The Network Garden - Mark Sigal's Blog

Understanding the "Vampires" Among Us

Vampires are dark energy types; they are malevolent, grasping and greedy operators that prey upon and feed on the psychic and real lives of other people.

These blood suckers carry socio-economic contempt for “the other,” who is perceived as a loser, deserving of their destiny as sacrificial lambs.

To the vampire, the rule of law is that to the victor goes the spoils.

Everyone else gets crumbs, and are lucky to even get that.

There is no room coexistence with vampires, just as there is no co-existence with the mosquito, the sociopath and the criminal.

Yet, we are surrounded by parasites and predators who don’t embrace what it means to live in a society.

Understanding Bias, False Dichotomies (and other Four Letter Words)

While the macro “industry trends” are all towards Big Data and Intelligent Systems as the force multipliers that will drive the greatest growth over the next decade, it's actually the Human side of the equation that many of us struggle most greatly to reconcile in business and in life. One of the most basic areas of struggle is in the realm of Biases.

While there are literally dozens of types of Biases, the one that I want to focus on in this post is a False Dichotomy. (In a later post, I will talk a bit about its sibling bias, the False Equivalency.)

False Dichotomies manifest when (biased) analysis and decision-making yields black and white conclusions on topics that have clear dynamism or nuance.

Consider a topic such as product segmentation; namely, how much functionality to add to service what specific outcomes, and what types of users relative to market needs, at what pricing and support level.

The above example might reasonably support dozens of different narratives around what the right solution buckets are for the various addressable segments of the market.

But, specifically because such analysis can yield different assessments, it’s ripe for biases – good and bad – to shape the discussion.

When the internal back and forth falls into an all-or-none dialog, such as “We can either be a client focused company, or a money focused company,” that is a false dichotomy at work.

So how do you counter a false dichotomy? Three principal ways are through effective countering, introspection and teaching.

Effective countering in the above example might lead to a discussion of the different types of users being served, and what their needs and constraints are.

Sometimes, more isn’t better. It might add complexity, it might impact speed, it might lose 90% of the target users, who don’t want a Swiss army knife solution, and just need one or two really specific, highly optimized capabilities.

Introspection might treat the topic as an opportunity to surface externalities that drive the biases. “Josh, do you think we have a culture of placing dollars above the need of clients? Is there a specific decision we’ve made in the past few months that you think is reflective of compromised values?”

The point here is two-fold. One, light is the best antiseptic when it comes to getting to the right outcome and surfacing the sub-narratives that trigger such biases.

Two, is that getting to specificity is the best way to get past black and white narratives.

Related to this is the notion of teaching. When I find myself getting sucked into a false dichotomy with a co-worker or a personal relationship, I specifically call it out as a false dichotomy, explain what a false dichotomy is, point out the gradations of analysis, and shine a light on this as a point of emphasis with the individual until the topic is internalized.

Always be teaching, as making people better is the ultimate force multiplier, but that’s a post for another day.

Two of the biggest truths about understanding the power of Incentives

Two of the biggest truths of my career (and life in general) pertain to the power -- for good and bad -- of incentives. One, is the basic truth that what you INCENT is what you REAP. Put another way, show me the incentive, and I can tell you the outcome.

We humans tend to confuse attributes and outcomes, so often come up with incentives for our co-workers, clients, partners, peers, children, etc. that are misaligned with our outcome goals.

Unsurprisingly, this leads to bad outcomes.

The remedy is to begin with the end in mind, actually taking inventory of what success looks like, what the integral steps are to getting there, ensuring that incentives reward those outcomes, and over-communicating both the incentive and the GOAL of the incentive.

Narrative matters, and so how we manage incentives and measure results is critical.

The second truth, which is an immovable object in my opinion, is to NEVER underestimate the power of people's ability to convince themselves of ANYTHING when they believe their livelihood depends upon it.

We often confuse company objectives with self-interest and the need for self-preservation, and so we get steamrolled when we expect people to act in ways that our counter to their self-interest, irregardless of company goals.

The solution is empathy, and investing in understanding the various stakeholders, their goals, constraints and biases, and being ready to play the long game when those elements don't line up, as they often don't.

In my experience, this is not specific to industry, seniority, or stage of life. It is elemental to people's reason for being, and we forget that fact at our own peril.

Ruminations on an Amoral Company

When does a company cross the line from profit-seeking to ruthless? 

When does it cross the line from ruthless to treacherous? 

Is ruthlessness okay in business, as in buyer beware?

Or, when you’ve shown loyalty to a business through repeated transactions, universal embrace, and favorable word of mouth, is there a contract of sorts?

You know, that that brand won’t betray your trust, or materially change the rules without full transparency.

Uber: An Amoral Company

I pose this question since, as a frequent flyer, I find myself opening the Uber app to take an Uber ride at different airports several times a month, and have done so for years. 

While my behavior hasn't changed, one thing has notably changed in recent months. 

Specifically, I have been shocked and disgusted by Uber’s surge pricing practices, which are clearly predatorial.

When I say predatorial, I mean that Uber is specifically “gaming” the consumer at the airport by routinely charging 2X - 4X normal pricing, trying to engineer specific consumer behaviors; namely, paying a crapload more money, knowing full well that the customer:

A) Has few options

B) Has limited mobility

C) Feels on the clock post-flight

D) May be able to pass the cost on to their employer

Case in point, I have seen repeated examples at SFO, where a fare that normally varies from $28 to $55 was $150, a #FFS (for fuck sake) number that it should be noted is 5.36X the lowest rate offered by Uber!!

Predatorial Capitalism

So, you say, well that’s how surge works. Get over it.

Sure, but that begs the question of WHAT is the catalyst for the surge.

Feeling gut-punched, I clicked in and out of the Uber fare query function, and the $150 rate quickly toggled down to $78, then, when I didn’t bite, back into $125, never getting much below $100. 

But within 15-20 minutes, the price was back to a more manageable $57.

Like clockwork, I have played this cycle with Uber several times.

But, then I was at Burbank Airport the other day, a suburban, somewhat smaller municipal airport.

What would have been a $30-43 fare, was instead, $120.

For a brief moment, the app showed a $68 rate that felt unfair, so knowing the game, I passed.

For the next 35 minutes, I repeated the learnings from above, but to no avail.

A Second Chance to Make a First Impression

In my article, 'Reopening Retail: A second chance to make a first impression,' I wrote that post-pandemic, retailers and businesses of all types, having been “battle hardened” need to recognize the golden opportunity; a second chance to make a first impression.

The point being, while it's tempting to squeeze every dollar and cut every corner, in times of disruption, the consumer is at play, and will switch loyalties for those who fail to read the tea leaves.

So how has Uber approached this golden opportunity?

So, un-valuing are they of my history of customer loyalty -- thousands of rides over 10+ years -- that Uber has literally forced me to give Lyft a shot.

It's akin to Apple so antagonizing their users that they are pushed to switch to Android.

In this specific case, while Uber was trying to con me into paying $120, the same ride was $46 on Lyft.

Imagine finding that Amazon was trying to charge you 260% for the same set of headphones as at Best Buy...would you EVER trust them again?

But, here’s the kicker. The con is even worse.

For shits and giggles, I tested the pricing query a couple miles from the airport, and guess what? The most recent $110 fare had flattened to $28.

Twenty-eight frickin bucks!

The 'Bad Boy' Among the Tech Unicorns

I have some thoughts on this. One is that Uber affirms the fact that if you want to see how it Ends, look at how it Begins.

Here, the data is really clear. Uber has always been the Unicorn Bad Boy.

Engaging drivers through aggressive promotion and incentives, then callously commoditizing their work, then cannibalizing drivers with an explicit goal of putting them out of work some day.

The same drivers whose participating made the business work, ALWAYS treated like second class citizens and disposable, man-handled with all of the goodness of employees in terms of coordination and determinism without the messiness of having to actually pay benefits, let alone their fare share of taxes.

I get the easy narrative, as I am an entrepreneur myself:

1. Disruption was often messy, so adolescence and aggression were to be expected.
2. It was the Founder’s fault. and now he’s gone.
3. Fares are higher because costs are higher.
4. Surge is more prevalent because there are less Uber drivers post pandemic.
5. Prices were subsidized in the past and now they aren’t anymore
6. Blame the algorithms. They work TOO good.

All true, but you are what you DO.

The algorithms, are only as good, moral or amoral, as the people that create them.

I am reminded of a great analogy by Kara Swisher, one of my favorite writers and thinkers, that There Must Be a Pony in Here Somewhere (because there is so much Shit).

There are only so many excuses one can stomach for bad behavior.

You are what you DO.

If it Matters, Write it Down

There is an axiom that you Manage what you MEASURE, but sometimes the truth is more basic. If something is a priority, document it by writing down.

This can be a basic as a post-it note, your favorite note taking app, checklists, Word docs, Google docs, whatever.

Pattern Recognition: The medium is less important than the discipline of writing down.

Because when you write it down, you commit to a level of specificity, which is the ultimate feedback loop for what matters, what is central and what is peripheral.

I can not tell you how many people I encounter that have great ideas, but because the simple first step of writing it down is too much discipline, their ideas never go anywhere.

That's why I say, if it matters, write it down.

Siri for Seniors: Envisioning a library of Siri actions

It took getting my dad a HomePod mini for his room in the assisted living facility he lives at to start to see Siri as much as a presence service as a media device.

The principal idea is building a Siri for senior citizens by creating and growing a library of what I call Siri actions. 

What are Siri actions?

In my line of thinking, they would be simple sequenced actions with some type of run-time functional set.

Ideally these functional sets could be extended or customized by software, including via an iPhone or Mac based front end, to set up a general class of applications that in this case would be targeted and senior citizens:

• Mental Acuity Tests
• Fitness (think: Apple Fitness + for seniors)
• Curated Assistance Care (vocabulary and caregiver network)
• Snoring Stopper (listen for snoring)
• Meditation and Mantras
• Flash Cards

How would this not be a really good thing for the aged segment, especially in the face of loss of mobility, isolation, loneliness and lack of external stimuli?

Food for thought: there are 23M Americans that are 75 years old or older so it's a huge market.

Reopening Retail: A second chance to make a first impression

Every week, the economy - and our world - opens up a bit. 

You can feel the traffic picking up on the roads.

Sports venues are even accepting fans for the first time in over a year.

The numbers look mostly good when it comes to the growing legion of the vaccinated, and the shrinking numbers when it comes to the sick, the ventilated and the dying.

For the first time in a year, there's reason for optimism.

We're vaxxed, waxed and ready to emerge from the Pandemic as our better selves

Snark and seriousness aside, this is the time, and this is the place, post-survival, having been "battle hardened" a bit; a second chance to make a first impression.

Some observations:

1. People have been in sweats and leggings for too long, which bodes well for apparel.
2. People are going to want to get into shape, which bodes well for fitness and healthy living
3. Specialty retail and specialty restaurants can recover strong given the uniqueness of their products and the retail experiences they offer.
4. The supermarket category has shined in the pandemic, which is ironic since not that long ago, conventional wisdom was that supermarkets were a doomed category once Amazon bought Whole Foods.
5. The pandemic forced retailers to develop omni-channel strategies at an accelerated rate. Post pandemic omni-channel may become a source of tension for many a retailer, as I will note below. 

In the big picture, I see a lot of pent up demand, and a full sprint back into lifestyle fortification.

The general macro indicators (rent payment, sales, store traffic) look really good, as do the aspirational indicators.

As we move into vaccine at scale, in most merchant categories retail starts to be able to support pre-pandemic store capacity levels.

Factor in the torrent of stimulus dollars, a consumer who’s pent up to get back to normal and with money to burn, and collections feel like they should only get stronger in the months ahead.

A crisis is a terrible thing to waste

But, therein lies the rub. After a year of Covid-19 related gut punch after gut punch for retail, retailers and retail shopping center owners, there is a tendency to exhale, and let down your guard, and you can understand why.  

More categories than not have been operating at a deeply reduced capacity for a year now. There is no way these businesses are generating enough sales to operate at favorable margins relative to historical levels.

Some examples. A sit-down restaurant is heavily challenged when it can only do takeout, delivery and outside seating.

A hair salon can’t generate the same revenue when social distancing mandates force the operator to cut the number of stations by 40%.

The list goes on and on AND you still have a number of tenants that still owe money from the first round of rent relief.

In such a place, it's seemingly understandable to exhale, and focus on liquidity first, and assume the consumer understands your plight, and cuts you some well earned slack.

It's nothing hardcore, but it's the mini version of death by a thousand cuts.

Offered curbside pickup? Repurpose that resource as a hostess, and only offer curbside pickup during peak hours.

Your updated store hours say 9PM (up from the pandemic's 7:30PM closing), but maybe it's slow, so you say the kitchen is closed at 8:45.

Up the prices a couple bucks here and there. Winnow portions a tiny bit.

It's not like any of this is unreasonable, not to mention that it's fiscally prudent.

Avoiding Unforced Errors

But this is a mistake for two reasons.

One is a misreading of the consumer. During the pandemic, the consumer understood that we were in battle mode.

So it wasn't business as usual, which lead to a lot of gratitude and good will from consumers to retailers for persevering, reinventing and bottom line, continuing to service the consumer.

Well, guess what? The definition of the situation has changed, and let's not forget things from the perspective of the consumer. He, her, them has endured a lot, paid sit down prices for a to go level dining experience.

The consumer just wants to get out and live a bit.

"We're vaxxed, waxed and ready to..."

My point is that the consumer will rapidly shift from understanding and acceptance, to discriminating awareness, and a re-direction of attention, engagement, dollars, regularity and retention.

The consumer just wants some ME time, and they've earned it, and are long past fatigue and understanding for sub-par experiences.

This is the second reason that giving into gravity is a big mistake. In times of upheaval, the old ways of doing things are more readily dislodged, and the consumer is open to accepting new brands, new relationships and new value propositions.

Now, more than ever is an opportunity to take inventory on the following questions:

1. What is my brand?
2. What promise or promises to the consumer underlie my brand?
3. What are the key implications in terms of service delivery?
4. What has the consumer come to expect in the post pandemic world?
5. What are the consumer's alternatives to me and how do I fare in head to head?

Be thoughtful. Ruminate on these questions. Write down your answers.

Pick them apart, edit them further, and put them back together.

What do you do more of, less of, what do you do differently in light of the above?

Then for whatever period of time that your budget will allow, explore these things in a deterministic fashion.

Do things that don't scale. Be willing to try new ideas, tweak them, rapidly iterate, figure out how to scale the winners, and dump the losers.

Embrace data as part of your going forward path into a better future, affixed in the knowledge that we Manage what we Measure.

This is the mission for forward-thinking merchants, and if you think you can't do it, remember what you did last year to get through to the present.

This is YOUR moment in time.

A second chance to make a first impression.

Siri for Seniors: Ruminations on the HomePod mini

My dad lives in assisted living. He’s got his wits about him, which is great, but his mobility is very limited, which is not so great. 

While he has an iPhone and an iMac, he an absolute beginner on the iPhone, and if he answers the phone or a FaceTime request 25% of the time, it’s a good day.

Recently, I got him a HomePod mini, thinking Siri is about as far as I can get him to go in embracing technology to get out of his sandbox.

The first time I demonstrated to him the fact that the device was mostly voice-controlled, with pretty much the entire of universe of music available for the literal asking, he got a big goofy grin.

Even though trained as an engineer, the directness and instant gratification of Siri and HomePod were like a thought bomb erupting in his brain.

Once he figured out HomePod mini basics, it became my fancy to check on him throughout the day through the Home app on my iPhone.

In a click, I could see if he was enjoying the HomePod and listening to music.

Interestingly, even though his HomePod was in a different physical location than my home network — hundreds of miles away, in fact — because it was part of my “My Home” device network, I could connect with the HomePod from anywhere.

Which brings me to Intercom. I had first tested out Apple’s Intercom function, which allows you to push a verbal message to a specific HomePod, in my home. 

First impressions where that it was (is) kind of gimmicky — it is more like a voice memo than a real time voice messaging function. 

The first time I tried it with earnest intent, though, delivered a magical moment. 

The first couple of days after getting my dad the HomePod mini, I was dismayed to see him NOT using the device.

Concerned, I called him so we could walk through Siri basics again, but of course he did not answer his phone.

Seizing on the truth that necessity is the mother of invention, I spoke into the Intercom function on my Home app, and said:

“Dad, if you want to listen to some music on your new HomePod mini, say ‘Hey Siri, play Miles Davis.” 

Five minutes later, the Home app registered that my dad’s HomePod mini was now playing music. 

Then, a week later I wanted to visit my dad when I was in town, but again, he did not answer his iPhone (and does not text), so, again, I spoke into Intercom, and said:

“Dad, call me. I’ve been trying to get in touch with you, and want to stop by for a visit.”

Two minutes later, the phone rings. Now, it’s pretty much my go to with my dad.

This got me thinking, If I can use Intercom to communicate with my dad, and give him timely direction, why couldn’t there be services and networks targeted at seniors that leverage the sound in HomePod for Mental Acuity tests, Fitness (think: Apple Fitness + for seniors) and curated assistance care.

What kind of “platform play” could one build on top of this to services the 23M Americans that are 75 years old or older?

It's a brave new world, and we are only scratching the surface.

Learning to Say the Quiet Stuff Out Loud

My all-time favorite saying is from the Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett, who noted that until the tide comes in, you don’t know who’s been swimming naked.

Think about that concept. Swimming Naked. Metaphorically and in practical terms. Pretty much from the beginning of Trump, and the nakedness it exposed.

So, too, there is the nakedness of the tide that 2020 exposed, and the damage it wrought.

God willing, we will tell our grandchildren that 2020 was one for the ages, not soon to be seen again.

Having lived through my share of societal firestorms (Watergate, Staglation, S&L Crisis, Dot Com Bubble, 2008 Recession, COVID-19, Trump), the tangibility of the tide coming in is no metaphor. It’s real.

I’d be lying if I didn’t allow myself the sense of dying a thousand deaths (see Bardo Experience in Buddhism), emanating from the shock, disappointment, sadness and anger, with our astonishingly bad COVID response as self-fulfilling.

So many exposed, so many different ways, as having been blithely swimming naked.

The disdain of science. The moral and institutional corruption that underlies it.

Case in point, you can draw a straight line from:

1. Climate Change denial to COVID denial; and the lying & abandonment of ownership of soundly managing either crisis.
2. The lying, cheating and corrupt operator that has ALWAYS been Trump (he has a 50 year public history, after all).
3. The racist, whose family was sued for discrimination, who famously called for the execution of the Central Park 5, to Trump, the leader of the white supremacy movement.

This is Twilight Zone realm in the sense that it’s a case of #Truth being stranger than #Fiction. #WTF!

But from this cauldron, CAN and MUST arise a resolve.

To get there, we must recognize a fundamental truth. So few of us take inventory, get clarity on personal truths, and hold ourselves into better account, with an earnest, reflective pursuit of self-improvement.

That we are not taught this -- how to take inventory, learn to measure twice & cut once, with direction and purpose -- is a failure that all of us, as parents, teachers, children, students, neighbors, co-workers, fellow congregants or fellow human beings, must take ownership of.

Self Reflection and Empathy as a practice, towards a clearer and better purpose.

It starts with I, me, you, him, her, all of us holding ourselves accountable to push back with enough force to change the direction of our times.

We don’t have to wait until the tide comes in again.

We have already seen — clearly — that 75M people are okay with totalitarianism.

They have bought into the "inevitability" of divisions among people, and so are willing to make a faustian bargain with a Devil.

So in that spirit, what follows is my version of the Proust Questionnaire. 

The Proust Questionnaire has its origins in a parlor game popularized (though not devised) by Marcel Proust, who believed that in answering a specific set of questions, our True Nature is revealed.

Now is a great time to say the quiet stuff out loud, but focused on taking inventory who we are as individuals, human beings, friends, partners, parents, children, co-workers, teachers and teammates.

What we need is a national conversation, whose purpose is to socialize the following questions on the different takes on current policy, practice and pressure points in America:

1. What is our baseline premise when it comes to positions on Diversity?
   1. Specifically, where do we stand with respect to co-existence, acceptance, acclimation and accommodation?
   2. How willing are we wiling to embrace differences in sexual orientation, religions, economics, ethnicities and education?
2. What’s the right amount of Safety Nets when it comes to?
   1. Education
   2. Medical
   3. Roof over Head
   4. Personal Safety
3. When does WINNING justify all? When DOESN'T it?
   1. How do we need to change the incentives to yield the right outcomes?
   2. How do we need to change the penalties to yield the right outcomes?
4. Is there an explicit duty to not Lie, Cheat or Steal?
   
   1. For Individuals
   2. For Governments
   3. For Politicians
   4. For Corporations
   5. For Corporate Executives
   6. For Clergy
5. How much Corporatism is OK?
   1. How much responsibility does one place on companies to be held accountable as good corporate citizens?
   2. If they gain too much power, how do we recognize unfair advantages, how they are unfair and where curtailment is necessary?
6. Considering that the GameStop saga touched a nerve for everybody:
   1. Was the ambush that it represents good and fair?
   2. How is is different than short selling?
   3. Irony (and hubris) is a company called Robinhood actually proving to be a Reverse Robin Hood in selling arbitrage packaged as "FREE," yet, this is 100% the game High Frequency Traders and Hedge Funds have been playing for a decade plus.
   4. If one is not parasitic, why is the other?
7. What do we expect from our Institutions in getting things done?
   1. What specific things do we expect them to get done?
8. Being able to execute policy relative to the above begs the following questions:
   1. What is each political party’s (i.e., Democrats and Republicans) specific policies on the above key initiatives?
   2. What would each party hold up as their most representative legislation passed?
   3. What would each party consider their most important legislation to get passed?

The tide of change is upon us. To ride it where we want to take it, rather than being carried away by it, we have to learn how to, then practice...saying the quiet stuff out loud.

Light is the best antiseptic.

90% Completed Bridges: Seeing Things Through to their (Useful) End

One of my favorite constructs is the notion of the 90% completed bridge as a metaphor for getting things done.

A 90% completed bridge LOOKS beautiful, and a lot of effort has gone into its creation. But as we all know, a bridge that is not completed is not navigable, and thus, is not really useful.

Therein lies the paradox. STARTING projects is fun, exciting, creative, challenging, and the progress from zero happens fairly quick.

FINISHING projects is all sweat and drudgery. Often, it seems that the last 10% takes as much time as the first 90%, which is why so many projects that get started never get finished in any useful sense.

This is something to keep in mind in the year ahead; namely, finishing what you start, and not starting what you don't fully intend to finish.

A Dazzling Metaphor for Product-Market Fit

When our team confuses functionality with specific tangible outcomes that our clients actually understand how it benefits them, I say, "You know, it's for kids."

Internally, this has become known as a reference to the Hula Hoop scene in Coen Brothers movie 'Hudsucker Proxy,' which illustrates what happens when product-market fit is not clear...and what happens, when it SUDDENLY is.

This scene is SO well done. Give it a look.

Each Man's Life Touches So Many Other Lives

I was watching ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ last night.

Ever so timely, when our collective narcissism seems to completely envelop any sense of having a social contract and duty to one another.

I love this line from Clarence the angel after George Bailey realizes the lives lost if he was never born:

“Strange, isn't it? Each man's life touches so many other lives. When he isn't around he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?"

What kind of hole do you and I leave every day by not speaking up for those with no voice, by extinguishing our empathy for others and by enabling parasites to pray on the unfortunate?

We can do better. We NEED to do better in the year ahead.

Ruminations on Apple's Keynote: Apple wants to be your little brother

"It’s a great day for dreaming...It’s a great day for dreaming...It’s a great day for dreaming."

If I told you the above was from the opening Theme Song at a recent Scientology festival, I’d only be half lying.

In actuality, it was the closing theme song to the Apple Keynote where iPhone 12 was announced.

Come to think of it, the #AppleEvent felt a bit like it was BUILT using Apple Keynote, Apple's presentation software.

Don't get me wrong, the actual content was quite good, the products announced were truly innovative and Apple has a terrific vision and a disciplined approach to execution.

But, Apple product descriptions have begun to sound like the medical safety disclaimers in pharmaceutical product commercials. 

Meanwhile, the Keynote cast and crew has grown, like literally, five-fold, and everyone demonstrates high adderall energy, unnaturally so, almost to the point of feeling like an episode of Big Brother.

So much so, in fact, that their (varying) aptitude as performers left me wondering how many of the presenters are going to get voted out of the house before the next Keynote?

The Rooster Strut

Unlike past Keynotes, because of COVID-19, the event was pre-recorded and there was no audience.

Apple's futuristic headquarters were richly showcased in the Keynote, and harnessed as an extended set (which it was).

While the lack of a live audience gave the event a hermetically sealed quality to it, let's be clear.

Apple was in full rooster strut mode, clucking with pride about Apple innovation after Apple innovation, crowing about the multiple technical disciplines requiring care and feeding to deliver the magic that Apple creates, not to mention the deep cohesion between its:

• Product lines
• The layers of its Software, Hardware and Service stack
• Apple organizationally
• Earth friendliness
• Gluten intolerance

Okay, I fibbed about the gluten part.

Time and again, Apple happily got into the weeds about its myriad of technologies, such as "wound wire coil" and "magnetic flux."

In fact, I practically buckled when Apple announced ProRaw, their new imaging format. Say Apple ProRaw three times, and seizures can't be far behind.

When Apple announced the MagSafe Ecosystem, I thought -- hoped -- that what they were talking about was a MAGA-free ecosystem.

No such luck, I guess, so MagSafe it is.

Apple is all about APPLIED technology 

I love the new HomePod mini, and the narrative around Computational Audio, which like Computational Photography, which Apple talked a lot about, just makes a ton of logical sense.

Think of Computational Audio as a real-time equalizer that course-corrects both from song to song and within the song itself. This is all about algorithms and silicon.

By contrast, Computational Photography enables not only algorithmic enhancement and optimization of imagery, but offers wholly new ways to create derivative versions of images.

Put another way, Apple doesn't build stuff for proof of concept purposes but to push the envelope forward.

Then again, I don't want to live in a world where CeramicShield is a verb, so I'm conflicted, as I like the functionally (it's a screen break-proof technology).

But the point, rendered over and over and over again, punch after punch after punch was this:

Apple products are designed to be easier to use, to work together better than the dis-integrated approaches of everyone else (whither Windows, Android), and more innovative and visionary because Apple develops the entire stack from hardwire to software, services, tools and marketplaces.

This is the same 'Halo Effect' that Apple has created for itself, which I wrote about over a decade ago ('Holy Shit. Apple's Halo Effect').

I won't spend any time writing about the iPhone 12 rollout other than to say that I am dubious about 5G near term, but that doesn't matter.

The build quality of Pro. The fact that better photography is a primary driver for me, and the enhancements there are really good.

Little Brother's Approach to Privacy

"At Apple, we put the user at the center of everything we do," so said Apple CEO Tim Cook, and for the most part, I believe him.

That a company the size of Apple actually stands for something is beyond refreshing, knowing that we are all chum for the sharks on Facebook, and to a lesser extent, within the Google universe.

This is where Apple's credibility serves it well when it comes to being the brand that has religion about Privacy.

Integration with your iPhone and HomePod is built on privacy integration. It fits with a now focused vision about tying your Home Automation into your HomePod (and by extension, iPhone, iPad and Mac).

Apple is the Hub, and by playing the long game, and not crossing consumers -- and because of Privacy -- they're more credibly a 'little brother' than a BIG Brother.

Learning to Take Inventory as Part of Your Life Discipline

Everyone should 'Take Inventory" as a basic part of their life discipline. 

I have been formally Taking Inventory for 20+ years, and am a huge believer in its simplicity, specificity & iterative nature in helping me to codify my personal truths. 

So, what is inventory and how do you take it?

At its most basic, Taking Inventory is “taking note” of your observations.

The decision to write an item down is the point when a moment of thought becomes inventory taking.  

(Sidebar: With the free Notes app that comes with iPhones and Macs, whenever a moment of insight strikes, regardless of where I am, I can jot down the thought, and it syncs to all of my devices, so I always have one master version. This makes it brain dead simple to take as much or as little inventory as comes to me.)

The types of thoughts that you can Take Inventory on are limitless. 

1. Observations about people
2. A statistic or fact that gets under your skin 
3. Beautiful images that made you happy
4. Something you ate that doesn’t agree with you
5. Something you read that inspired you

From these raw nuggets, many will be written down and forgotten, but the ones that stick, that bubble up again and again for you, these ideas can be categorized into buckets, such as:

1. Work
2. Sports
3. Relationships
4. Self
5. Ideas
6. Topics of interest

Over time, you can develop these categories as areas of focus, change or growth. 

This can be items like writing down, or Taking Inventory of, the specific things that another (such as a partner) does that:

1. Pleases you
2. Frustrates you
3. Confuses you

This takeaways can a simple calculus expressed in the form of:

1. Do more of this
2. Do less of this
3. Do something different here  

From such a natural progression you can codify and cultivate your Primary Life Narratives that you want to amplify and sharpen in your life.  

What makes Taking Inventory so powerful is that when coupled with how growth and change occurs means you are literally one year from getting into some new space, three years from truly belonging, and five years from being an expert in that domain.

So write it down. Start Taking Inventory. It will change your life. 

Ruminations on Memorial Day, Coronavirus and the Parable of Hershel

With Memorial Day upon us, and no clear end in sight to the global pandemic, America finds itself facing numerous existential decisions that will shape its future. Our future.

As we straddle the razor’s edge between optimism, growth & transformation, and cynicism, stagnation & entropy, the story of Hershel comes to mind. 

Hershel was a devout man of God and a pure soul who lived his life according to the good book. 

When the storm came, he was confident – no, he KNEW – that he would be kept safe.

Because he’d led a good life, God would take care of him. God would protect him.

When the torrential rains and gale force winds hit, one of his neighbors implored Hershel to leave with them before things got really bad.

“No, no, no. I’ve lived a good life," said Hershel. "God will take care of me. God will protect me.”

When the flooding waters swallowed up his neighborhood, a passerby on a boat begged Hershel to get out with him now.

“No, no, no. I’ve lived a good life. God will take care of me. God will protect me.”

Soon, the only thing standing between Hershel and certain death was that the roof of his home remained slightly above water.

By the time that the helicopter spotted Hershel, the waters had risen further, and his head was the only part of his body not fully submerged.

“Hershel. Hershel. Please, take my hand, or you perish,” implored the helicopter pilot.

Undaunted, Hershel said, “No, no, no. I’ve lived a good life. God will take care of me. God will protect me.”

But, those were to be his last words.

Because nature would not be denied, Hershel did die.

Having lived a good and pious life, Hershel went directly to heaven.

But, Hershel was bugged, hurt and confused.

“Father,” he said to God. “I don’t understand. I’ve lived a good life. I prayed everyday, I read the Talmud, and always did right by others.”

“I thought you’d take care of me, God. I thought you’d protect me.”

But, it was God now who was undaunted.

“Hershel, what are you talking about. I sent you a neighbor, a boat AND a helicopter to rescue you. What more did you expect?" 

God then reminded Hershel that "God helps those who help themselves.”

We’ve Become a Nation Full of Hershels

As we ponder this point in time, it helps to take a moment to think about what Memorial Day is about.

It helps to look back to the generation called the Greatest Generation.

The Greatest Generation came of age during the Great Depression, a global economic collapse that lasted a decade.

Yet, when called upon to save the world from the horror of Hitler and the Nazis, America's Greatest Generation put their collective cards to the center of the table, and dedicated their lives to winning World War II.

They endured years of rationing, large swaths of the economy being re-directed to support the American War Effort, and four hundred thousand would sacrifice their lives for a battle greater than themselves. Talk about backbone and shared sacrifice.

Contrast this narrative with the sad, pathetic whiners who call anyone “Hitler” who stands in the way of their “rights” to get a haircut, and get one now.

These are the same people that threaten lawsuits and WAR when asked to wear a mask before entering a store because their “rights” supersede science and shared sacrifice.

Compared to the Greatest Generation, we are a nation of Dwarfs when we could be Giants.

We’ve become like Hershel. The hard facts are staring us in the face, yet the notion of sacrifice has in itself become anti-American.

Thus, we are ripe for the aphorisms of false prophets whose only god is profits, be they our clergy, Fox News, the GOP, or the most godless one of all, Donald Trump, a serial liar and cheat who implores us to stick out heads (rational thought) in the ground because God will take care of us, God will protect us.

After all, how many times has Trump stated emphatically that, “I alone can fix it.”

Let us be clear, though. It is only our vanity to AVOID sacrifice, our lack of reason, and our elevation of financial wealth as our true god that makes us ripe for such false idols.

But, know this. God is protecting us and has been for years, first by revealing the hard science and observable truths behind Climate Change, and giving us decades of advance warning.

Sadly, that was not tangible enough for the Hershels among us, so now we face not only the COVID-19 pandemic, but the global financial crisis it has fostered, and we see firsthand how quickly and devastatingly our way of life can fall apart.

In less than ninety days, we’ve gone from zero to 100K deaths in the US, with over a thousand people dying every day.

And yet, scenes like this are legion.

“What Have You Got to Lose?”

We face a moment of truth as a nation. Just as the years of disregarding the science of Climate Change foretold the existential risk we’re facing now, so too does our ease of looking the other way as our institutions, rule of law and the very notion of a UNITED states was under attack.

I get it. The very real wanting for institutional change lead to a Trump victory, and give Trump credit. He speaks to people’s hearts and understands the power of engagement politics.

But that should not obscure the fact that Trump has proven to be an incredibly inept leader, averse to planning or process, a malignant narcissist with zero self-awareness of his limitations and even less humanity when it comes to thinking about others.

When Candidate Trump was running for President, one of his common arguments was, “What have you got to lose (by voting for me)?”

The subtext of such an assertion was that Trump couldn’t possibly be worse than Obama, Hillary, or any of the Republicans that ran against him.

When he started calling them nasty names, “Crooked Hillary,” “Fake Birth Certificate,” “Low Energy, Jeb,” that was just Trump being Trump, as opposed to the markings of an unstable lunatic.

As it has become obvious that his response to the pandemic has been a disaster, his strategy, like all things Trump, has been a combination of vindictiveness, cover-up, resistance to accountability, and attacking the messenger.

On this Memorial Day, with so many Americans seemingly incapable of sustained sacrifice, we must remember that even Hershel had his day of reckoning for not owning the essential truths of personal responsibility.

On Memorial Day, we must also remember that Trump is a Draft Dodger who knowingly, willfully canceled the deployment of the National Guard literally ONE DAY before they were due to receive benefits.

That’s cold, inhuman and hostile to our armed forces, doubly so as it’s intentionally done in the middle of a pandemic.

We must remember the malevolence of Trump’s recent threat to withhold medical funding to Michigan if the state government didn’t back down on mail in ballots.

“What have you got to lose?”

In a word, everything.

This is our Hershel Moment. It’s time to step up, and remember that God protects those who protect themselves.