BRotD Entry 0265 - The Twitter Takeover

Best Reading of the Day

 Some people believe a person who's net worth is in the billions is naturally better than everyone else.

"Drop Elon Musk down in a third world country with no money and he'd be running the place within a year," is the typical hagiography we see around these folks.

True?

Hardly.

Here is a little piece (free to read for a limited time) about the Twitter takeover by the world's (previously) richest man:

elon-musk-twitter-takeover.html

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Alicia [part of the core engineering team] wasn’t reflexively anti-Musk. She respected what he had done at his companies and felt hopeful that, as someone who thought of himself as an engineer, he would support her highly technical work. But Musk had a different interest that day. Twitter, he said, should immediately get into video.

“We really should be able to do longform video and attract the best content creators by giving them a better cut than YouTube,” he said, according to Alicia’s recollection. The infrastructure engineers in the room agreed that adding support for longform video was technically possible, but their job was building stuff — not strategy or marketing. It seemed as though Musk didn’t understand the basic organizational structure of a social-media company; it was as if a rich guy had bought a restaurant and started telling the cooks he wanted to add a new dining room. Might he want to speak with the media product team instead?

Having been in tech and product for a few decades now I can say this use of engineering time by Musk is as stupid a waste I have heard of. Engineers should not be making business decisions, rather, they relate what is feasible, exactly as "Alicia" indicated during this meeting.  Any other discussion with the engineering team is a waste of extremely valuable resources.

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

2022 the Year of the Narcissist

 If you've never encountered a narcissist, that you know of, count yourself lucky.

Most are obsessed with maintaining a perception bubble around them so people view them as they wish to be viewed, and shower them with accolades for how amazing they are so the shattered vessel of a human they are is constantly being filled with validation.

I have encountered some in my personal and professional life.  The key to identifying them is to witness a lack of empathy.  They are unable to see the world from another person's perspective and feel what they feel (this is different from a person who is detached from their emotions, low EQ). For example your boss might attack you publicly and can't see how this is harmful to you.  If you reciprocate they will be quick to see the harm you are doing to them (this one is personal experience, he is a narcissist and my actions exposed his severe leadership deficiencies to leadership, limiting his career there).

This little article states 2022 was the year of the narcissist and is worth a read:

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/happy-new-year-2023-kick-trump-elon-musk-kanye-depp-rcna63557

Here is a snippet from the piece:

True narcissists self-centeredly disregard the needs of others and care little for pesky matters like consequences. They can also tend to be manipulative, arrogant, grandiose and hungry for admiration. Always busy concocting fantasies of unlimited power or brilliance, narcissists delight in reeling others in to play supporting roles in dream worlds, where they are always the stars.

Why have they gained so much power and influence? Why are so many people in thrall every time they open their mouths or fire off tweets? Are they the problem or a symptom of something bigger than their own egos? 

The truth is that our society breeds narcissists. We put them on pedestals and get a strong hit of vicarious pleasure when they act out.

Happy 2023!

J.W. Gant

New Year Resolutions, Should You?

 This topic is one of the most hated each year, right behind the year-end recap endlessly and worthlessly providing a "top 10" or whatever on any topic imaginable from movies, to deaths, to fiction novels.

However it is really worthwhile to consider what you do in January as a reset to your health.

Studies continue to show the average American gains about 1.5 pounds over the holiday, winter, season, then don't lose it.

Here is WebMD on the subject stating the gain is 1.36 pounds:

https://www.webmd.com/diet/features/holiday-weight-gain-big-fat-lie

The article emphasizes the issue is what we do, or don't do, AFTER the gain that is the problem.

Then there is this little piece about taking January off from drinking alcohol:

Dry January

Here is a snippet from that piece:

People who abstained from alcohol for a month started drinking less the rest of the year and showed striking improvements in their health.

So, what should you do?

Why not plan on a health reset every January? Enjoy the holidays.  Sip on that eggnog with the run/cognac/bourbon mix in it. Have that extra slice of cake. Then reset in January.  It really will make a difference.

J.W. Gant