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299: The Nvidia Story: Stephen Witt’s The Thinking Machine
Dear friends You’ll remember, I hope, that this year’s newsletter schedule is a little different: it arrives weekly for three months, then doesn’t for a month. That is because I…

298: Inventing Peace
Good morning, dear friends /strategyMany of you will know Kevin Kelly’s pretty famous 2008 blog post, A 1,000 True Fans. He argues, “To be a successful creator you don’t need millions.…

297: No sooner do we make sense of the world than that sense is out of date
Dear friends Let us start today with some whimsy. These occasional starting segues may seem like a distraction, but, in truth, they’re an expression of an important truth: everything is…

296: We Bake Brownies to Hire People
Good morning dear friends “All acts of kindness are lights in the war for justice.” These words are part of Joy Harjo’s Reconciliation, A Prayer included in How We Became…

295: Lebo Diseko’s The House at 6001
Dear Friends Last week I said we would visit Lebo Diseko’s memoir The House at 6001, and that is where soul and self will go. /strategy Two weeks ago,…

294: Ek speel net vir julle: Abdullah Ibrahim reminds us of what’s what
Dear friends I woke on Tuesday to the news that the great Abdullah Ibrahim had passed on the day before. False Bay was wind-whipped; the Cape howling its grief. Bruised…

293: Remembrance via Langston Hughes
Dear friends Today is quieter. The other day, I remembered your wide smile and short dreads, the dreads that disappeared with age and title. Then, I remembered you are no longer…

292: How We Murder Our Dreams
Dear Friends For several years, I have told you to buy Banele Vakele’s Tembela wines. Despite my wine vocabulary consisting of yum, meh and never again, it appears my advice is…

291: Executive Transitions: From Zhuangzi to Michael Watkins
Dear Friends Thank you for your generous messages after last week’s letter. If you enjoyed it, you might also appreciate The Power of the Powerless, Self-Doubt and Success or Being…

#290: The Strategy Thinker You Haven’t Yet Read (but should)
Good morning, dear friends Today’s letter is more essay-like than letter-like, so pour the coffee or the tea (or the wine, if it is time) and settle in. A few…

289: Obliquity: Strategy is not a straight line
Good morning friends /strategyThe strategy industry and its remoras too often create caricatures of strategy. Strategy is not a list of goals. It is not how it is measured. Nor is…

288: Angel or Devil? We choose.
Good morning, dear friends You may find today’s letter a little heavy, so we’ll start with two babies to make you smile: a Cape leopard cub and a rescued orphan…
