This book is a true masterpiece and one I highly recommend. Here’s a great review from Words and Dirt - http://www.words-and-dirt.com/words/review-david-mcculloughs-truman/

The Next Big Idea - Culture: How Successful Groups Work – There is so much written on the importance of culture to the success of any organization. In this PODCAST Daniel Coyle provides some amazing examples of situations in which culture works and why. After you listen you should think about what we are doing right and what we could be doing better. Here’s an excerpt from the PODCAST itself: “The filmmakers at Pixar. The servers at Union Square Cafe. The badasses on SEAL Team Six. What do these super successful groups all have in common? Strong team culture. But what exactly is culture, and how do you build it? Daniel Coyle has spent the last few years searching for answers. In this episode, he shares what he’s found.”:https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-next-big-idea/id1482067226?i=1000562490807

Thank you for your ongoing engagement and participation.

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

Jon