All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, Ideaflow, BYO (build your own) GPT-3 chatbot + silence your inner critic
February 16 2023
Last week, my trip to London proved both exciting and exhausting, as my packed schedule delivered a plethora of wonderful connections and intense conversations. But, being an enthusiastic introvert, I can only go for so long before I need to curl up on my own to gather myself, before I can go out again.
My frenetic pace didn’t get in the way of my general enjoyment though. Traffic was as bad as always and I was lucky that I came ahead of London Fashion Week. I fear the worst for the poor buyers and press teams alike, criss-crossing the city at a snail’s pace to attend shows, parties and presentations.
Meanwhile, I’m settled on quarterly visits to the British capital, which still feels like home. Next up, Paris in a couple of weeks, and, lucky me, Zürich, to see Lizzo perform. I can’t wait.
Thanks as always for reading me, I appreciate your time. And have a good one!
And now off we go with this week’s picks!
Much love,
LOOKING OUT
“Consumers don’t think how they feel. They don’t say what they think and they don’t do what they say.” - David Ogilvy
ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED
On Saturday, my friend Michelle took me to see a film before a fancy dinner at a fancy new Chinese restaurant in Mayfair. I didn’t check out the film, I blindly trust my friend when it comes to any arty suggestions. And my, was I blown away. ‘All the Beauty and the Bloodshed’ is a high-profile documentary on artist and activist Nan Goldin’s fight to hold the Sackler family accountable for the opioid epidemic that took hold of the US after their company, Purdue, brought their drug Oxycontin to market.
But, the filmmaker Laura Poitras, who already has an Oscar under her belt, explores much more than the bringing to justice of the family. Blending the personal and political, it’s a deeply moving and intimate look at Nan Goldin’s upbringing, a family tragedy that set the artist to become the rebellious activist that she is. I was disturbed, I laughed, I cried, and the stories will stay with me for a long time. I cannot recommend it enough. It’s a strong contender for Best Documentary at this year’s Oscars, and I’m crossing my fingers that it gets the top prize. It certainly deserves the biggest platform it can get.
Read about it at Variety and see the trailer here.
MOTHER OF SUSTAINABILITY
Meanwhile, a new documentary called ‘Fashion Reimagined’ will kick off London Fashion Week. It follows the journey of a designer, Amy Pawney, and a brand, Mother of Pearl, in their journey to becoming a sustainable company. I’ve not seen it yet but editor Tiffanie Darke has, and you can read all about it in her Substack newsletter, ‘It’s Not Sustainable’. I can’t wait to see it—let’s hope it makes it to Swiss cinemas. Scratch that, I just requested to host a screening! Read more about it here and watch the trailer here.
RETHINKING PROBLEM SOLVING, ONE IDEA AT A TIME
Stanford professors, Perry Klebahn and Jeremy Utley, who have collectively shaped the minds of thousands of design and innovation students over the years, have co-written a new book, called ‘Ideaflow, The Only Business Metric that Matters’. In this Fast Company article, they share key insights to invite us to approach idea generation as THE problem solving skill that matters. Here’s what I love about it: they understand that innovation (and idea generation) is a practice that we can all get better at. And, that for innovation to flourish, we don’t need massive budgets. Instead they invite us to be scrappy, to listen to novices and consider desirability when we create a product. It’s not always about ‘how do we do this, how do we scale?’ but rather, ‘should we do this’? Clever and certainly immediately applicable. Read more here.
HOW TO BUILD A CONVERSATION (IN CHAT GPT-3)
If you’ve only vaguely understood what Chat GPT-3 is about, but you have a niggling feeling you should be interested because there are applications for your own business (whether you’re in finance or publish a weekly blog), read this super fun and interesting post on Chain of Thought - Every - that shares the ins and outs of how to build a chatbot with GPT-3 (and why, aka the metrics behind its success). I’m not saying I won’t give it a try myself… Read here.
Looking In
SHHH: ON QUIETENING YOUR INNER CRITIC
We all have a survival instinct, and thank god we do. But, did you know that this same instinct is the source of that voice in your head which constantly tells you you’re not good enough? This inner narrator, the voice of self doubt, is also known sometimes as the ‘inner critic.’
Later this week, I will be exploring my relationship with ‘no’ (rejection, failure, doors closing, etc). Interestingly, this article for Goop by coach and author Tara Mohr (who I regularly wax lyrical about), is a great pre-work piece if you’re interested in tackling your own blockers around that topic. To learn how to silence your inner critic, read more here.
ALWAYS ON, NEVER DONE—MOVING FROM WORK/LIFE BALANCE TO HARMONY
I’ve been procrastinating on finishing a long piece about busyness, productivity and work. Suffice to say, I need to approach it carefully because in researching the topics, I landed unwittingly into philosophical concepts and discovered new authors that really opened up the subjects for me. One such author is quoted in this new article from Psyche, philosophy professor: Byung-Chul Han, author of The Burnout Society (2010). The article explores the changing nature of work, and the post-COVID ‘feeling of ever-increasing levels of freedom at work that paradoxically provokes our sense of having ever-more responsibilities and a sense that work is endless: always on, never done.’
I’d been grabbed by the title: ‘How to craft a harmonious life’ before reading the article because ‘harmony’ has been my favorite word ever since I was a teenager (more on that another time). Also, because work/life balance is something I explore daily for myself, and with my clients, whether they be companies or individuals.
So, I invite you to read ahead, and do as suggested. Forget the ideal work/life balance and explore harmony instead. Read more here.
