Kevin D. Hendricks's Blog, page 49

2012 Reading List

Every year I like to catalog my reading, look back on what I’ve read and what I’ve learned. This year was a bonanza.

For some reason the reading clicked in 2012 and I read more than any previous year. Way more. Like double my previous high. I’m not sure what happened, but I fell into a rhythm and just became addicted to reading. How addicted? 137 books.

I know, right? I’m not sure how I did it either.

OK, that’s a big lie. I have some ideas about how I managed to read so many books (and no they...

Embracing Mistakes, Pain & Failure

Nobody likes to make mistakes, feel pain or experience failure. But that’s how we learn, grow and succeed. It’s something we’re losing today.

A 2004 article in Psychology Today explores this phenomena, and if anything it seems more relevant today. The article bemoans the way parents over-protect their children, keeping them from experiencing the mistakes, pain and failure that will teach them important life lessons. Kids are coached through play and never learn how to skin their knee and get b...

The Photography of Wing Young Huie

Wing Young Huie is an incredible photographer based in the Twin Cities who is always creating unique glimpses of life that upend your expectations. He’s well known for a couple of books that explore urban life, including Frogtown in St. Paul and Lake Street in Minneapolis.

He’s also released two volumes of photos on University Avenue, an urban lifeline that connects St. Paul and Minneapolis. For about seven years we lived within minutes of this urban corridor and for a couple years I took the...

Sharing The Stephanies

Since The Stephanies came out last month, Lexi and I have been having fun sharing the book with as many people as we can. Here are three great examples:

Letter from Denver

One of the incredible backers of our Kickstarter campaign turned out to be a teacher at Metz Elementary in Denver. She shared the book with her third grade class and then sent Lexi a letter. Lexi has fan mail! She included a letter from one of her students. Beverly writes, “I think that your story is very awesome.” Lexi was p...

Crackpot or Genius?

It’s the essential question of life: Crackpot or genius?

So this Ph.D. in economics, Mark White, has this idea that museums could sell shares in their artwork to raise money. It’s this bizarre, crazy idea to somehow monetize the holdings of museums and give them new access to capital without selling everything off. The idea was being discussed because the Detroit Institute of Arts might be desperate enough to try it.

At the end of the article, White has the best quote ever:

Innovators, he points...