Hello everyone!
No new blog post this week. But don’t fret—my piece from last week is waiting patiently for you. If you didn’t catch it, last week’s article focused on personal and professional False Flats; a journey through the ups, downs, and “false flats” that come with entrepreneurship.
False Flats: What Cycling Teaches Us About Resilience, Perseverance, and the Climb.
Give it a read! I’d love to hear your thoughts, personal experiences, and recommendations for others. What false flats have you gone through? How did you deal with it, and what would you recommend?
Internet Reading
1. Day Two to One Day
If you missed the WSJ article, last week Amazon made a non-trivial adjustment to its product search feature, promoting listings that are more profitable for the company. This change will undoubtedly shift the seller market and likely favor the promotion of Amazon’s products. While this is interesting and impactful, the more intriguing thing to note is how this shift operates in direct opposition to the customer-centric approach Bezos espoused. Change happens one small step at a time, and it seems that Amazon is altering its strategy and becoming a day two company. Check out Ben Thompson’s write up for expanded analysis.
2. How to motivate employees? Don’t.
Companies spend countless hours trying to ‘motivate’ employees to act on their behalf. We treat professionals like adolescent employees. But is motivation the issue? Doubtful. Most people know how to generate motivation; they lack the context—and more importantly, autonomy—to act on their motivation. This article flips motivation into contextual actions.
3. Spoils of #nature on Instagram
Smartphones are great. No, honestly, they are. But you know what’s a lot cooler? Nature. Smartphones have enabled us to capture the beauty of our world like never before. But that beauty is starting to fade as we slowly destroy some of nature’s greatest wonders all in search of the perfect shot. This post is an excellent reminder of the deadly and delicate balance between technology, people, and nature.
Apps & Tools
OffScreen — keep focused on what matters by putting your phone down.
As most of you know, I’m a long-standing supporter of digital detox diets (see: challenges). OffScreen takes an intriguing approach to create space for deep work and mindfulness. The iOS-only app is designed to break phone addiction by tracking focus time, pickups, and more. Just place your phone down and get to work. That’s it.
Rearrange the apps on your phone.
Enjoying Path Nine?
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Thanks for reading, and see you next week,
— Kevin K.