Gurteen Knowledge Letter May 2024 Issue 287

Gurteen Knowledge Letter
Issue 287 – May 2024

The best advice is often the simplest.

The easiest success measurement tool is a simple question. What did you do today to move forward?

The easiest project plan on earth is also a simple question. What will you do tomorrow to move forward?

At the end of each day, document your success and design your next move.

Credit: Rich DiGirolamo

1. An Insightful Journey Into Leadership
   On Leadership … with Christien Oudshoorn
2. Enhancing Blog Posts with Ai-generated Images
   Exploring the power of Midjourney and DALL-E to create stunning visuals
3. Lex Fridman's Podcast
   Engaging with some of the world's greatest minds
4. The Great Conversation
   The conversation of humankind
5. Navigating Complexity with Safe-to-fail Probes
   Dave Snowden
6. Help Keep My Work Alive
7. Unsubscribe
8. Gurteen Knowledge Letter

I recently came across this beautiful little video of Christien Oudshoorn sharing her perspective on the challenges and essence of leadership today. In it, she emphasizes the importance of slowing down and disconnecting from external pressures to truly connect with others and ourselves.

Christien highlights four key relationships that leaders must cultivate: with oneself, with others through empathy, with one's communities, and with the ever-changing unknown. She challenges narrow societal definitions of success and instead focuses on recognizing and empowering the inherent leadership potential in everyone, especially youth.

Christien invites us to bring greater intention and appreciation to the leadership process rather than fixating solely on outcomes. Her insights offer a thoughtful look at what it means to lead in a complex world.

Watch the full video to hear more of Christien Oudshoorn's perspective:

I have been using Midjourney and DALL-E to generate pictures for my blook. It's incredible how a simple prompt can create such beautiful images.

Here is the prompt I gave to Midjourney to generate the image below:

"Busy café setting, small groups of people in conversation with London's Big Ben in the background in impasto painting style"

Note that the magic is in the phrase "in impasto painting style," a trick I learned from Dave Pollard.

I have compiled a collection of the images I have generated using AI, which I have incorporated into my blook. You can view the entire gallery here: conversational-leadership.net/ai-images/

I am a big fan of Lex Fridman and love his podcasts with many of the world's leaders and top thinkers, such as Daniel Schmachtenberger, Steven Pinker, Sam Altman, Yuval Noah Harari, Elon Musk, Sam Harris, Noam Chomsky, and many more.

One of my favorites is his interview with Yuval Noah Harari on Human Nature, Intelligence, Power, and Conspiracies.

I also love one of Lex's recent tweets. It sums up nicely why I appreciate him and his work.

Sometimes it feels like the world has all gone mad.

I like to explore ideas, varied perspectives, historical context, all with calm intellectual humility.

But people online want me to "pick a side" and to be outraged.

Nah. I'll keep doing my thing. You do you (sic). Love you all

I recently came across the fascinating concept of the "Great Conversation," a perspective that beautifully captures the essence of humanity's development and progress since the dawn of spoken language.

The Great Conversation encompasses the works and thoughts of influential figures in philosophy, science, literature, and more—from the ancient Greeks to contemporary thinkers. Just as a conversation evolves and builds upon itself, with each participant contributing their unique insights, humanity's progress has been driven by this continuous discourse.

This ongoing exchange transcends cultures and eras, inviting us to engage with the profound questions and insights of the past while contributing our own perspectives. It is a conversation that began with the first utterances of our ancestors and continues to this day, with each generation adding their voice to our collective knowledge.

Mortimer Adler and Robert Hutchins popularized the concept in the 20th century, seeing it as crucial for education and the preservation of civilization. They recognized that by participating in this Great Conversation, we not only gain a deeper understanding of our world but also contribute to the intellectual legacy that will shape the minds of future generations.

The Great Conversation reminds us that our thoughts and ideas are not isolated but part of a larger, ongoing discourse that has driven human progress for millennia.

Follow the link below to learn more about the Great Conversation, its history, and how to participate in this intellectual tradition. Join the conversation! conversational-leadership.net/the-great-conversation/

In a recently updated post in my blook, I explain how Dave Snowden's concept of safe-to-fail probes addresses the challenges of managing unpredictable, complex systems where traditional linear problem-solving is likely to fail.

Large-scale interventions can be risky in complex environments where cause and effect are only apparent in hindsight—Snowden advocates for small-scale probes/experiments that test how systems respond to change.

These interventions are designed to be safe, minimize damage if they fail, and provide valuable insights into the system's dynamics. This approach allows organizations to learn, adapt, and navigate complexity more effectively by embracing uncertainty and the potential for failure as sources of learning.

Read the full post: conversational-leadership.net/safe-to-fail-probes/

Help Keep My Work Alive
For almost 25 years, I’ve been sharing the Gurteen Knowledge Letter each month, and many of you have been reading it for five years or more. My Knowledge Café also reached a milestone, celebrating its 20th anniversary in September 2022.

If my work has made a difference to you, I’d be grateful if you could consider supporting it. A small monthly donation or any one-off contribution would greatly help cover some of my website hosting costs.

Thank you to the 50+ patrons who already support me – your generosity means a lot.

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Gurteen Knowledge Letter

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David Gurteen
Gurteen Knowledge
Fleet, United Kingdom

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