Back from a week-long break and mostly offline.
Back from a week-long break and mostly offline.
Catching up with all the messages, emails, and news from the network one-by-one seems impossible.
==> So, what did I miss? What is worth diving into? Are we at the point of having AGI 🤭 ?
I’ll start with a gem that Ewa found and shared last week: https://lnkd.in/ei-MxsBQ - definitely worth a read!
Extra points for anyone who can identify the view in the picture below.
🍷 𝗢𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿 == 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿?! 𝗢𝗿 𝗱𝗼 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗱𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗿?
🍷 𝗢𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿 == 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿?! 𝗢𝗿 𝗱𝗼 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗱𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗿?
🌅 The sun is setting in Germany, and I’m commuting home. Perfect time to dive into Werner Vogels’ latest post “𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗴𝗲” [1] on AllThingsDistributed.
😊 Pretty sure people around me noticed my smiling and nodding while reading. It resonates deeply. Highly recommend this read - refreshing and reassuring!
🤔 But here’s the controversial part: In reality, we don’t encounter infinities regularly. Everything tends to be finite. It’s like aging red wine…
🪚 𝗜𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗮𝘄 𝗯𝗹𝘂𝗻𝘁? 𝗜𝗳 𝗻𝗼𝘁, 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗽?
🪚 𝗜𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗮𝘄 𝗯𝗹𝘂𝗻𝘁? 𝗜𝗳 𝗻𝗼𝘁, 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗽?
The phrase “sharpening the saw” originates from a parable popularized by Stephen Covey in his 1989 book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, where it represents the practice of self-renewal and personal improvement.
📖 Covey begins his chapter on this habit with a story of a man struggling to cut down a tree with a dull saw and refusing to stop and sharpen it because he’s “too busy sawing” — illustrating the need to regularly invest in growth to remain effective.
📱 𝗜 𝗯𝗲𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘁 𝗮 𝟮𝗗 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘄 – 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝘁𝘄𝗼-𝗱𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗺𝗼𝗺
📱 𝗜 𝗯𝗲𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘁 𝗮 𝟮𝗗 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘄 – 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝘁𝘄𝗼-𝗱𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁.
This thought emerged during a recent discussion with colleagues and customers about how we collaborate in distributed, often remote teams. There are definitely pros and cons to consider.
📚 It reminded me of 𝗘𝗱𝘄𝗶𝗻 𝗔. 𝗔𝗯𝗯𝗼𝘁𝘁’𝘀 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝟭𝟴𝟴𝟰 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹 “𝗙𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱” – a brilliant mathematical story that explores both spatial dimensions and social commentary.
🚀𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘄𝘀? - An Evening of Inspiration and Insights...
🚀𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘄𝘀? - An Evening of Inspiration and Insights…
Last night I had the pleasure to mingle with leaders at the AWS ExecLeaders Networking Dinner event in my hometown - loads of insightful and fruitful discussions!
🌟 𝗞𝗲𝘆𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀: LAURA WINTERLING 🚀🚁🚒, who came all the way over from Cologne on one of the very rare permits 😉, sparked many of those discussions with her inspiring keynote “𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗨𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲: 𝗟𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗔𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗮𝘂𝘁 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴.” She opened our eyes to peek into an entirely different world of space travel while providing insights that are very applicable to our daily business world. 💡 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀: Perfection vs. Excellence and taking decisions at the right point in time - these themes really stick with me. In the Amazon world: “Insist on the highest standards” versus “Bias for action.”
🌊 Change is the only constant in life - but what if it's bad?
🌊 Change is the only constant in life - but what if it’s bad?
The original quote is attributed to the Greek philosopher Heraclitus. In its original form, it was maybe closer to “everything flows.” Another way of expressing it is his quote: “you can’t step into the same river twice.” All of this is true - deeply rooted in the mechanics of the world we’re living in. Always astonishing what Greek culture brought forth so early in human history. Principles.
What are you—a Frog 🐸 or a Bird 🦜? And why do you need both?
What are you—a Frog 🐸 or a Bird 🦜? And why do you need both?
This sounds like a silly question to most readers, assuming you identify as human. But it’s actually an important one.
This concept goes back to mathematician Freeman Dyson. In his own words:
“Some mathematicians are birds, others are frogs. Birds fly high in the air and survey broad vistas of mathematics out to the far horizon. They delight in concepts that unify our thinking and bring together diverse problems from different parts of the landscape. Frogs live in the mud below and see only the flowers that grow nearby. They delight in the details of particular objects, and they solve problems one at a time. […] Mathematics needs both birds and frogs.”
Wo drückt der Schuh?' - 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆: '𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗲 𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗵?' 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆, 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁
Wo drückt der Schuh?" - 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆: “𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗲 𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗵?” 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆, 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂? 𝗔𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲. 👠
The only constant in life is change. But how do we deal with it? 🤔
Change provides energy ⚡ - new things to explore, fresh perspectives to discover.
Change drains energy 🔋 - we need to adapt, learn, and get comfortable with the unfamiliar.
Humans are creatures of habit. Even if you’re naturally curious (at Amazon, there’s a dedicated leadership principle “Learn and be Curious” - but let’s not get sidetracked here 😉), you still have your routines. Changing those requires energy.
📵 Offline - Everyone's Worst Nightmare! Or a Gift? 🎁
📵 Offline - Everyone’s Worst Nightmare! Or a Gift? 🎁
Just returned from a short break: 5 days in the mountains with absolutely NO network. 🏔️
Really, no network at all. No WiFi at the hut, no mobile reception except on some high summits (too cold up there to surf the internet anyway! 🥶).
Sounds like a disaster, right? 😱
Well, it made things a little complicated…
Usually, we expect information to be just one swipe away on our phones 📱. Instant access to everything: connections with people, topics, and whatever forms the core of our lives.
🔥 𝗠𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘀 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝗱 - 𝗯𝘂𝘁
🔥 𝗠𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘀 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝗱 - 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝘅 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀.
🚶 When I walked through Barcelona last week, I spotted something that made me stop dead in my tracks…
𝗔 𝗱𝗼𝗼𝗿 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝗳𝗼𝗼𝘁-𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗲.
💡 Here’s what blew my mind: Instead of just slapping metal plates on doors to prevent kick damage (the lazy solution), someone actually designed for the real behavior.