The Gumbo Coalition: 10 Leadership Lessons That Help You Inspire, Unite, and Achieve 

Leadership – Visionary communication

Gumbo Leadership by Marc Morial

Speed

Rolling stone gathers no moss. When you have something going, the momentum rallies the team.

Would you go in a train that is ready to leave or one that is stationary? In Amazon, Jeff Bezos takes it a step forward and appreciates those with ‘Bias to Action’ with an award. We are cautioned to have a plan first and then move but, in a place, where agility is needed and the step you have taken might not be the right direction. In fact, based on ground reality changes, Morial had to change paths many times. One time he realized that the executives he hired with an executive recruiter’s help were individually strong candidates for the job but could not make it work as a team. He had to take on a different plan. Similarly another time based on new supreme court justices and then their stand on certain issues he realized that they have to go for a legal settlement after having fought for a case for 7 years and receiving a favorable judgement in supreme court. With his bias to action, he was cognizant of how well the plan was going to be successful and knew when to steer course or clean up the pot and start with the right ingredients.

Teamwork

Once you get going, you need a team to be successful.

Success according to Morial does not come from a bootstrap or self-made mentality. Everyone knows Arnold Schwarzenegger is successful in body building, Hollywood and in politics. For such a person to claim that he is not self-made is a great bow to the collaboration of coalition building.

There are challenges and choices. You can take the choice of being a leader or making a leader. You be a leader with your commitment, you make a leader with your support. And sometimes leaders make other leaders too.

Morial himself was inspired by many great people like Bill Clinton, ex-president with same roots as his and similar age striking it big on the national scene.

Recognize the Elephant in the room

These were his lessons but the lesson I identified is that you see a problem, you do something about it. When Morial noticed that even though 1/3 of the population was black, there were hardly any black lawyers. He said that Civil rights lawyer in him would not let him forget about it. He fought for it in the courts that Voting Rights Act was not being followed.

 

Hunt, Gather, Parent: What Ancient Cultures Can Teach Us About the Lost Art of Raising Happy, Helpful Little Humans 

Raising helpful kids

One day while having tea with my friend, looking at the process, as she was getting ready for the mis-en-place, her daughter said ginger and gave it to her. the mom told how in the teenage, daughters are more like friends and you dont have to tell them what to get, they know it and get it. I was reminded of that scene when I read the above article.

When my kids want to help, depending on the situation, if I am in a hurry, I might not take their help. Now I am more careful of involving them, when they come to the kitchen and offer me help.

UBI experiment

 UBI experiment

 

Mine!: How the Hidden Rules of Ownership Control Our Lives

Strategic Ambiguity

Bright-line vs Standard rules

How do we prevent the problem of tickes sold into the black market? Dynamic pricing that finds out how much customers are willing to pay? Some cost low enough to not dissuade actual buyers but high enough to dissuade the spammers like celo crypto.

Who gets what and why from another law professor.

Where hope begins

If you dont see hope

you are far away

from the boundary

of change

Three E's of creativity

"First, the embodied thesis argues that cognition encompasses both the mind and the body. Second, the embedded thesis maintains that people exploit features of the physical and social environment to increase their cognitive capabilities. Third, the enaction thesis describes cognition as dependent upon a person’s interactions with the world." - Three E's of creativity

Did you find a special place more amenable to creativity?

Creative stage models comparision

 

Your Next Big Idea: Improve Your Creativity and Problem-Solving

Love the exercise 3 of Alex's problems.

Open up any novel and jot own the problems the character is facing, or dislikes or finds something annoying. Similar hunting with their needs and wants. This will change how you read anything.

If you follow the ideas in the book, you will easily make the 100 ideas a week.

Where Hope Comes From: Poems of Resilience, Healing, and Light

 

Where Hope Comes From: Poems of Resilience, Healing, and Light by Nikita Gill

Hope lives the best, when there is despair all around. Prose poems, lists, definitions. There is individual, artists inspired even during the previous pandemic, small business owners, people whose legacy are movements.

Inspiration from cosmos and the bigbang.

Hope is a supernova, when its dying, its because we dont need it anymore.

"your left clavicle is from a different galaxy.."

"The face you have in this life is the face of the person you loved the most in your last"

"My mother never says goodbye. Instead she says, be kind"

 

Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple 

The cakes looks so delectable. Both with the layers as well as delicate topping decoration. Found it hard to move away from the bread pictures. All so good.  The cover cake is a Lisbon Chocolate cake. Once you read the description of it, you will want to have it, make it or both. Imagine madeleines can be made in a normal muffin sheet, Cooca cornmeal Biscotti sounds like a makeover. You can make those pocky sticks at home.

Chip supply chain

 Why We’re in the Midst of a Global Semiconductor Shortage

In search of Infinite pool

 All acute triangles  "with angles all less than 100 degrees contains at least one periodic billiard path — a repeating path that a ball will trace and retrace forever." - Richard Schwartz.

Are there any closed system or arrangments such that once you set a ball in motion, then through domino effect, they keep in circulation forever?  Looking for infinite pool .. thought about it after reading this article on Sep 27, 2020.

New shapes solve infinite pool table problem

• 
  

The future of automotive

 The future of automotive

Limits of my world

 The limits of my language mean the limits of my world - Ludwig Wittengenstein

Where have all the houses gone?

 Where have all the houses gone?

 

Valley of Genius: The Uncensored History of Silicon Valley (As Told by the Hackers, Founders, and Freaks Who Made It Boom)

A book is like a stranger. 

The Veggie Patch Bandits

 

The Veggie Patch Bandits by Riya Aarini

This is a fun book. I didnt realise how handy this story would come in learning Life skills.

Wow, what a kind story. As the gardener's woes began to be related to each animal, I was reminded of many gardener's plight when pomegranates were eaten by birds or jasmine flowers had by the goat. Then ofcourse the gardeners will resort to the scarecrow, fence antics but animals are smarter than that with their burrowing skills. 
What comes after is unexpected.  It was sad to see Mr.Bagban's plate with no vegetables. The gardener gives up and now the animals become the givers. Then I thought, there might be a middle way but how do you communicate that to the animals. Mr.Bagban found that. Do you want to know how they all got along?

Life Skills

 

Life Skills by Keilly Swift

This book teaches important things in an interesting way.

With COVID, kids ar ebeing exposed to problems earlier than usual. Disengagement from school because of online studies, no in-person interactin with friends is showing its effects.

This is a timely book for this age group.

I have decided to talk about a concept each week at the meals table. Today we started with decisions. We shared some examples of how some problems keep coming up, even if they are solved. For example, a bike pedal keeps coming off.

We learnt a problem solving skill from a friend. when her bike fell due to wind thrice, the front wire connector got dislaodged. Smart friend looked at the back of the bike for the same connection, and realised how it should be in the front.

TIP: Look at something thats working, to know how to fix the broken one.

Kids learn best with stories. We just read The veggie patch bandits. Wiht the story fresh in our mind, we realised we had one more example in the story where Mr. Bagban tries to sovle a problem many times. He thinks its solved but it keeps rearing its head like a hydra.

Vaccine Clan

 

                                     Image: Bloomberg

Thinking back

Many memory lanes

away

all the immunized

can trace back to 

the few streams

from which their

immunity

started

The Gravity Inside Us: Poetry and Prose

 

The Gravity Inside Us: Poetry and Prose by Chloe Frayne

Humans can sense magnetic fields.

Theres something that starts inert but ignites.

"Stop holding your humanity like a failure" becomes so powerful when you can externalise your condition.

Hope, Courage, Dream.

There's diametric feelings in the same poem. The certain setting sun Vs those who have not fallen into place. softness vs strength.

A good poet will convince you to go on their journey and make you feel what they feel. With minimalist lines, you still follow the poet to big feelings.

Earth when moving is fickle and stable when it stands still.

Trying to forget loves, still hoping that the virtue melts the disheartened.

Without titles, theres a run along feeling of no demarcations from one poem to another, from one feeling to another..

With April right around the corner, here's my prompts:

1. When you like some good imagination like the " I want to be a field of wild flowers.." add or remove the "I want to be" to see its effect on you.

2. "If a mind is a museum.."

3. "I lost but remained". Nice unpunning.

4. "Still me". Even after love gone sour. Could this be a beginning for your poem?

5. "Fear is not a second language". What if fear is a second language? Like you are not doing it right.

Strong Women Lift Each Other Up

 

Strong Women Lift Each Other Up by Molly Galbraith

Mime for kids

 Recently my kid looked up form the book and asked what mime is. Thinking that it sbetter to show mime than tell what it is, we saw a video of this mime. Mask mime is interesting. Now we use that to understand some stories or roleplay kindness. 

Small Victories: Spotting Improbable Moments of Grace

 

Small Victories: Spotting Improbable Moments of Grace by Anne Lamott

The bee finds a hexagon - only Billy Collins can hit the haystack like this.

The Myth of Sisyphus

 

The Myth of Sisyphus (Vintage International)

Baby Loves Angular Momentum on Hanukkah! (Baby Loves Science)

 Baby Loves Angular Momentum on Hanukkah! (Baby Loves Science)

The book introduces angular momentum in a fun way with a toy.

If you are a grown-up, you might like thinking about a 3 sided coin. How do you make a 3-sided coin with 1/3 chance of falling on the thicker coin? You calculate that with Angular momentum.

Engine of Inequality: The Fed and the Future of Wealth in America

 

Engine of Inequality: The Fed and the Future of Wealth in America by Karen Petrou

If you want to go any deeper into understanding why the income inequality has accelerated in the past decade, Engine of Inequality by Karen Petrou is a good way to begin. The main topic of the book is the link between financial policy and unequal economy and how to break it.

The role of the fed in how the money is distributed and to whom for stable growth and shared prosperity is outlined. after the last big recession, Fed incentives for recovery did not result in equitability, because of the restricitons on banks and everyone trying to show the bottom line instead of the topline growth. Profit maximation Vs growth boosting loans.

The low-interest rates which were supposed to result in low-cost loans to low-income househoalds failed. If banksa re in the game of making safe loans to good credit holders, who fills the banker role for the ones who banks wont entertain. Tech companies. With much data, how will there be fair lending is a good question to ponder. This would also break the lending-commerce barrier that tradiitonal banks have to follow creating a conflict of interest.

Petrou calls for ditching old ways of aggregate gauging of America's financial health through the middle class pulse. With large variations in income, every household should count.

In the end, the author presents financial policy for equitable future. Monetary-Policy tools to repair the Inequality Engine along with their impact are shown.

All this has been happening in front of our eyes, so its easy to see. The book has been written in such a way that you dont have to be an economist or in finance to understand what has been happening. Goes back to the unintended cosnequences of a system design.

Walmart banking business

The point of no return by Chris Bloomstran.

federalreserve

 

The Floating Field: How a Group of Thai Boys Built Their Own Soccer Field

What an amazing and inspiring story. The process of building the floating field was fun. After reading the book, we meaning soon to be 6 year old, a 9 year old and mom ,even watched a video. Then we realised that the illustartors did a great job of showing the village, cliffs exactly like they are. It is amazing what kids can do once they set their mind on doing something, how creative they can get and what excellent planners they can be when its part of the journey planned by them.

Moken children see with amazing clarity under water.

Tolerate or Customize?

 A friend told me a story of a couple, where one put less sugar in the tea, thinking that is how the other liked it. The other spouse, drank it that way even though the preference would have been for more sugar. Simple thing to do would be to get up, get the sugar and enjoy the drink but the spouse did not want to offend the other half or wasa lazy. 

Slightly unrelated cornmaze and mental model shows how your limiting mental models can limit your behaviors and freedom, pleasure or security that you deserve.

Sleep

What makes you you?

Can you imagine answering others in your sleep?

This morning I woke up and thought it was a weekday, because I woke in a setting where I find myself awake on a week day. It was a relief to know that it was still sunday.

Puzzles

 I have always wanted to practise math daily as puzzles. Looks like I have foudn the resource with Po-Shen Loh. 

Another resource to learn stuff from 3blue1brown so I can wonder later like like this professor looking at an old thing in a new way -

“What phase separation is allowing everyone to do is go back and look at old problems which stalled out and think: Can we now think about this a different way?” - Hyman

Lets solve this puzzle

HRV?

 What is HRV? My question exactly. Know your HRV or the Heart rate variability aka why no heavy meals late in the night.

Eating large meals late in the evening is probably not a great idea

The two times recently when my schedule dictated a late, big dinner my sleep suffered

I still slept 7.5hrs, but also got my two lowest morning HRV readings and lowest deep sleep readings in 3 months

— JT (@jerryteixeira) February 21, 2021

Lessons from this weeks research

Research is a good treasure to understand creativity and innovation. Each day, new things are found, with researchers trying out novel methods. We can take few lessons from their journey and use it to get better results in our life.

Why waltz with a guy for 10 rounds if you can knock him out in one? - Rocky Marciano

You all get your flu shot right every year. But you probably already know that its trying to keep up with the weather, making a flu vaccine for the right strain that is going to hit this year. Researchers at MIT are makign a one-shot flu shot. earlier vaccines tried to used the more mutable protein head of the drug to fight the virus. Their current approach is to use the stable protein stem.

"The problem is that while the vaccine prompts production of antibodies against the flu virus, those antibodies tend to target a viral protein segment that is especially prone to mutation. If the antibodies could bind to the stable protein “stem” instead of its changeable “head,” they could protect against any flu strain, and people wouldn’t need to get new shots year after year."

 

Animals ways of eating

 Today I understood a bird. A mocking bird was coming closer towards me. I was lying down reading in the backyard. I tried to stay still. It would move and look to left and right before moving forward. Then I saw it eye sfocused ona  dried white thing. It got scare halfway and flew onto the compound wall. I understood it and threw the white thing away from me in its direction. It descended onto the white thing and pried it.

Some sort of a ground bird was in one side of the backyard. Another was on the right side of the compund wall, calling out to its friend in anearby dry tree with leaves just budding. I wondered if the bird would come closer to me. it took turns hiding ind ifferent branches of the Brazilian sky tree.

Moving onto my food, feeling peckish, I had the cut apples from the fridge. I wanted some more and recalled the wonderful frozen fruit dipped in chooclate from the edible arrangements. I had green appledipped in chocolate yesterday, so I wanted to try something else today. I went with banana, so yummy with its white and normal chocolate. Now I have found a special love for frozen fruit. I then went on to try another one - frozen pineapple dipped in chocolate.

Frozen fruit tastes so good. Just like sorbet, but you can gnaw at it,instead of it melting too fast i.e it holds its structure. Do try pineapple ice popsand let me know if you like them.

Backable

 

Backable: The Surprising Truth Behind What Makes People Take a Chance on You by  Suneel Gupta

An introduction can make or break a book. after reading about Damayanti Hingorani, I was wondering if she is related to Seema Hingorani. One thing I knew that this is a going to be a good read.

Why didnt anyone listen to Allan MacDonald?

Suneel Gupta is trying to show us what makes all the people who make it, get there. Why people back them or more specifically their ideas. It depends not just on the idea but when it is presented and how it is presented. To make this more clear, he uses the example of his own company Rise and how he has applied the lessons both to his business as well as the many entrepreneurs he worked with.There are other well known companies ( Method, Away) or founders that walk in and out with their relevant lessons of how they made their ideas relevant. A little bit of future glasses on or already showing others that the future is here but not evenly distributed.

Timing is an important thing when it comes to comedy. Well, turns out it is important even in the pitch arena. exactly at what stage of your idea,you make it known to the other investors. Sit on this one,and germinate or incubate it, till you know if it has wings to it.

When it comes to food, people know Presentation makes a difference. When it comes to pitching your idea to someone, Gupta shows that good storytelling is either through the eyes of a single person or speaks to a single person,like it was meant for them. That clarity resonates with audience.

With memorable titles like Earned secret, Intoxicate them with effort, Gupta is certainly sharing lessons learned the hard way. Great actionable read.

One of the lessons from the book is to make something that others cant google. Well, what do you know, there's so much left to be done.

Friendly reminder. #MakeWhatMatters pic.twitter.com/LggFcP4Em7

— Jay Acunzo (@jayacunzo) February 21, 2021

When to use AI to solve problems?

 

The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect by Judea Pearl and Dana Mackenzie

When should you use AI to solve problems? AI was used recently to find out who needed some help.

Ladder of causation

Futureproof: 9 Rules for Humans in the Age of Automation

 

Futureproof: 9 Rules for Humans in the Age of Automation by Kevin Roose

combinatorial creativity

"Models do not just predict, they make things happen" - Rachel Schutt

Corrupt personalization, machine drift, recommender algos to decider, idleness aversion, phubbing, Toyota monozukuri

Models that influence, never have to predict or calibrate to reduce the error.

 

The Price You Pay for College: An Entirely New Roadmap for the Biggest Financial Decision Your Family Will Ever Make

There is a discount for college based on need or merit.

1. Look for H2A in (google) "common data set" for your college.

2. Ask for  merit aid pre-read on your application

 

3. Apply with humility, but also a competing offer

The Cult of Smart

 

The Cult of Smart: How Our Broken Education System Perpetuates Social Injustice by Frederik deBoer

Astralcodexten book review

A good reminder to not believe everything you read but not in the sense it means, what you read might be shown to seem true, uplifting or disheartening news, especially the things said about kids lagging behind in some skills - eg writing.

Once you know such veils exist, you will start going deeper.

Walking for Water: How One Boy Stood Up for Gender Equality (CitizenKid)

 

Walking for Water: How One Boy Stood Up for Gender Equality (CitizenKid) by Susan Hughes

After reading this title, I was reminded of a story from Melinda Gates regarding Anna who used to wlak for water, but when she had to take care of her new born son, she enlisted her husband's help. Initially there was resistance but soon, the whole village helped their families with lugging water.

What a humbling story. even wonderful than I imagined. I read Anna from Tanzania's story by Melinda Gates where she was able to bring about a change in her village where men started helping out with the hard work of getting water from far, so she could take care of her infant.
When I saw that this was a similar story of kids, I was very intrigued. it is a very inspiring story. You will be surprised about brilliant little minds. Maybe change begins stronger with kids.

In 2014, my daughter Jenn and I stayed with a woman named Anna and her family in Tanzania. With a small but courageous act, Anna changed the course of her life, her family, and her community. Her story has stuck with me ever since. #MomentofLift pic.twitter.com/LFA0asVhV9

— Melinda Gates (@melindagates) January 26, 2021

Making sustainable development goals relatable through literacy  Even high school kids are being taught about The Boy who harnessed the wind through the netflix movie.

Melinda Gates asks a great question about how we can get coke anywhere in the world, but not water? What better than looking for solutions from pathwyas that already exist. Here are few lessons for non-profits from Coke.

 

The Singer and the Scientist

A very cute story of Marian Anderson finding in a friend in Albert Einstein. Music is their common ground. The illustrations are cute. They have the lightness of being.

While reading he end of the book, where Marian had to make a tough decision, I was reminded of Halima Aden. 

Albert O. Hirschman: An Intellectual Biography

 

Albert O. Hirschman: An Intellectual Biography by Michele Alacevich

Early building

The all before the rain fall. Thunder before action.

 Building an audience first and then providing your offering, sounds very much like showing the prototype of Dropbox to your users or investors.

Fresh Baked Signature Select Garlic Flat Bread Naan

 

Image: safeway.com

Fresh Baked Signature Select Garlic Flat Bread Naan

If you want to spruce up your weekly fare, any curry with this Garlic Flat Bread Naan will make it special. I happened to make a special curry too - Green beans and boiled egg curry from Antoni: Lets Do Dinner by Antoni Porowski.

When I look at pita bread at Costco, I always sigh that there is no whole wheat version. But you don't have to feel that way with this signature flat bread Naan they have a whole wheat version too, if you want make that a regular fare.

Champagne Confetti poppers

 Champagne Confetti poppers is a fun party favor provided your kid doesnt mind sounds and surprises.

Read the instructions before pulling the string.

The bottle does get slightly warm and there is tiny smoke.

Out come the colorful confetti.