The Weekly Distillation No.68
Whisky; Football; Engines; Ukraine; Beer; Psychadelics; Poverty; Collaboration; Hearts
This newsletter is written for entrepreneurial leaders who want to learn about the moment we are living in but don’t have time to read broadly; who want to grasp the key themes; and who want to create better ways of advancing their mission. The Weekly Distillation covers a broad range of topics with the intent to curate the key narratives of the week, how they fit the broader themes of society and to pose questions that help you to think deeper on the application in your context. You can read more about the key themes I see here.
People once said…………..
“A man who was completely innocent, offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and became the ransom of the world. It was a perfect act.” - Mahatma Gandhi
“It’s Friday again, Saturday, Sunday, What?” - Nightcrawlers and Riton in “It’s Friday again (We want that weekend)”
“It is difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow.” - Robert H. Goddard
"When some leaders ask me what weapons I need, I need a moment to calm myself, because I already told them the week before. It’s Groundhog Day. I feel like Bill Murray" - Volodymyr Zelensky
“With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!” - Mark
"I think it's very important for there to be an inclusive arena for free speech," - Elon Musk
“I think the best thing I can do now is, having settled the fine, is focus on the job in hand," - Boris Johnson
“I’m more reserved about direct arms deliveries. Why? Because the line is thin between aid and becoming a co-belligerent” - Marine Le Pen
Skim it in a minute
One of my favourite organisations in all the world is Praxis, based in New York. They work with redemptive entrepreneurs and have been part of building into some of the highest quality entrepreneurs I have ever come across. I often say to Dave, the founder, that I’d love to come and work for him and I get “thank’s for your faithful enthusiasm” which I take as code for “we’ll keep your name on file”.
Amazing people who are highly motivate by Wilberforce and the Clapham Circle and all that they did to transform Victorian England. The reason I bring them up here is that they have a tagline, to unpack redemptive entrepreneurship, of “creative restoration through sacrifice”. If that isn’t perfect for an Easter weekend, I’m not sure what is. It’s also a helpful framework for this week’s skim it in a minute.
Creative
The current moment is one of the most creative I have ever seen - partly as a function of Covid, partly technology enabling multi-careering and the arrival of Web3. Examples from the last two weeks.
FanHub is an app that rewards football fans for following their teams. Finally, an app that recognises that away travel means something! I’ve been enjoying this one for months. Today was a new peak though, when I got free beer (displayed below in a 3-2-1 formation) from them - looking forward to sharing these with some friends, and sampling an Away Days Beer. I love the branding.
An engine has been invented that involves no moving parts.
Gen Z’s favourite social app (no.4 in downloads in UK) is BeReal, which involves you (and everyone) being notified at a random time of the day and you have 2 minutes to post a photo (front and back cameras switch on), with no filters or edits possible. Is this authenticity or just another gimmick?
Woven Whisky - I had the privilege to visit these guys a couple of weeks ago (more free gifts…..honestly, this is not why I talk to these people!). I’ve been often told that there is more art in blended whisky than there is in single malts. Woven is doing great work to bring this art back in beautiful ways. Really good people, doing exciting things.
Lion, Zebra, Tiger meat (lab-grown) might be on the way to you in future
Technology has been created that can identify whisky in a similar way to a nose, which is great for tackling counterfeiting
I realised recently I have too much alcohol in my house (c.50 bottles) as a function of being given lots of gifts, or reading about various products and then acquiring them. Ironically I don’t drink that often and can go weeks without drinking so I needed some help to free up some space - so I’ve started Drams with Duncan as an irregular gathering in my house to help shrink/drink the number of bottles. The inaugural event was last week and got off to a strong start with whisky from the Borders (Lower East Side), Speyside (Benromach), Lowlands (Glasgow), Islay (Ardbeg) and Highlands (Ardnamurchan). (If you want in, message me your number).
Restoration
Don’t we see a massive need for restoration right now? From Sri Lanka defaulting on their $51bn debt, to Ukraine, to Disney, to #partygate, to work exhaustion and more.
I was sick for a week, hence the lack of a newsletter last week, and have spent the week recuperating. People are picking up bugs galore and the more we are out and about, the sicker we are getting (a necessary evil of building up our immunity again). It’s a great reminder of the need for vacations, deep rest, switching off, sleeping well and exercise. I’m about to practise what I preach!
I’m intrigued by what is happening in psychadelics. There is a lot of research being carried out in this field and if these turn out to be very useful in health it will definitely turn my views upside down. Do psychadelics need psychiatrists to prescribe them? Can psychadelics help tackle depression? I know nothing here, so this will be one to learn more about.
The IMF declared last week that India has almost wiped out extreme poverty. This is amazing, given the caste system and the high agricultural labour component of its workforce. I haven’t been in India for years, and it’s the only place I was ever in a slum (Hearts fan joke about Glasgow? Not appropriate). What made the change? Food handouts. Who says that charity doesn’t work. Still - the definition of extreme poverty is such a low bar that for the vast majority of people above it, they are still living in pretty dire circumstances.
Through sacrifice
Ukraine
The war in Ukraine rumbles on. People talk less of the #closetheskies campaign, but I am angry about the falsehoods that were spoken a few weeks ago about how it wouldn’t make any difference. Russia is now heavily using bomber jets to drop munitions on Ukrainian forces, cities and villages.
The West keeps escalating slowly and carefully, believing that Russia will not see this as an act of conflict. This is a dangerous presumption and Putin’s reticence to attack the West (or his lack of belief that he’s ready for that yet?) is the only thing that seems to keep us from WW3.
Subtly last week Slovakia supplied Ukraine with an S300 anti-aircraft system, with the US then committing to provide a Patriot anti-missile defence system to Slovakia, along with US troops to man it.
An independent arms dealer (absolutely with the consent of his government I would presume) is supplying Ukraine with tanks from the Czech Republic.
The US, Australia and the UK are providing armoured fighting vehicles.
Several NATO aircraft carrier groups are conducting ‘exercises’ in the Baltic Sea and Mediterranean. Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaisance (“ISR”) flights are continuing by NATO planes, flying over Eastern Europe, but no doubt gathering extensive intelligence and providing it to Ukraine.
Finland and Sweden are being courted into NATO
Sanctions are continuing to be tightened and if it wasn’t for European countries being reliant on Russian gas, we would have shut the tap on that too.
In general, Ukraine has clearly repelled the Russians from the North, is losing the South and is under major pressure in the East. The NATO countries are fighting Russia with a cold war strategy (expel spies, supply arms, use sanctions, condemn them in public and at the UN, build coalitions, pressure non-aligned countries (e.g. India), run military exercises, spy from the air) whilst Russia is continuing with its WW2-esque strategy (Bomb, destroy, invade, hold hostages, execute civilians, mass graves, infantry attacks, urban warfare).
The massacres in Bucha were horrific - but for Biden to throw Genocide about as a term struck me as unwise. Srebenica and the Balkan wars were attempt at Genocide, as was the Holocaust - there’s a difference between a war-crime and a genocide. One of the side tragedies of this massacre was that it has put peace talks way into the background for a while.
Ukraine is attempting to fight a WW2 war with an ally behind it that is stuck in the Cold War. Maybe another way to think of it is NATO is bringing ice and Russia is bringing hot water. Probably the only way that Ukraine wins is to have even hotter water.
There are cause for celebrations that Kyiv has been spared the worst, for now - but I’ve talked of wondering why Putin has been so restrained this far. It would have been very easy to drop a chemical weapon on Kyiv, to fire long-range cruise missiles or hypersonic weapons into Kyiv - but Putin refused.
I’m not convinced the refocus on the East is the win that it is being portrayed as. After all, the Allies won the war (sorry Americans, “you” won the war) and Britain retreated at Dunkirk. One lost battle does not make a war. Putin may be settling in for a long war, with China, India, Brazil and South Africa (the BRICs, with Russia) all non-aligned still. If China steps up to make peace, this could end quickly, but if China is happy for the West to continue to be weakened, this may play out for a while - China remains the key determinant of what happens here (despite all of the recent focus on India’s behaviour).
The sacrifice of the Ukrainians is incredible, and hopefully it will be followed by those in the West being willing to sacrifice a bedroom or clothes, toys or cash to help welcome refugees too. I wish we were prepared to sacrifice a lot more in the West to help the Ukrainians on the ground too.
At work
Back in 2006-2008 I acted as a Non-Executive Director (“NED”) on the boards of a few companies that were backed by the Bank of Scotland. We were given training in how to be a NED in a training session in the Scotsman Hotel in Edinburgh. I can’t remember everything that was said but I remember one framework of the 5 types of conflict management that we were taught.
It taught us the different ways to approach an issue and a board seat and emphasised some over others. It is a tool I have referred back to over the many years following and shaped my mind around collaboration.
It struck me this week, after I was harsh with some colleagues (which I blame on feeling ill but is probably more of a reflection on me), that to collaborate rather than compete / conflict is to sacrifice.
Collaboration involves compromise and sacrifice - but is usually a better outcome. Imagine if we were collaborative leaders. Of course, in some contexts (war), collaborator has a very negative meaning, for good reason, and competing / conflict may be the only realistic way forwards.
At play
Heart of Midlothian Football Club (“The Jambos”) play Hibernian Football Club (“The Vermin”) tomorrow in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup. This comes on the back of a 3-1 defeat of Hibs by Hearts last weekend. This is a massive game and will take place in Hampden Park, the National Stadium of Scotland in front of 52,000 fans. I’ll be there, with my children. Hopefully to experience a win for Hearts. 2006 was the last time I saw Hearts play Hibs in a semi-final at Hampden and they’ve only played twice at Hampden in my lifetime, so this is a big event.
The Hearts team last week sacrificed its normal formation for a 5-2-1-2 formation. This worked, it will be interesting to see if it is retained and if lightning can strike twice. There’s not much I wouldn’t sacrifice to see Hearts beat Hibs at Hampden.
This is my favourite Hearts goal of all time. I was in the crowd behind the goal, at the Hibs Stadium, in the Scottish Cup, for our 21st game against them unbeaten.
A final thought
Easter is the peak of the Christian year. Dependent on tradition, you either put more emphasis on Good Friday or Easter Sunday. For those who believe in it, the creative solution, that offered restoration through sacrifice, is fundamental. It means a lot to me. For those that just like the long weekend, the chocolate, are Hibs fans or hate football, I wish you a Happy Easter too.