Flux – the book
How does one thrive when the world is shifting constantly and unpredictably? That’s the topic of Flux by April Rinnes.
I managed to finish another book. But I did stay up ’til 3 in the morning to do so, so the last couple of chapters are kind of fuzzy and I probably have to re-read.
The author provides 8 “superpowers” (or “flux superpowers”) that one can deploy to help us navigate the future. Some of it makes sense and some of it I’m woozy on (maybe because I read them between midnight and 3 am). I don’t want to go into great details because you should get the book, but I will list them here and provide a very brief understanding of how to deploy the flux superpower. I will not be doing justice to what the book advocates, so you should get the book for greater explanation. I’m just doing a run through here.
This one is after my heart: instead of trying to speed up and multitask and answer every email immediately, we should slow down and consider what we are doing. We need to THINK about what is important instead of mindlessly trying to do everything quickly.
Embedded in this is the idea of questioning productivity: are we really being productive or are we being busy? Is this productivity for ourselves or is it for someone else? Society has this work fetish, but have we considered who is driving this fetish?
Should we be working ALL of the time? How does this constant working square with our health and well-being? Are we really providing good services or producing something great when we’re working all of the time?
The social norms that you are born into will circumscribe what you will see. Western societies as a whole tend to be individualistic so citizens think success is based upon the individual’s own bootstrapping and willpower. Eastern societies as a rule prioritize community welfare so solutions will be more community-based.
These social norms will blind us to options that may be available to us when we are confronted with relentless change. Optionality is what will enable us to thrive. To increase optionality, we need to broaden our perspectives, be open to changes, keep an open mind. This openness allows us to see the invisible.
It has been said that innovation and change start at the edges or in the empty spaces. This is what we need to learn to see: that empty space, that edge.
The DEI (diversity, equality, and inclusion) attempts to get at our blinders at work by bringing in people with different viewpoint and life experiences to help generate lots of options.
Getting lost is getting comfortable with uncomfortable because it is in the exploration of the new that you learn new things. It’s a skill to develop: being able to navigate your way despite being lost. It’s developing that sense of exploration when you don’t know things. It’s getting out of your comfort zone.
“…if the goal is truly innovative solutions, or fresh thinking, or simply being resilient, then getting lost is essential.”
Flux, April Rinnes, p 61 (electronic book), 2021
This one is a bit hard. A lot of people don’t trust the government; some don’t trust the media – fake news; Republicans don’t trust the Democrats and Democrats don’t trust Republicans or Joe Manchin. Gen Z’ers probably don’t trust the boomers.
Me, I don’t trust corporations that constantly spout shareholder drivel, or trust private equity guys or trust hedge fund managers – you know, those strictly bottom-line guys. Are all of them that way? No, but they have to prove themselves to me because they have lived through the Milton Friedman era, drinking up that philosophy that has served them so well and getting extremely rich at the expense of society and the environment.
Trust is going to be hard for me. I’m going to have to read that chapter a couple of times.
She says to design from trust: most people have good intentions. Err on the side of openness.
I think this one is explanatory but will be hard for the millionaires and billionaires.
The author brought up a good question:
“Will there be “enough” work for “enough” people to earn “enough” income to have a decent “enough” standard of living?”
Ibid, p. 87 (electronic book).
Consider Sweden:
“In Sweden, the national government’s strategy is to “protect people, not jobs”. The Swedish government has made it clear that no job (including yours) is guaranteed: a new technology (or a pandemic, changing tastes, or myriad other forces) may result in your job becoming obsolete. However, the government does guarantee that if your livelihood is disrupted, your well-being will be protected. This is done via income support and retraining and is paid for by taxes.”
Ibid, p. 87 (electronic book)
Sigh.
And here’s her take on Milton Friedman’s philosophy:
“…prior to the 1980s, when it was common practice for companies to share their profits with workers…Ensuring that all workers had enough – to care for their family today and plan for the future – was considered smart, responsible business.
Since the 1980s, however, this model has gone sideways. The 1980s ushered in an era of cost-cutting, outsourcing, and automation in the name of efficiency, productivity and bottom lines. The script shifted from ensuring that all workers had enough to: As long as there are “enough” quarterly returns for investors and market analysts, why should “enough” for anyone else matter?
ibid, p. 90 (electronic book)
Now this one is interesting. I’m going to have to read this chapter a couple of times because I am struggling with how this works or how to carry this one out. I do agree with having multiple paths, but I don’t know how to implement. This involves entrepreneurialism, or at least it sounds like it.
And I just don’t have the entrepreneurial instinct.
There is something about Pi-shaped and X-shaped people. Pi-shape have depth in more than one area whereas X-shape has breadth, depth, diversity and ability to stretch into new domain.
Okay, I read this one after midnight, so I’m fuzzy on what it means to be more human. Part of it is being authentic and part of it is serving others.
“Being fully human means showing up with emotions, empathy and ethics.”
ibid, p. 118 (electronic book)
There is also a section on digital intelligence (DQ) and EQ which she describes as the ability to understand, care about, and forge relationships with others.
Again, this one is after midnight.
First of all, you can’t predict the future…no one can, so we need to let go of that. We need to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.
Instead of planning, so scenario planning of various futures and invest in preparing for what could happen. Have various initial responses.
Expect whatever plans you have to change.
And try to shift your focus from the known to the unknown. This is where the innovation lies.
Lots of interesting stuff in this book. The author has reflection sections in the book which might actually be good for journaling, if you’re into that.
Okay, time to end this post as it is way past my data gathering hour.
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