Mitch Joel's Blog: Six Pixels of Separation, page 132

SPOS #707 – Rishad Tobaccowala On Restoring The Soul of Business

Welcome to episode #707 of Six Pixels of Separation.

Here it is: Six Pixels of Separation – Episode #707 – Host: Mitch Joel. Rishad Tobaccowala is a Senior Adviser to the Publicis Groupe, one of the world’s largest marketing, communications and advertising network with 80,000 employees. Most recently, Rishad served as its Chief Growth Officer and Chief Strategist, where he helped acquire and grow the business through brands like Sapient, Epsilon, Leo Burnett and so many others. Rishad’s key skill is getting people to see, think and feel differently about how to grow themselves, their teams and their company. He does this through distilling forty years of global learning and wisdom and communicating in a way that is provocative, pragmatic and inspirational. Most recently, Rishad (finally) published his first book, Restoring the Soul of Business – Staying Human in the Age of Data. If you have not followed his writing on his blog, Re-Inventing, you do not know what you’re missing. If you are trying to better understand brands, advertising, technology, and what trends will affect your business today (and tomorrow)? I consider Rishad one of the oracles. Enjoy the conversation…

Running time: 59:25.
Hello from beautiful Montreal.
Subscribe over at iTunes.
Please visit and leave comments on the blog – Six Pixels of Separation.
Feel free to connect to me directly on Facebook here: Mitch Joel on Facebook.
or you can connect on LinkedIn.
…or on Twitter.
Here is my conversation with Rishad Tobaccowala.
Restoring the Soul of Business – Staying Human in the Age of Data.
Re-Inventing.
Publicis Groupe.
Follow Rishad on Instagram.
Follow Rishad on Twitter.
This week’s music: David Usher ‘St. Lawrence River’.

Download the Podcast here: Six Pixels of Separation – Episode #707 – Host: Mitch Joel.

Six Links Worthy of Your Attention #500

Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?

My friends: Alistair Croll (Solve for Interesting, Tilt the Windmill, HBS, chair of Strata, Startupfest, FWD50, and Scaletechconf; author of Lean Analytics and some other books), Hugh McGuire (Rebus Foundation, PressBooks, LibriVox) and I decided that every week the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person “must see.”

Check out these six links that we’re recommending to one another: 

Explaining how fighting games use delay-based and rollback netcode – Arn Technica . “Don’t let the dry title fool you. Two important things about games: They’re more fun when they’re multiplayer; and they’re fast. So how do you make fast games happen over a distance while being fair? Turns out, that’s a challenge. In some cases, you actually have to predict what a player is going to do, show that to their adversary, and then correct it when they don’t. This borders on General Relativity; and it’s a fascinating rabbithole, well explained here.” (Alistair for Hugh).
The Internet With A Human Face – Idle Words . “One of my favorite thinkers is Maciej Cegłowski, who gave a talk at Strata entitled ‘Haunted By Data.’ Many of the dire predictions he made then are all too commonplace today. So, in the wake of recent news about a startup () that has scraped all the faces from all the worlds’ social sites, indexed them by profile, and made them available to anyone who’ll pay (primarily law enforcement, but also political operatives) I thought this other talk might be appropriate. It’s from 2014, and Maciej has a smart habit of transcribing his talks with slides alongside, so you can read it as a post. Please read it.” (Alistair for Mitch).
When Is a Bird a ‘Birb’? An Extremely Important Guide – Audubon . “While I mostly despair of the lost, idealized web I imagined I knew back in 2007 when Mitch and I were excited about podcasts, every once in a while something pops up that reminds me of the delight that that web still can bring. Such as: An article in Audubon.org (!) about the internet meme ‘Birb,’ something I missed completely, and yet recognize and imbibe with all the enthusiasm of welcoming an old friend on a visit to my city. The best is the comments.” (Hugh for Alistair).  
Selective Hearing – Harper’s Magazine . “Mitch and I met back in … 2006 or 2007, I think? … partly through our interest in and engagement with podcasts.The first time I recall having a long conversation with Mitch was when I hitched a ride with him to a US-Canadian podcast conference, Podcasters Across Borders, in Kingston, Ontario. It was fun. The podcasting landscape looks a bit different now (!). Mostly for the better, and there’s a slew of great, professionally produced stuff out there, including a bunch of history podcasts that may or may not be accurate. Which, I guess you could say of just about anything these days.” (Hugh for Mitch).
How to unleash creative thinking – Strategy + Business . “Most businesses tend to think in a very pragmatic way. This kills dreams. I’m not fan of ’thinking outside of the box,’ because I have no idea what the box is and who put it there? What I do know is that a lot of my ideas don’t seem to align with how others solve a problem. I tend to think about creative solutions (not, always, pragmatic ones). I like the way that I think. I try to encourage it in myself. I sometimes find myself trying to think like others might. It doesn’t get me very far. Maybe this will help…” (Mitch for Alistair).
Old Man Blogs At Clouds – Chuck Wendig – Terrible Minds . “I have shared Chuck Wendig’s articles here before. I love the way that he writes about writing and creativity. This is a great example of it. In 2020, should we be thinking about blogs and blogging? I have been. A lot. I used to publish a blog post every day. I’ve slowed down to 3-4 per week (which still seems like too much). Why do I care? I should just keep going, right? Chuck is inspiring. He’s inspiring me. His writing makes me think and laugh. I hope that he inspires you too…” (Mitch for Hugh).

Feel free to share these links and add your picks on Twitter, Facebook, in the comments below or wherever you play.

The Future of Live Music Is Holograms And More On CHOM 97.7 FM

Every Monday morning at 7:10 am, I am on air at CHOM 97.7 FM radio out of Montreal (home base). It’s not a long segment – about 10 minutes every week – about everything that is happening in the world of technology, digital media and culture. The good folks at CHOM 97.7 FM are posting these segments weekly on i Heart Radio, if you’re interested in hearing more of me blathering on about what’s happening in the digital world. I’m really excited about this opportunity, because this is the radio station that I grew up listening to, and it really is a fun treat to be invited to the Mornings Rock with Terry DiMonte morning show. The segment is called, CTRL ALT Delete with Mitch Joel.

This week we discussed:

The massive NAMM music show that took place last week in Anaheim, California. Close to 2 million square feet of music instruments and gear. Over 100,000 attendees. Over three days of a bizarro world where the ratio of human to rock star gets inverted. I spoke at the event four times over two days.
Would you attend this type of concert? Live band, great lighting experience, a well-produced show, the perfect setlist, but the singer/lead is a hologram. It’s happening… it has happened. Ronnie James Dio, Frank Zappa, Roy Orbison, Whitney Houston and the hits just keep on coming. The New York Times Magazine did a huge feature on the future of concerts… and it’s holograms? 
The big Consumer Electronics Show show hit Las Vegas over a week ago. One of the cooler/scarier debuts was Samsung‘s Neon. An artificial intelligence chatbot featuring “artificial humans.” So, it’s not just on stage… it could well be the people you interact with in business as well.
App of the Week: Canned Emails.

You can also listen in via I Heart Radio.

Scott Stratten On How To Not Be A Jackass – This Week’s Six Pixels of Separation Podcast

Episode #706 of Six Pixels of Separation is now live and ready for you to listen to.

He is one of my best friends, which always makes the “formal” conversation a little challenging. Scott Stratten and I (along with Ron Tite) have been texting, supporting and being there for one another on daily basis for years. With that, it doesn’t change the fact that Scott is one impressive, caring and giving human being. Some have called him one of the ultimate sales and marketing truth slayer. Scott is a famed (in fact, hall of fame) professional speaker and co-author (with his wife, Alison Stratten). Scott helps organizations see their business through a new lens with his unconventional “unmarketing” views and vanguard approach to building and maintaining real customer relationships. They have authored six bestselling books. Most recently, they published, The Jackass Whisperer – How to deal with the worst people at work, at home and online ― even when the Jackass is you. Spoiler Alert: We are all jackasses. This is a conversation about online habits, mean people and how we can all stop, think and try to be a little less jackassy. Enjoy the conversation…

You can grab the latest episode of Six Pixels of Separation here (or feel free to subscribe via iTunes): Six Pixels of Separation #706.

SPOS #706 – Scott Stratten On How To Not Be A Jackass

Welcome to episode #706 of Six Pixels of Separation.

Here it is: Six Pixels of Separation – Episode #706 – Host: Mitch Joel. He is one of my best friends, which always makes the “formal” conversation a little challenging. Scott Stratten and I (along with Ron Tite) have been texting, supporting and being there for one another on daily basis for years. With that, it doesn’t change the fact that Scott is one impressive, caring and giving human being. Some have called him one of the ultimate sales and marketing truth slayer. Scott is a famed (in fact, hall of fame) professional speaker and co-author (with his wife, Alison Stratten). Scott helps organizations see their business through a new lens with his unconventional “unmarketing” views and vanguard approach to building and maintaining real customer relationships. They have authored six bestselling books. Most recently, they published, The Jackass Whisperer – How to deal with the worst people at work, at home and online ― even when the Jackass is you. Spoiler Alert: We are all jackasses. This is a conversation about online habits, mean people and how we can all stop, think and try to be a little less jackassy. Enjoy the conversation…

Running time: 54:54.
Hello from beautiful Montreal.
Subscribe over at iTunes.
Please visit and leave comments on the blog – Six Pixels of Separation.
Feel free to connect to me directly on Facebook here: Mitch Joel on Facebook.
or you can connect on LinkedIn.
…or on Twitter.
Here is my conversation with Scott Stratten.
The Jackass Whisperer – How to deal with the worst people at work, at home and online ― even when the Jackass is you.
Scott and Alison’s books.
Follow Scott on Instagram.
Follow Scott on Twitter.
This week’s music: David Usher ‘St. Lawrence River’.

Download the Podcast here: Six Pixels of Separation – Episode #706 – Host: Mitch Joel.

Six Links Worthy of Your Attention #499

Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?

My friends: Alistair Croll (Solve for Interesting, Tilt the Windmill, HBS, chair of Strata, Startupfest, FWD50, and Scaletechconf; author of Lean Analytics and some other books), Hugh McGuire (Rebus Foundation, PressBooks, LibriVox) and I decided that every week the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person “must see.”

Check out these six links that we’re recommending to one another: 

The Engoodening of No Man’s Sky – Internet Historian – YouTube . “No Man’s Sky was an incredibly ambitious, generative space travel game. The anticipation was incredible. But when it finally launched, it had only a sliver of what was promised. The developers were lambasted as liars, charlatans, and worse. But wait—it turns out there’s another side to the story. This is a fascinating video, even if you have no idea what the game is, showing both sides of a Sisyphean effort.” (Alistair for Hugh).
Here Are 20 Headlines Comparing Meghan Markle To Kate Middleton That May Show Why She And Prince Harry Are Cutting Off Royal Reporters – BuzzFeed News . “I haven’t paid any attention to the Royals—just like I ignore Kardashia—even though I’m British. But when Mathew Ingram shared this piece, I understood why Meghan and Harry are cutting ties. The Monarchy is a life of paid luxury, and all you have to give is your soul and independence. The double standards in this article show just how viciously the press will twist events to suit the narrative it’s selling.” (Alistair for Mitch).
India’s About to Hand People Data Americans Can Only Dream Of – Bloomberg . “Some time ago I read an amazing scifi novel, The Quantum Thief, by Hannu Rajaniemi, which among lots of other mind-benders, posited a future where everyone manages their privacy through a mechanism called gevulot: each person can reveal the exact amount of information about themselves that they want in every interaction with another person. Cashier at the bookstore: just the book you want; lover: how you like to be tickled. And, any information you’ve shared with someone can be deleted from their brains if you decide you don’t want the info shared any more. It’s not quite gevulot, but India is rolling out, well, the future I guess, where soon clients of banks will be able to access and, if they choose, share with other parties, a vast swath of detail about their financial history, enabling easier access to credit and other things.” (Hugh for Alistair). 
The Man Who’s Spending $1 Billion to Own Every Pop Song – Marker – Medium . “Remember how the Internet was the death of the music business? Well: ‘Valuations of the major labels are currently at an all-time high — they generated $14 billion in 2019 alone.’ It’s all about the royalties, baby.” (Hugh for Mitch).
Neil Peart, Maples, and Oaks – Tom Webster – Medium . “Normally, I would never take something that I posted on Facebook and put it here, but it’s in my heart and it’s important to me… My buddy Tom Webster has put into words what many have been feeling since hearing about the death of Neil Peart from Rush. I have tried to write some thoughts down, but it’s all still such a jumble. Between 1989 and 2000, I interviewed Rush (and interacted with Ray and the team at SRO Management) on countless occasions. The entire operation was always a class act. I did meet Neil a few times. Never interviewed him. This past year, I spent some time with Geddy Lee, and interviewed him for the No Treble podcast that I host. I don’t know who knew what about Neil’s cancer, but if Geddy was living with that reality while celebrating his new bass book, I can’t imagine the torn emotions. I wish the entire Rush family peace and health. This is what their music gave me from a very young age. Rush was always there. Always a part of my life. I have a t-shirt that says, ‘when in doubt, listen to Rush’ that I picked up two year ago. I’m listening to Rush…. I always will… Neal wasn’t just a drummer. He was a musical drummer. He didn’t just keep a beat, he drove the song. He was mechanical and emotion. He was on the beat and he was in the music. The music that is now in all of us…” (Mitch for Alistair).
Can Amazon Finally Crack the Bestseller Code? – The New Republic . “Everything that the sun touches belongs to Amazon. That’s what it looks like. No matter where you turn. If a product sells well, Amazon is inclined to create their own version of it (Amazon Basics, etc…). So, why not do the same with books? Amazon is now publishing commercial fiction by famous authors without the major publishers. They are going direct and doing everything that they can to promote these authors and books. So, is this healthy competition for the publishers or the end of times?” (Mitch for Hugh). 

Feel free to share these links and add your picks on Twitter, Facebook, in the comments below or wherever you play.

How To See The Future With Rohit Bhargava – This Week’s Six Pixels of Separation Podcast

Episode #705 of Six Pixels of Separation is now live and ready for you to listen to.

If you want to better understand how your business might be impacted by trends that are happening today (and growing bigger and bigger), you should pay attention to the work of Rohit Bhargava. Rohit is on a mission to help the world be more open-minded by teaching others how to be non-obvious thinkers. He is the founder of the Non-Obvious Company and an entertaining, original and “non-boring” keynote speaker on innovation and trust. He previously spent 15 years in leadership roles at two renowned ad agencies: Leo Burnett and Ogilvy. Rohit is the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of many books (including Personality Not Included, Likeonomics, Always Eat Left Handed and many more). Rohit is a popular Adjunct Professor of storytelling at Georgetown University and also writes a monthly column for GQ magazine in Brazil. His Non-Obvious book series is an annual look at the trends that are our shaping the world today (and tomorrow). He just published his tenth (and last) edition of the series, Non Obvious Megatrends. His work isn’t just about the trends, but how anyone can be better at spotting and curating them. Enjoy the conversation…

You can grab the latest episode of Six Pixels of Separation here (or feel free to subscribe via iTunes): Six Pixels of Separation #705.

SPOS #705 – How To See The Future With Rohit Bhargava

Welcome to episode #705 of Six Pixels of Separation.

Here it is: Six Pixels of Separation – Episode #705 – Host: Mitch Joel. If you want to better understand how your business might be impacted by trends that are happening today (and growing bigger and bigger), you should pay attention to the work of Rohit Bhargava. Rohit is on a mission to help the world be more open-minded by teaching others how to be non-obvious thinkers. He is the founder of the Non-Obvious Company and an entertaining, original and “non-boring” keynote speaker on innovation and trust. He previously spent 15 years in leadership roles at two renowned ad agencies: Leo Burnett and Ogilvy. Rohit is the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of many books (including Personality Not Included, Likeonomics, Always Eat Left Handed and many more). Rohit is a popular Adjunct Professor of storytelling at Georgetown University and also writes a monthly column for GQ magazine in Brazil. His Non-Obvious book series is an annual look at the trends that are our shaping the world today (and tomorrow). He just published his tenth (and last) edition of the series, Non Obvious Megatrends. His work isn’t just about the trends, but how anyone can be better at spotting and curating them. Enjoy the conversation…

Running time: 56:50.
Hello from beautiful Montreal.
Subscribe over at iTunes.
Please visit and leave comments on the blog – Six Pixels of Separation.
Feel free to connect to me directly on Facebook here: Mitch Joel on Facebook.
or you can connect on LinkedIn.
…or on Twitter.
Here is my conversation with Rohit Bhargava.
Non Obvious Megatrends.
Personality Not Included.
Likeonomics.
Always Eat Left Handed.
Non-Obvious Company.
Sign up for Rohit’s amazing newsletter.
Follow Rohit on Twitter.
Follow Rohit on Instagram.
This week’s music: David Usher ‘St. Lawrence River’.

Download the Podcast here: Six Pixels of Separation – Episode #705 – Host: Mitch Joel.

Six Links Worthy of Your Attention #498

Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?

My friends: Alistair Croll (Solve for Interesting, Tilt the Windmill, HBS, chair of Strata, Startupfest, FWD50, and Scaletechconf; author of Lean Analytics and some other books), Hugh McGuire (Rebus Foundation, PressBooks, LibriVox) and I decided that every week the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person “must see.”

Check out these six links that we’re recommending to one another: 

I Walked 600 Miles Across Japan for Pizza Toast – Eater . “Via Tim O’Reilly, this is a wonderful piece about the most pedestrian of foods: Pizza Toast. The product of a strange convergence of world events and economics, this culinary curiosity flourished, and is vanishing, as demographics change. I’ve only ever visited Tokyo proper, and this makes me regret not having adventured outside its confines.” (Alistair for Hugh).
La Maupin – The Extraordinary Life of Julie D’Aubigny – Story of a City . “Damned if this isn’t a heroine for our times. Also, astonished that Prime and Netflix aren’t battling for the rights. Next time someone tells you to play by the rules, tell them about La Maupin.” (Alistair for Mitch). 
Science Fiction’s Wonderful Mistakes – The New Republic . “Science fiction is mostly very wrong.” (Hugh for Alistair).
Is There A Crisis of Truth? Los Angeles Review of Books . “Once upon a naive time I thought that giving more people more access to more knowledge would be an unqualified good thing. But across the board — from morality to politics to science — more truth doesn’t seem to result in more agreement.” (Hugh for Mitch).
Old Musicians Never Die. They Just Become Holograms – The New York Times . “Imagine going to see The Beatles playing in a small Hamburg club. Imagine seeing Elvis Presley is his prime (shaking those hips). Imagine going to see a live band, full (and modern) lighting, and the lead performer is a hologram version of Frank Zappa. Some of that could happen. Some of that is happening (the Zappa example). The question is not would pay to see a hologram of a famous live band/artist (at least, I don’t think it is). The questions might be: would it feel like the real thing… would it feel like you were seeing that artist ‘live’? Hologram tours are already out on the road, and (based on this article) we can expect many more of them. I’m torn. The truth is that a lot of the bands that we currently go and see live are faking it (backing tracks, lip-synching, added instruments, etc…) so who’s fooling who and does anybody really care? Am I interested in seeing a band like Led Zeppelin looking and playing like they were rocking in the seventies? Sure… yes… I would.” (Mitch for Alistair).
Chuck Palahniuk on His Childhood Love of Ellery Queen and Writing in a Good Mood – Lit Hub . “While this is a quick (and great) chat with one of the world’s most interesting writers, it’s actually relevant to anyone searching for ways to think creativity (and, who among us is not doing that)? Chuck Palahniuk is a brilliant mind. I can’t wait to dig into his latest book, Consider This. And, after checking out this quick interview, my guess is that you will want to read his new book as well.” (Mitch for Hugh).

Feel free to share these links and add your picks on Twitter, Facebook, in the comments below or wherever you play.

The Self Reliant Entrepreneur With John Jantsch – This Week’s Six Pixels of Separation Podcast

Episode #704 of Six Pixels of Separation is now live and ready for you to listen to.

When it comes to small businesses thinking big, I always think of John Jantsch. John is a marketing consultant, speaker and best selling author of Duct Tape Marketing, Duct Tape Selling, The Commitment Engine, The Referral Engine, and SEO for Growth. He is the creator of the Duct Tape Marketing System and Duct Tape Marketing Consulting Network that trains and licenses small business marketing consultants around the world.​ Most recently, my old friend published a really interesting book called, The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur – 366 Daily Meditations to Feed Your Soul and Grow Your Business. The book is organized as a daily devotional with 366 entries, one for each day of the year, including Leap Year. Each day starts with a reading from a transcendentalist era author, such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Willa Cather, Walt Whitman, Louisa May Alcott, and Henry David Thoreau, followed by a reflection and application by the author for today’s entrepreneur. It’s a real pleasure of a book to dig into, and the perfect book to launch this new year of the Six Pixels of Separation Podcast. Welcome to 2020. Enjoy the conversation…

You can grab the latest episode of Six Pixels of Separation here (or feel free to subscribe via iTunes): Six Pixels of Separation #704.