Ted Lasso Returns to Apple TV+ on March 15th
I'm excited for the third season of Ted Lasso premiering on March 15th. There have been conflicting reports that this will be the final season. However, there's no mention of that on the Youtube page or in Apple's press release announcing the new season. British GQ has a rundown of the new season, including what those involved in the production say about the future (spoiler alert, no one knows for sure).
One of the aspects of British TV production that I've always enjoyed is the comfort with which they sometimes take lengthy breaks between series and use one-off specials to move the story forward. While it's fun to speculate if the show will continue and in what form that might take, I'm thrilled that one of my favorite shows is returning, and I hope the creative team does what serves the story best.
Seneca’s Most Powerful Quotes From The Daily Stoic
The Daily Stoic has released a beautifully produced video featuring dozens of quotes from Seneca that I just spent the last five minutes enjoying. If you have a few quiet minutes, take a look. I’ll be sharing more from the Stoics in the coming months, so stay tuned.
9to5Mac Shows Off Freeform, Apple’s New Collaborative App
9to5Mac has a walkthrough of Freeform, the new collaborative, flexible canvas tool coming soon to the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. My experience with similar apps is mainly limited to Mural, which was great for workshops. Because of that, I'm excited about the OS-level integration in Freeform and what that could mean for the future of remote work and workshop development focused on the Apple ecosystem.
I'll close with a question: Does Apple have a business case for a web version for Windows and Android users?
Communication Expert Julian Treasure on How to Speak so that People Want to Listen
There’s a good chance you’ve already seen the 2013 TED talk from Julian Treasure about speaking so that people will listen. Julian discusses several aspects of communication, including the “seven deadly sins of speaking” and the four cornerstones to speak more clearly and connect with the listener. Finally, he covers some tools you can use to make your voice more receptive.
A few minutes into watching this, I realized I had seen this talk before. I flashed back several years to my then office and remembered coming across Julian and this talk on LinkedIn, of all places. Total Deja vu.
All this is to say that it’s worth watching again if you’ve seen it, probably annually. It’s helpful to get a tune-up on how we speak and communicate, given how important it is to most aspects of life.
Learning Facilitation with AJ&Smart on YouTube
I discovered AJ&Smart’s Youtube page during the pandemic. At the time, I was regional chair of an Employee Business Resource Group with members throughout New England, and we were looking for a new way to hold virtual events while everyone was under travel restrictions or working remotely.
I connected with someone in our organization who was skilled in facilitation, and he agreed to lead a Lighting Decision Jam workshop. As part of the prep work, we received an email with content to review, including AJ&Smart’s video linked below:
The workshop was a great success because of the effective framework, innovative software, and our truly excellent facilitator. We used an intuitive and helpful app called Mural, which made the process run smoothly. It was easy to learn, and had the feeling of an unlimited canvas with areas already set up and ready to go when we needed them..
While this framework wasn’t quite the right fit for an annual meeting type event that we were trying to plan, I have used some of what I learned in other workshops and meetings and it works really well.
If you are interested in this topic, you should check AJ&Smart’s website and especially their YouTube. They have a lot of videos that cover various elements of leading workshops and facilitation in general. There is also some content about becoming a professional facilitator, which is neat. I enjoy their videos and appreciate the humor they sprinkle in to keep things fun. .
Ted Lasso on 60 Minutes
60 Minutes did a segment on Ted Lasso, one of my favorite television shows and one of the shining beacons of hope, love, and kindness that helped many of us get through some of the darkest days of the pandemic.
It’s a great watch if you want to smile and know a little more about this show that no one, including its creators, was quite sure would find an audience.
Starbucks is a Bank that Sells Coffee
I came across this video (embedded below) from The Wall Street Journal recently. It’s a part of their series entitled The Economics of. I’ve always found Starbucks interesting from an operational perspective, so this was insightful, and I wanted to share.
A few takeaways and highlights:
Starbucks, in the fourth quarter of 2021, loaded about 3 billion dollars onto gift cards and mobile. If Starbucks were a bank, they’d rank as the 385th largest in the country. That’s a LOT of Pumpkin Spice!
As stated in the video, that 3 billion is immediate revenue. Yes, it does turn into a liability when someone comes in and orders their Grande Flat White, but as the video mentions, not everyone who loads a gift card actually uses it. I know I have some that are hanging around that will likely never get used, you’re welcome JCPenney!
Starbucks launched the pay-by-app program in 2009, that’s pretty early on for such an integrated use of technology. By the end of 2021, 24% of transactions were done on mobile. I go to Starbucks several times a month, and I cannot recall the last time I used anything but my phone to order and pay. It’s incredibly convenient, and works as intended every time.
The relationship between Starbucks and its partners is changing, as are so many relationships in the workplace these days.
The Starbucks mobile app is an example of seamless tech that works well. In contrast, I attempted to return an order to an online retailer a few days ago. I printed the label out, attached it to the package, and then went through several failed attempts requesting a package pickup with a courier because their website wouldn’t function properly.
I know Amazon has spoiled us with the ability to return via QR code at Kohls or Whole Foods, but when the vendor’s website doesn’t even work, that’s next level. It was frustrating and the exact opposite of walking into a coffee shop and scanning my phone. Starbucks is much better at gaining repeat business by reducing friction between our money and those cake pops that are for the kids. Sure, for the kids, right?
*Yes, that’s what I’ve been ordering lately. My daily coffee is prepared at home, with a Bodum burr grinder and Melitta pour-over.
David Bowie Knew the (Internet) Future in 1999
Recently, I came across an excerpt from this 1999 BBC Newsnight Interview featuring David Bowie chatting with Jeremy Paxman. I found the entire video and thoroughly enjoyed it, and I wanted to share a few thoughts:
1999 was 23 years ago. Yeah, 23 YEARS AGO!
Bowie always had fantastic hair. I know it's required when you are a rock star, and he nailed it. He rocked the stilettos, too.
There is some insightful talk about his career, creative process, sobriety, and, later, "Cool Britannia," which I had to look up.
At 7:03, Bowie starts talking specifically about the Internet. Remember, this is the 1999 Internet; when the RIAA sued Napster, Microsoft was the tech giant, and dial-up was still the way most people connected.).
At 7:19, Bowie says, "Forget about the Microsoft part; the monopolies don't have a monopoly." Now, social media companies (irony not lost on me that I likely saw this video initially on, I believe, Instagram) have a lot of the power, balanced by the likes of Apple and Google's app stores and their ability to de-platform an app.
Bowie references how music and society will fragment even further than they had at this interview (he references Hip Hop and Girl Power as popular subgenres).
At 10:46, he suggests that society hasn't yet seen the" tip of the iceberg" and says the "potential of what the internet is going to do to society is unimaginable."
Wow. So, yeah, David Bowie pretty had a good idea of what would happen to the Internet and how fragmented things could get.
I did not realize until I began researching that today is the sixth anniversary of Bowie's death. I think I'll reach out to a couple of friends who are much bigger Bowie fans than I am for some recommendations for a new playlist to celebrate his work.