Time Magazine explores how the Millennial Generation are raising kids in a fascinating exploration of style, technology, and expectations. There has been much written about Millennials in the workplace but what about their attitudes towards raising children? It’s certainly different than how Gen Xers are raising their children. Social Media, backlash from helicopter parenting, information overload, technology enabled connectedness, and multiple identities, all contribute to the changing landscape of parenting today.

You might be surprised that there is any possible comparison between raising kids and an FBI hostage negotiator (or maybe not?) but this article discusses one of the most important things parents can do when arguing with their children.

Fantastic look at how Bill Walsh (49ers coach) not only created a winning team that went to the super bowl but also how Bill Walsh created over 35 other winning coaches. Five of his most important insights are described that can be applied to all types of leadership. 

Do you have a vision for your life? How do you want to be remembered? What do you believe you’re capable of in life? What are the greatest things you could accomplish, given the right circumstances, resources and motivation?

What do you wish you could change about the world? What could you contribute to the world that would make you feel proud and content?

Read more on how to create a vision of your life for yourself. 

I have been eating mostly Paleo for about 2.5 years now which puts my macro-nutrient ratio at 50% fat, 35% protein, 15% carb. This study tries to break down whether reduced fat or reduced carb diets actually lead to more fat reduction. It’s an interesting study because it details how your body responds to increased fat intake versus increased carb intake. 

If there is one thing I’ve learned is that there is no magic answer because everybody’s genetics are different. You really have to find what works for you and the most important attribute is consistency. 

Harvard Business Review breaks down specific reasons why organizations who say they embody continuous improvement aren’t actually doing so. Specific challenges and biases are detailed including insights into how to navigate through these. An excellent read for those organizations trying to follow lean principles and give their employees the opportunity to lift the organization. Some counterintuitive insights.

“From the beginning, one of the things that made working at Wistia feel really exciting and fun was our flat organizational structure. I felt proud showing off our team dynamic to new employees, because I knew that we approached work in an egalitarian way—there were huge opportunities for individuals to jump in and make a real difference.

Flat was startup-y and awesome. Structure was BigCorp-y and boring. As our company grew from 2 to 30 people, I was surprised to see how the strengths of a flat organization turned into our team’s biggest weaknesses.”

From the article: Why do you go to work? Chances are it’s got something to do with money. But as most of us know, it’s more complicated than that. “There is a spectrum of reasons why people do their jobs,” write Neel Doshi and Lindsay McGregor in Primed to Perform: How to Build the Highest Performing Cultures Through the Science of Total Motivation. “Understanding that spectrum is the key to creating the highest levels of performance.”

The authors argue there are six reasons we do anything. The first three they call indirect motivations and the latter three are direct motivations.

Healthcare is at the start of a long cycle of disruption and reinvention. We’ve heard the saying “software eats the world” but what do we mean when we say “Software Eats Healthcare”? We’re talking about software accelerating our transition towards new healthcare business models that have lower costs and better outcomes.

This post will try to illustrate with a simplified framework (particularly for those who are outsiders to healthcare) the following:

1. The problem: Why healthcare is so expensive, and why software hasn’t really made a dent yet.

2. The mechanism: How bundling and unbundling drive change in the healthcare industry.

3. The playbook: How to understand the change that’s happening now, and how it creates the conditions necessary for software to eat healthcare.

Amazing 9 minute video that takes a deep look at the latest science of the brain. “The human brain is the most complex object in the universe. Our understanding of its inner workings has been shrouded in mystery…until now. New technologies are beginning to unlock the brain’s true potential, but at what cost to our humanity?”

Distributed machine learning and AI: “The whole Tesla fleet operates as a network. When one car learns something, they all learn it. That is beyond what other car companies are doing,” said Musk. When it comes to the autopilot software, Musk explained that each driver using the autopilot system essentially becomes an “expert trainer for how the autopilot should work.”

If you haven’t seen some of the videos, you should. Some are awesome. Some are scary. 

Energy from fusion has long since been a dream of science fiction. If we could harness the energy from the same strategies the sun uses, it could transform everything we know today. Scientists from Germany are about to start testing a new design which could get us one step closer to this new energy world. 

Watch: Billions in Change. “The world is facing some huge problems. There’s a lot of talk about how to solve them. But talk doesn’t reduce pollution, or grow food, or heal the sick. That takes doing. This film is the story about a group of doers, the elegantly simple inventions they have made to change the lives of billions of people, and the unconventional billionaire spearheading the project.”

(Thanks to Chris for sending this in!)