Todayās post serves an eclectic mix of ideas. From the world of war strategies (or strategies in general) to money, ageing and finally cover pages of Vogue. I love it when my mind is filled with such a diverse set of ideas. It keeps me refreshed and looking for more.
Even when Xmas is all around us, this post has a lot to make your festive mood cheer up some more.
Hereās what weāre going to cover:
š„· Sun Tzuās Fighting Words
š§ Fintech for the Ageing
šø Account Aggregator Bible
š³ Long shadow of Checks
š§āš Xmas stories
šøš¬ Singaporeās urbanism
š® Miniatures, fresh new way of quillingĀ
š Vogueās cover page
And much more
Letās get to it right away.
1. Sun Tzuās Fighting Words
Colin Gray, the late doyen of strategy scholars, branded one of his maxims of war and strategy as: āIf Thucydides, Sun-tzu, and Clausewitz Did Not Say It, It Probably Is Not Worth Saying.ā[2] The acceptance of these three texts as a strategic canon, though, poses a challenge for the contemporary strategist. None of these works was originally written in English, and all of them were compiled in an age far removed from our own frames of reference. Thus, we must rely on others to accurately translate the words of the original text for us, and we concurrently need some insight into the historical context in which they were written to verify our interpretations of their meaning. Only then can we accurately gauge their modern relevance.
This is the context of John F. Sullivanās essay titled āSun Tzuās Fighting Wordsā. He examines the popular interpretation of āArt of Warā where Sun Tzu emphasized non-violent competition through the iconic goal of winning without fighting.
Itās a fine read taking an academic approach. The part about āhistorical contextā is an important aspect of any such interpretation and Sullivan tries to support this and more. Art of War is a best seller in most parts of the world (taught in management & military training alike).Ā
Are we really reading what Sun Tzu meant to say or an interpretation that was far more convenient & alignment with the translatorās worldview?
Sullivan has written more on Sun Tzu & his time. If you like this essay, you may want to head here for more.
2. Fintech for the Ageing
āFintech for the Ageing Indian Populationā delves intothe potentially evolving whitespace in the Indian fintech landscape, focusing on the unique challenges faced by the elderly population.
This is a fairly short post, so it just scratches the surface on a minefield of ideas & direction for exploration. Still, the basic premise gives a good starting point for those interested in learning more.
Hereās a snapshot that summarizes all the action thatās happening in the US market in this category. That should give you some idea on the diversity of problems that need to be addressed.Ā
Pic credit: D91 labs blog
3. The Account Aggregator Bible
Xmas & Year end is just around the corner, so you may not be in a serious mood. If thatās the case, please bookmark this one and set a reminder for 2nd Jan to read this one.
Or if youāre still slogging to fulfil your 2023 learning goals, check out āThe Account Aggregator Bibleā by Aaryaman Vir (from Tigerfeathers).Ā
Itās in-depth, explores past, present & future, talks about the user side of the story in a fairly detailed way and is written in a fairly fun way.Ā
Whatās this Account Aggregator? Well thatās the next big thing in the world that India owns after successfully creating Aadhar and UPI. Itās still in the early days but shows a lot of potential, and will be worth checking out (and get building for, if you can).
Do we call them Cheques or Checks? In any case, I knew very little about how these pieces of paper worked. So when Patrick McKenzie (patio11 for those who follow him) wrote āThe Long Shadow of Checks,ā I had to read it.Ā Ā
There are no magic tricks here, just pure, simple & fairly cumbersome financial machinery at work. But thatās the beauty of systems that work. A lot of younger readers may not have used these paper instruments much, still it's worth knowing how these work. A lot of future fintech solutions will be built on the learning from these systems.
If you are up for some more, you can find Paras Chopraās summary of āHow money worksā in post #70.
5. Xmas special
Enough of the financial & money stuff! If youāre looking for some festive cheer, I (re)share some of the popular stories covering the season.Ā
The economics of Christmas treesĀ (in USā¦ In India, we have lot more of the plastic stuff that we buy from the festival gift shops around the corner)
Singapore urbanism; Noah Smith on how Singapore evolved to become the megacity it is today. We live in cities, interact with so many parts of it, and yet have no ideas about what goes on to build our cities. I love some of the coverage 99% Invisible does on similar themes.Ā
Why is flying not sexy anymore? Sid Jha delves into the history of commercial aviation in the USA. Itās good to see how regulators, innovators and business folks interacted over a long enough period and created this industry.
Anuj Rathi on Lennyās Podcast has some good inputs on understanding product management from an Indian perspective. Hereās my biggest take away.
There are only three reasons why things do not happen the way you want them to happen as a leader. You can look at a person, and you would say either that person can't do, which is a capability issue, or they won't do, which is a motivation or an alignment issue, or they were not set up to do, which is really your problem that you didn't set up the ways of working nowĀ design properly. So, as a leader, do you have the right people in terms of capability? If not, is the right answer for us to coach them or to really put themā¦ or mentor them and so on, or move them to some other place because maybe their capability is suited elsewhere? If they won't do it, why won't they? Are they not aligned to you? Do they not agree with your vision? Do they not just have enough time? So on and so forth. So you need to really go deeper there. Why won't they do it?
7. Everything else
Some random goodness from the internet:
My twitter/X feed is super interesting thanks to The Paperclip (@Paperclip_In). They tell stories that bring a smile and āwowā every time I read one.Ā
Becky Gannon shares magical miniatures in madaboutminiatures and flordeirisarte shares artwork in quilling unlike anything I have seen. These are two reasons my time on Instagram has increased off late.Ā
Does Vogue hate text now - brilliant visual essay on something most of us would have ignored (assuming, we follow the Vogue magazine and its covers). I found it in the Pudding Cup - Puddingās picks for the best visual and data-driven stories of 2023. A lot more cool things to discover at this page.
That's all for this week, folks!Ā
I hope I've earned the privilege of your time.
Please leave a comment or send a message with your feedback. Itās highly helpful & encouraging. If thatās too much of an effort (or not required), at least hit the ā¤ļø at the start or end of the post to show your love.Ā
