The Long Now Foundation – Store – Books – great book recommendations from the Long Now Foundation. Love the <10-word reviews; I should try that.

“The gospel is not primarily a set of facts but a way of seeing and a way of being in the world because of God.” – Richard Rohr

YouTube – Are Violent Video Games Preparing Kids For The Apocalypse? – I’m pretty sure this was what Kenneth Boulding was talking about.

“The future will always surprise us, but we must not let it dumbfound us.” – Kenneth Boulding

“The vice president began to tremble with rage. He shouted, ‘The telephone system was destroyed last night and you had better believe it. If you don’t by noon, you’ll be fired.'” – Idealized Design: How Bell Labs Imagined — and Created — the Telephone System of the Future. Great example of prototyping future experiences to inspire innovation.

Leadership and being a good person

I’ve had a little experience leading people now, and it seems to me that despite all the fuss made about it, leadership really comes down to just two things:

1. Know what you’re talking about: widget A, profit margin B.

2. Be “a good person”: honest, kind, generous, compassionate.

We can go to schools to learn the former, and most leadership training concentrates on tactics for effectively conveying it to others. But learning the latter, despite its fundamental nature, is a foggier path. Maybe that’s because it is traditionally the domain of non-PC practices like religion and spiritual training, and thus not emphasized in scientific methods.

I guess my point is that I don’t see business people encouraged to spend a lot of time and effort specifically trying to become honest, kind, generous, and compassionate, and in my experience that’s the thing that makes leaders truly great. When I do see it, it’s amazing. By no means have I mastered this…but it seems like a good way to try.

Commute haiku

Some simple poems from the past few commutes on the bus.

***

The earth wakes

Flesh-tinted bands stretch over

A drop of blue in a clear pool

***

Standing straight

Hands in pockets

Oakland frame store sentinels

***

Child pacing in cold

Trying to shake

Anxiety of the day

***

Ethnic huddles in the city

Small church buildings provide

A respite from the cold

Of living in a place, unknown

***

Ivy creeps over walls

Try to mask

Concrete human chutes

***

Sunlight peeks over hills

All of nature

Stretches to meet it

***

The mind designs

From its past

Soul creations bring new life

Having it all

I spend a lot of my time imagining the ideal state of things in my life–the ideal work schedule, diet, exercise plan, room layout, web browser settings, etc. Most everything in my life goes under this scrutiny on a regular basis. Such is the life of [the Individualist](http://www.lessons4living.com/enneagram4.htm)…

In all these things, I am influenced by the examples I see in people around me–most notably, the ones in the media. The real people showcased on TV and the internet live fascinating lives, full of adventures and changes. They always seem to be exploring the extremes and ideals of every situation–every time I imagine an ideal, I can find someone already living it. The person on tv seem to truly do it all and have it all.

Of course, “the person on tv” is an aggregated example, made from pieces of individual sports stars, entertainers, artists, politicians, religious leaders, business titans, and more. Besides seeing only the newsworthy achievements in their areas of expertise, we don’t get to see how they live the other parts of their lives. “The person on tv” is made from only the best, most extreme parts, of all these people–the VO2 max of Lance Armstrong, the voice of Christina Aguilera, the artistry of Pablo Picasso, the theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, etc, ad infinitum.

Yet because my mind stitches together this Frankensteinian ideal, I’m tempted to believe that I can have it all–I can imagine a “life” that does. With an infinite amount of time and an infinite amount of money, one could conceivably live out the ideals for every facet of life.

But I don’t think I’d want to. After all, I’d always prefer some things to others, and choose to continue doing those rather than switch to something less interesting. I notice this even in the basics of life–while I’d be somewhat interested in exploring what a truly clean house would look like, I’d rather explore what a truly exciting bike ride would feel like, every time.

Choosing some things, and excluding others, isn’t a cop-out, or a compromise. It’s the only possible way to live. And the more I am able to simplify and reduce the number of things I idealize, the more I enjoy the ones I do, and it makes the idealization more of an opportunity than a burden. We can’t have it all–no one can. But we can change how we experience the things we have, especially when we first choose the things we really want.

For Obama

It’s not a terrible surprise, I suppose (especially [given my location](http://flickr.com/photos/bobman/2275593336/in/photostream/)), but still worth stating. I am for [Barack Obama’s presidency](http://www.barackobama.com/index.php).

Like most people, I was swept up by his hopeful speeches. McCain recently attacked Barack for offering nothing but “platitudes”. Even if that were the case, the country really does need some hope, and Barack is a gifted motivator.

Still, I wondered if there was substance behind the style, so tonight I read his campaign’s 60-page “[Blueprint for Change](http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/ObamaBlueprintForChange.pdf)”. While some areas are stronger than others, overall I was impressed and believe that Obama’s plans do support his speeches, and his character is consistent with his personality.

A few things that stood out for me:

* He proposes making community college “free”–a $4000 credit each year earned through 100 hours of community service.

* His green technology plans look very strong, and certainly ambitious.

* I’m not sure where all the money comes from–almost every part of his plan cites “increased funding”. Though stopping the Iraq War would go a long way, as a resident of the higher tax brackets I’m pretty sure an Obama presidency would cost me a lot more money. Well, I’d probably spend it all on candy anyway…

* I like the rural/farming plan; regulating CAFOs is a good step toward fixing our food system. Partnering with rural residents and farmers on environmental causes also seems like a good plan.

* His immigration policies seem a little weak. While the overall themes sound good (encourage hiring Americans, let talented foreign workers in more easily, help build Mexico’s economy), I didn’t see a lot of substance in this area. It’s easy to see why Hillary does better with Hispanic voters–she’s not up against much.

* Community engagement is probably Obama’s strongest area, which makes sense for a former community organizer. Still, seeing the proposed expansion in public service was impressive. If people truly believe they are part of this presidency, perhaps it will begin an era of renewed engagement of citizens with their government.

Finally, back to the style. Something I’ve noticed from the beginning is the tone of Barack’s speeches. While every other candidate talks about “electing me” and “when I’m president”, Obama consistently talks about “what we can do” and “standing together”. I’m not interested in sending one person to the White House–I’m interested in being part of a movement. Obama gets that, I believe in his sincerity and his plans, and I’m glad to support him.

p.s. He has [a cool website](http://www.barackobama.com/issues/) too–check it out.

What I learned in 2007

Yeah, it’s a few weeks late. But 2007 was quite a year–it took some digesting.

### Marriage is great

2007 was the first full calendar year I was married. It was great. Every day feels like I’m getting away with something too good to be true.

### 28 feels older

You know how people always ask you on your birthday how it feels to be a year older, and you always say “about the same”? Well, this year didn’t feel the same. I got old. My knees went out on me, taking me off the bike for several months. After that a variety of other ailments struck, making me feel that although I didn’t turn 28 until December, it would be the year that I first felt like I was getting “older”.

### Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants

That sentence, the subtitle of Michael Pollan’s new book, _In Defense of Food_, summarizes what I tried to do with my eating in 2007. Spurred by friends, health (the “getting older” thing), and Pollan’s previous book, _The Omnivore’s Dilemma_, I now eat mostly vegetarian, organic, and simple food. I’ve stayed healthy and it just makes sense. The more I learn about the food industry we have in America, the more motivated I am to find natural alternatives.

### Design can save the world–or destroy it

Last year I got a taste of the enormous design challenge we have before us. If we don’t figure out how to design sustainably, our planet is doomed. Being “less bad” isn’t good enough–we need to actually design things that are infinitely sustainable. It’s a huge responsibility, but one we need to face before the entire planet resembles my first experience at [the dump](http://ryskamp.org/brain/design/at-the-dump). More on this in 2008…

### Work is what you make it

I had made a lot of assumptions about how the job world worked. Turns out they were wrong. Sure, I work at a great company with lots of flexibility, but that’s not all. From the extremes of the [4 hour workweek](http://ryskamp.org/brain/books/notes-from-the-4hour-workweek) to simply deciding what you want to work on next, work can be whatever you want. But to make it that way, you have to actually know what you want–and not many people do know that. I don’t always either, but now that I know the opportunity it gives you, I’m working hard to.

### Consuming does not lead to creation

At the beginning of 2007, I laid out a plan to become “more creative”. I would observe the world around me, [taking](http://ryskamp.org/brain/books/index) [notes](http://ryskamp.org/brain/films/index) and [pictures](http://flickr.com/photos/bobman/), and that would give me an irresistible desire to create products and act in response. It didn’t work. I took a lot of notes and a lot of pictures, and didn’t create much at all (well, at work I did, but that was for someone else). If anything, the sheer volume of observations and possibilities paralyzed me into inaction. Turns out only creating leads to creations. My next idea is to just do it–choose one thing at a time that excites me and spend all my effort on it. Why one thing? Well…

### I work better in serial than in parallel

You know those multi-taskers? The people juggling a million things at once, and somehow able to pull it off? That’s not me. Realizing this year that I work best on one thing at a time, focusing myself entirely on it, has been incredibly freeing and empowering.

### Don’t limit yourself

This year I realized that I was letting my experience limit my creativity. I meant to use my collected knowledge and understanding of opportunities to create better solutions to problems–however, instead I was letting my (often incomplete) knowledge of existing constraints and patterns hold me back. There will always be plenty of people willing to tell you why you can’t do something, and plenty of time to scale back later. Don’t limit yourself right from the start–[decide what you really want](http://ryskamp.org/brain/design/how-to-design-concepts).

### But know how to build things gradually

Once I do know what I want, it helps me to break up the building of a product into smaller chunks. However, it’s important to make the chunks meaningful to you and to the people you design for, so that you are excited to build each piece and people are excited to receive it.

### Complexity is not the enemy

I have a tendency to look for the simplest solution to a problem, but [the most interesting problems are often complex](http://ryskamp.org/brain/philosophy/simplicity-and-complexity) and require complex solutions. And complexity can be beautiful [when all of its complexities are good things](http://ryskamp.org/brain//complex-design).

### Solving hard problems is not enough; I have to care about what I’m solving

There was a period last year where I thought that if only I was working on hard problems, I’d be satisfied. I worked on lots of hard problems, and it wasn’t true. The only way I can sustainably work on hard problems is if I personally care about them. Others seem able to work on almost anything, but I have a terrible time if I’m not really excited about the subject.

### Knowledge and experience need each other

Both cognitive knowledge and personal introspection/experience are important in a full healthy life; neither is sufficient on its own. They are different ways of engaging with the world. A friend mentioned that we have trouble recognizing our need for experience because we’re “so far out on a post-Enlightenment intellectual pole”.

### I am an “individualist”

Officially–the enneagram method pegs me as “[The Individualist](http://www.enneagraminstitute.com/TypeFour.asp): The Sensitive, Introspective type: Expressive, Dramatic, Self-Absorbed, and Temperamental”. It’s more accurate than I like to admit, but knowing this has helped me understand why I tend to see what’s right for me as right for everyone else, and helped me learn to accept alternative ways of living for others. It’s also helped me deal with the fact that…

### I am usually wrong about things

…either in the short term, or long term, or both. I noticed many things this year that I was so sure of…but I was wrong. It could be that I make too many ultimatums, or maybe I’m just slow, but I’m now watching out for things I was wrong about and continually surprised by how many there are. And so for me, in group settings…

### It is better to listen than to talk

Somewhere along the line I started talking a lot. Perhaps because I’m comfortable doing so, I would speak up during every lull in a conversation, often interrupting the natural flow to interject something I thought was remotely related. Watching friends, however, taught me that silence in conversation is ok; that when given the opportunity to learn from people I respect, listening more than I speak is always a good decision. This always reminds me of [Calvin and Hobbes arguing about the purpose of conversations](http://www.s-anand.net/calvinandhobbes.html#19950805).

That said…

### Other people’s thoughts are dangerous

Other people’s thoughts are valuable, as they can inform and instruct you, but dangerous as they can also shut out your own. I realized this year that taking in too much information, and information at the wrong times, [was stopping me from developing my own thoughts](http://ryskamp.org/brain/creativity/creativity-and-the-thoughts-of-others), and that’s dangerous. William Blake had good advice: “Think in the morning, act in the noon, read in the evening, and sleep at night.” I am an individualist, after all, and shutting down my own thoughts entirely is only going to make me frustrated.

But I think that’s probably enough of them for one day…or year.