I've been lamenting that I really haven't been riding much recently but today I'll be racing in the evening on the track & riding to VC offices during the day leading a group of startups along with Andrii from Rockstart for capitaltourxxl.com. And Saturday is the Pathfinder Giro! How awesome do these snaps from the route look?!
In other news, this week I read about Facebook’s war on free will & how technology is making our minds redundant. (sounds chill right?) But what are we going to do about that? How about changing the way you think? Adapting your mindset?
Facebook would never put it this way, but algorithms are meant to erode free will, to relieve humans of the burden of choosing, to nudge them in the right direction.
I came across this medium post with the tools needed to develop a systems mindset for dealing with complex problem solving and transitioning to the Circular Economy. Here is an abbreviated overview:
- Interconnectedness | Essentially, everything is reliant upon something else for survival. Humans need food, air, and water to sustain our bodies, and trees need carbon dioxide and sunlight to thrive. Everything needs something else, often a complex array of other things, to survive.
- Synthesis | In general, synthesis refers to the combining of two or more things to create something new. When it comes to systems thinking, the goal is synthesis, as opposed to analysis, which is the dissection of complexity into manageable components. Essentially, synthesis is the ability to see interconnectedness.
- Emergence | From a systems perspective, we know that larger things emerge from smaller parts: emergence is the natural outcome of things coming together. Emergence is the outcome of the synergies of the parts; it is about non-linearity and self-organization and we often use the term ‘emergence’ to describe the outcome of things interacting together.
- Feedback Loops | Since everything is interconnected, there are constant (reinforcing and balancing) feedback loops and flows between elements of a system. We can observe, understand, and intervene in feedback loops once we understand their type and dynamics.
- Causality | Understanding feedback loops is about gaining perspective of causality: how one thing results in another thing in a dynamic and constantly evolving system (all systems are dynamic and constantly changing in some way; that is the essence of life).
- Systems Mapping | Systems mapping is one of the key tools of the systems thinker. Identify and map the elements of ‘things’ within a system to understand how they interconnect, relate and act in a complex system, and from here, unique insights and discoveries can be used to develop interventions, shifts, or policy decisions that will dramatically change the system in the most effective way.
There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it will be a butterfly — R. Buckminster Fuller
TL;DR? Taking things like content presented at face value on Facebook without considering the concepts above is a slippery slope that much of society is sliding upon. Change the way you think for your benefit & others! Read more about systems thinking.
with appreciation,
Jon
p.s. yesterday had our friend Lian in the office today taking some snaps of the team. More images soon but here is a peek ; )
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Cycling
Ventile Mac | Vulpine
Expertly handcrafted in Manchester, Great Britain, the limited edition, Ventile® Mac is a weather resistant, premium jacket, designed to fit the demands of your active, urban lifestyle.
Cool, albeit still strange, to see new gear coming from Vulpine since Nick left. Looks like a great garment!
Euro Cycle XP | 20-22 October in Maastricht
This show is shaping up to showcas the very best of what Road, MTB, Cross, Gravel, Triathlon & Time Trial have to offer. Even more announcements coming up! Give em a like on FB.
Snēk Cycling
I met Jonny Hintze of Snēk at Eurobike this year.
The gear looks great & they just launched merino arm warmers & a new lightweight cap. Check em out here.
Startups
A new kind of map: it’s about time
"If you’re like most people, it starts with a ballpark estimate of how long it usually takes."
Very cool stuff from the team at https://blog.mapbox.com/a-new-kind-of-map-its-about-time-7bd9f7916f7f! This company has been more on my radar since my friend Paul's company Human was acquired by them in 2016.
Great company culture is crucial to success
...startups and scale-ups can be categorised into three different stages: starting, discovery and growth. Each phase requires a different approach to the culture.
A lesson in large scale? Read about how jeans giant Levi Strauss got its mojo back.
Growth Tribe - AI for Marketing and Growth Course Amsterdam
Growth Tribe launched the world's 1st A.I. for Marketing & Growth Course. A 2-day course, no previous skills required. Afterwards, you'll be able to decide which parts of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence can be used to help your business.
Sales
Vacature: Business Developer Online @MIMOA
Mimoa.eu, a Global Cultural Architecture Guide & worldwide community of architecture lovers is hiring for a sales position here in Holland. They're the best source of information and inspiration for your next cultural city trip & maybe your next new job! Read more (Dutch) here.
Check them out on twitter, FB & insta.
Top Sales Reads to Drive Focus, Empathy, and Tactical Execution
"However, in sales as in life, understanding the personal and professional forces that affect parties on both sides of the transaction is critical to becoming a balanced and empathetic seller."
Find emails with Snovio!
Snovio finds email addresses. Enter a domain name to find all domain email with roles and names. Email lookups by job title, location and skills. Boom!
Radness
unmask.us | song meanings provided by the songwriters themselves.
I've been dabbling a bit with songwriting recently and resources like these are so awesome. I think anyone can appreciate the backstories.
There are quite a few David Bowie songs, for instance already included explaining the meanings behind some of his biggest hits including The Jean Genie, China Girl, Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane. Check it out: unmask.us/songwriters-a-b/david-bowie-p1