Weekly Distillation: No.9
Independence Day; British Empire; Focusing on Work; Coronavirus Memes; Climate Change; Banning Apps; Diversity; Whisky
Photo by Stephanie McCabe on Unsplash
This newsletter is written for entrepreneurial organisational leaders and aims to help identify themes of our current context and provide questions, tips and tools that can help in navigating that.
“The loss of the American colonies was the first time the process of British empire building had been put significantly into reverse, and became the starting point for a nostalgic yearning for lost colonies - and the wealth and global influence that came with them - that has become part of our national psyche.” David Olusoga
“It's hard to edit. It's hard to stay focused. And yet, we know we'll only do our best work if we stay focused. And so, you know, the hardest decisions we made are all the things not to work on, frankly.” Tim Cook
“Calling China's online censorship system a 'Great Firewall' is increasingly trendy, but misleading. All walls, being the creation of engineers, can be breached with the right tools.” Evgeny Morozov
“If you have got diversity on your board, then you are going to have new ideas come to the table.” Sol Campbell
“Climate change is a terrible problem, and it absolutely needs to be solved. It deserves to be a huge priority.” Bill Gates
Skim it in a minute
Thematic insights from the news and the web to help you think about potential future and current contexts and how to be productive, creative and successful in your work now
How to work well: Practical tips on how to focus in a time of noise and content overload
Geopolitical tensions are rising: The conflict between India & China has gone from fighting with clubs to blocking apps (a slightly longer and more insightful read in EV here)
Coronavirus: Why we’re using humour to get us through coronavirus
Building a good organisation: How to implement diversity at board level from one of the smartest VCs around (I love his innovation of the $1k fund)
Climate Change is a reality: A weather station in Siberia, inside the Artic Circle, recorded a temperature of 38 Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit) - the world is still on a very negative trend, despite Covid19’s positive impact on emissions and travel. As long as we are reliant on China, India, Russia and Saudi Arabia to change course to bring climate change under control, I will continue to be biased to higher temperatures being a reality we will have to deal with.
A long read for the weekend
All countries that were ever a part of the British Empire
A very Happy Independence Day to my American friends. Over the years I have had to point out we don’t celebrate it over here, given it was an act of rebellion against us and a loss of part of the British Empire. How’s that independence thing going for you these days my American friends?
Yet at this moment, as I’ve been learning more about slavery, about the British involvement across Africa over the decades, about what we did in India - there is definitely a lot of history of my nation we were just never taught and is pretty horrific.
We shouldn’t rewrite history - but we should broaden our knowledge to what really happened, and what it was like to live in the Empire. I’m reading Brit(ish) and have “Black and British: A Forgotten History” and “Inglorious Empire: What The British Did In India” on my to-read list to educate myself some more.
This weekend why not start by reading this article which raises some helpful questions for the UK based in the current context as well as historic moments?
The other weekly distillation
“the action of purifying a liquid by a process of heating and cooling.”
A light and quick look at Spirits that have caught my eye or tongue.
There are only five areas that produce whisky in Scotland that have been deemed worthy of an appellation - Highlands, Lowlands, Speyside, Campbeltown and Islay. I’m sure we’ll get one day to why one town has its own, but it’s Islay I want to cover today. The fact that one Island has 9 distilleries is amazing - the fact that it has many of the best with Ardbeg, Bowmore, Bruichladdich, Bunnahabhain, Kilchoman, Lagavulin and Laphroaig all from there is nothing short of amazing.
This ten year old whisky came into my presence one day when my car broke down driving home from a meeting in Glasgow. I found myself stuck in a shopping centre off the M8 motorway whilst the AA fixed my car and made an impulse purchase of it - having been working on some related whisky angles, it was very much on my mind. It has become a drink that gets savoured rarely but feels a real treat.
These tasting notes sum it up - “It's easy to see why this is so popular – spicy, sweet, and above all, smoky. A great dram, well balanced, and with a lot going on.”
You can buy it here (and from here if you are in the US)
If you have a favourite spirit you’d like to write about, or you make spirits, please do get in touch as I’d love to share about them.
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