Month: February 2024

Five things on Friday #361

Things of note for the week ending Sunday February 18th, 2024

INTRO

Well howdy. It’s been a rollercoaster week. A lot of getting to the bottom of things while also trying to stay on top of things.

And wrapped up in all of that, figuring out what it means to be kind.

The Mrs has been quite unwell for sometime now, and it’s been amazing to see who shows up in those moments. You know?

The kindness of small gestures. The kindness of unexpected empathy. The kindness of friends just being there. Never underestimate the value of asking someone ‘Hey, how are you holding up over there?’ because you never know where or how it’s going to land and frankly, coming from someone who is going to be saying goodbye to an old friend this week (one I didn’t actually get to say goodbye to), hitting send on that message is better than regretting not sending it later.

So with that, how are you holding up?

I hope your February has been better than your January and that Chinese / Luna New Year is holding true to its promise and bringing you opportunities of evolution and improvement.

We remain hopeful.

–

At the end of last week’s edition I asked:

“Good leaders are defined by the leaders they leave behind them. Good leaders know the way, go the way, and show the way. Good leaders are what you make them. Good leaders are… you tell me?”

Ten points to my good friend (and purveyor of phenomenal lunch recommendations) Marshall Manson who was first past the post with this excellent response:

“Good leaders listen. Good leaders create an environment / atmosphere where people can do their best work. Good leaders motivate.

Great leaders coach, encourage, develop, and motivate so that their people perform and achieve above their own potential.”

It got me thinking about a framework (I think) for leadership.

Like, reflecting on some of the great leaders I’ve had in my career, thinking about what they did for me (and for the people around me) and how they made me feel – and then thinking back on what we achieved together I started sketching out a few components of HOW they did that.

Like so:

Draft 1.

In my head, each of these headers has a page behind it discussing what each one means, along with supporting examples.

The one I come back to the most is Psychological Safety but reflecting on Marshall’s input, I think I’m missing stuff around coaching and development.

Hmm. Still noodling.

What else is missing? (Hit reply and tell me).

–

What else can I tell you?

Oh yes! Thank you for all the brilliant replies about the Disney x Epic analysis I put into the last FToF (and also some TOP SECRET NODS as well – you know who you are!)

This newsletter is and always has been a way for me to think out loud so getting ANY response to that thinking is absolutely welcome – even better when it’s positive 😁

I’m still thinking about it all and I’m still not done on Fortnite either but we’ll revisit it another day.

–

Right then, that was quite the lengthy intro wasn’t it? Shall we crack on with the actual things now?

Let’s.

TO THE THINGS!

1. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A PLANNER?

aka ‘On Figuring Stuff Out’

Kind of a tangential / follow on point from the data-led opener to this week’s edition – I’ve been reflecting on what it means to be a planner.

I’ve been in research mode a fair bit of late. Whether that’s reviewing cross-category creative work to generate provocations for clients or doing a deep dive on the data surrounding the games industry’s ongoing round of redundancies (here’s Amir Satvat doing God’s work).

I’ve been spending a lot of time in effectiveness papers, case studies and spreadsheets, looking at data, and talking to people IRL.

This kind of work, combined with a renewed dedication to getting out there and spending time with other planners (hello APG friends!), it’s been nice to be reminded of what it is I love about what I do:

I love figuring stuff out.

I was reminded of this earlier this week when I came across this post about ‘How to know if you’re a strategist’ (the Seven Ps of Strategy) from Sweathead.

You’re a P-word

A post that I kind of agree with? I think? Maybe?

The Ps mentioned are: Problems, People, Prying, Patterns, Possibility, Persistence, and Pitching. It’s a pretty good list.

If I could, I’d probably add (or switch) some Ps in – and maybe switch one out.

Puzzles.
I like solving puzzles – with data, with creativity, with strategic leaps. Problems are a good thing to uncover but getting to solutions figuring out the puzzle – that’s the main draw for me.

As a completely random aside: I once visited the International Intellectual and Puzzle Museum in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. To this day, one of the best days of my life.

Provocations.
I like asking questions, yes. And those questions are always in service of getting to better work. But often-times you find yourselves in rooms (or on calls) where there are questions left unasked. The provocative question. The ‘Hang on, why are we actually doing this?’, or the ‘Yes but does the product actually deliver that?’ or the ‘Have we addressed why consumers don’t like you?’ questions. The hard questions you have to ask. And frankly, sometimes the only questions planners can ask.

Pitching.
This is the one I’d probably switch out. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE pitching. We pitched recently and a peer said to me as we were leaving the room ‘James, you were born to pitch’. So lovely. And we won the pitch too. Woop.

The point is, it reminded me that I am lucky to have had the training whereby I now enjoy those situations. So many planners and strategists I meet while, yes, they will at some point have to be able to convince a client of a certain strategic course of action, they might not always enjoy the process of PITCHING. Introversion is a common personality trope among planning folk. Solving that? Well it’s a puzzle.

What I am trying to say is this: if you are a planner and you don’t enjoy pitching, then that’s OK. You don’t have to. You can learn, yes. You can also fake it ’til you make it. But if you hate it, that’s OK too and it doesn’t make you any less of a planner.

I think in writing this thing this week I’ve managed to complete the three-writing briefs I set myself in my various social media profiles:

On writing.
On gaming.
And now, with ^ this thing ^ –
On figuring stuff out.

Guess I should write it up into a separate post for the ol’ blog then really. I’ll get right on that.

PS. ‘So you want to be a strategist‘ is still the best collection of learning materials I think I am yet to find for entry level strats and above.

2. GODZILLA MINUS ONE

I saw this movie right before Christmas and it was incredible.

If you’ve not seen it yet, SEE IT.

If you HAVE seen it, then you might enjoy this BTS look at The Visual effects of Godzilla Minus One.

Absolute [behind the] scenes

I love this kind of stuff.

You might too.

3. THIS WEEK IN… GAMING

We’ve had quite the chunky newsletter so far this week. Unexpectedly. So we’ll keep this brief(ish)?

The ‘biggest’ news in games this week (which ended I think more of a minor tremor vs anything earth-shattering – in this humble observer’s opinion at least), is that – in what seems like an experiment for the future – a handful of Xbox exclusives are coming to Nintendo and PlayStation platforms.

Those exclusives are all but confirmed as: Sea of Thieves, Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment, and Grounded.

All solid games.
All well worth playing.

For those paying attention, the writing on the wall for this has probably been on the wall since the Activision deal was announced. One might even draw a dotted line back to Todd Howard’s email challenging the status quo for Bethesda.

That said, given Starfield and Indiana Jones (both Bethesda) are not included in this announcement (yet), I don’t know if that holds much water.

Timed exclusives maybe?

Let’s see how it plays out.

Overall I think it’s a smart move. If your biggest competitors have more lemonade stands, why wouldn’t you start selling them lemons?

Quick News Bites.

Finally for this section, Five things on Friday still thoroughly recommends the excellent Video Games Industry Memo, by George Osborn.

I ‘cover’ games a bit with this newsletter (and a few other agencies try and fail miserably with some terrible attempts on Linkedin). George’s however is consistently as insightful as it is enjoyable to read.

Well-researched, well-written, and well worth your time. Go get.

4. KINDNESS

My incredible other half reminded me of this poem yesterday. Given to me by my therapist when things were pretty tough a few years back I hadn’t read it for a while and re-reading it again this weekend, it felt like a revelation.

One to read out loud:

–

KINDNESS, Naomi Shihab Nye, 1952

Before you know what kindness really is
you must lose things,
feel the future dissolve in a moment
like salt in a weakened broth.
What you held in your hand,
what you counted and carefully saved,
all this must go so you know
how desolate the landscape can be
between the regions of kindness.
How you ride and ride
thinking the bus will never stop,
the passengers eating maize and chicken
will stare out the window forever.

Before you learn the tender gravity of kindness
you must travel where the Indian in a white poncho
lies dead by the side of the road.
You must see how this could be you,
how he too was someone
who journeyed through the night with plans
and the simple breath that kept him alive.

Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,
you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.
You must wake up with sorrow.
You must speak to it till your voice
catches the thread of all sorrows
and you see the size of the cloth.
Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore,
only kindness that ties your shoes
and sends you out into the day to gaze at bread,
only kindness that raises its head
from the crowd of the world to say
It is I you have been looking for,
and then goes with you everywhere
like a shadow or a friend.

–

5. RELATIONSHIPS

via Strat Scraps.

Related: the diagrams book is an essential tool in any planner’s toolbox.

WELCOME TO THE BONUS SECTION. BONUS LINKS THAT MAY KILL YOUR TABS AND I APOLOGISE IN ADVANCE.

Let’s see what we’ve got in the #5things tag bank this week.

YOU ARE REACHING THE END OF THE NEWSLETTER. MIND THE GAP.

Next week is half-term here. The kids are off and it’s going to be… hectic? We’ve got my mum coming to stay, then a funeral, then a hospital trip, then I’ve got my mother-in-law coming to stay, then another hospital trip, an operation, then a trip to the midlands and overall I think probably a lot of driving.

When it’s all done I guess then maybe we’ll play some video games?

The short version is:

I don’t know if there’ll be a newsletter next week. But we’ll see.

In the meantime, thanks for reading, sharing, and subscribing.

If you’re looking to find me in more places outside of this newsletter, these days the lion’s share of my diminishing time on social is spent across Threads and Linkedin.

Maybe see you there?

Until next time,

Whatley out x

Five things on Friday #360

Things of note for the week ending Friday February 9th, 2024.

INTRO

It’s 545am on Friday February 9th when I’m writing this intro. I wonder what time it’ll be when I hit send?

It’s Chinese New Year tomorrow. I don’t know about you but the start of 2024 has not been fantastic. I won’t go into the detail but just put it this way: there was a point about two weeks ago when I think I just sat down and cried. And in among the tears I said: ‘Hi, hello? Yes, I’ve had enough now thanks. No more please? Please? Thanks’ – I think that helped.

Holding onto resilience – against the relentlessness of it all (squares vs triangles) – has not been easy. But I am doing it.

One day at a time.

The benefit of good therapy in my past combined with an incredible partner (and just honest-to-god the most amazing friends) has meant the days, as hard as they are sometimes, always end with a hug and the reality that love is the answer.

Love is always the answer.

So this weekend I’m starting again.

Chinese New Year celebrations tonight and then let’s see what the year of the dragon brings starting tomorrow (Saturday).

See you there yeah?

🐉 🐲 🐉 🐲 🐉

What else can I tell you?

Ah yes! Thank you to the handful of you that have signed up to be paid subscribers. The first few months of Buttondown’s fees have been covered and to think that you lot actually want to contribute to the running costs of this thing was genuinely moving.

More on the details of all that at the end of the newsletter.

Speaking of the newsletter, shall we actually get on with this thing now?

Let’s.

TO THE THINGS!

1. COME ON THEN, LET’S TALK ABOUT DISNEY x EPIC

A HUGE announcement – and I want to talk about a few things that seem to have been missed…

The news that launched a thousand Linkedin comments

If you haven’t already, go ahead and read the press release (it’s OK, I’ll wait).

Back?

All done?

Great.

Let’s get into it.

First thing first: the key word in the release is DEEPENING.

Disney-owned properties have been licensed out to Fortnite (among many, many others) for years. And, per the release, Disney has also been using Unreal Engine to power the content and SFX behind many of its tentpole properties again FOR YEARS.

So this is a DEEPENING (a not exactly insignificant $1.5Bn deepening – we’ll come back to this) of an existing relationship.

The interesting thing – for me at least – is about the ‘new persistent universe’ that will be created as part of this announcement.

To quote Disney (emphasis mine):

“In addition to being a world-class games experience and interoperating with Fortnite, the new persistent universe will offer a multitude of opportunities for consumers to play, watch, shop and engage with content, characters and stories from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, Avatar and more. Players, gamers and fans will be able to create their own stories and experiences, express their fandom in a distinctly Disney way, and share content with each other in ways that they love.”

So what does this tell us?

1. Disney SSO. Coming to an EPIC page near you.

I think it’s a pretty safe bet to say we’ll soon see a ‘Link your Disney account’ button on Epic’s sign in page.

Like this –

The Epic sign in page but with an added Disney+ logo
Remember when the Lego one appeared and everyone went mental? Same same.

Disney has been tidying up its single sign on (SSO) across its properties for a while – between Marvel, Disney, parks, store, and now Plus – having the Disney SSO linked to your Epic account just makes sense.

And of course, once linked, I’m fairly sure that’ll unlock something for the loyal subscribed user (like, I dunno – an exclusive Goofy skin with some Mickey Mouse back bling or whatever).

Because of course it will.

But where will you do this?

2. Let’s talk about that persistent universe.

Going by the image shared by Disney in the release (embedded above) you can see a LOT. At first glance I count Wreck-it Ralph, Lilo and Stitch, Stark Industries, Halloween Town, Pandora, Hoth, The Death Star, ESPN, Lucasfilm Pixar… hell, even Disney Cruise Lines gets its own harbour area. All across different areas/zones/islands and each one with its own purpose.

So if it’s Disney, it’ll be there.

What else can we guess?

In the same way that Lego has arrived on the Fortnite Platform, we can bet that the Disney Universe (The DU) will be similar if not the same.

(So it’ll be free to play, right?)

But bigger.

Fly ar?ound Hoth with your friends. Maybe launch into Star Wars Outlaws from within the platform (maybe?). Once you’ve done that, you can head over to Disney Studio Island (left on the image above) and watch the latest series of The Mandalorian in a watch party with your friends.

If you’ve ever spent any time at a Disney Parks (world/land/Euro), then you’ll spot that the layout in those places are a huge inspiration for these – and it shows.

3. Interoperability, aaaaaay?

When Disney talks about ‘interoperating with Fortnite‘, again we refer to our friends at Lego.

Ahsoka Tano!

Got a specific skin in your locker on Fortnite? You’ve got that skin in Lego.

You could place a fairly solid bet that when this thing launches (let’s have a guess at before or at least during D23 this coming August) on day one you’ll be able click once to the right from Lego Fortnite, hit the Disney logo, and then walk right into the The DU on Fortnite with that exact same skin.

I would also fully expect to be able to buy items within the Disney experience and then have those items to wear while playing Battle Royale. Did you buy a Tie Fighter to fly around in The DU? Expect to unlock that as a glider in Fortnite etc.

Link that to games played, movies watched, series’ binged, items purchased, parks visited… well, you can quickly see how all that works together.

IMAGINE you watch the second season of Ahsoka in its opening weekend and, as a result, you get exclusive skins for The DU.

Now imagine a much more complex version of this slide knocking around over in Burbank.

(To be clear: I made this slide. Today)

Disney x Epic. Including but not limited to:

PLAY
Your own stories in The DU.
With DU characters in Fortnite.
Anywhere and everywhere all powered by UE5/UEFN.

WATCH
Your friends play DU content.
Disney Premier content.
Disney content on and off platform – powered by Disney+.

SHOP
Disney digital items.
Disney licensed products in the Fortnite Item Shop.
Disney-themed items linked to Disney Experiences (parks and more).

A Fortnite/Digital version of this one I guess?.

MONEY MONEY MONEY

What about the ONE POINT FIVE BILLION DOLLARS then? Well, Reuters is reporting that Disney got its 9% stake at a STEAL of a price, given how much post-pandemic the value of Epic has dropped since (about $10bn by the looks of things).

This should come as no surprise (Epic is in its 4.0 phase now, do keep up 007). However, these deals do not happen overnight and given the value fluctuation, the number crunchers at Disney should be very happy.

4. What are people not talking about?

People are NOT talking about the Apple-sized elephant in the room.

Disney and Apple are VERY close bedfellows. Epic and Apple are… not. I wonder if board positions and friendly CEO gatherings will eventually/perhaps thaw that out.

I highly doubt it but still.

It’s a thought.

And one to keep an eye on.

5. And I guess we need to address this newsletter’s own elephant in the room.

Someone had to say it

It is perhaps telling that the Disney press release manages to get through the whole thing without saying the M word.

I am reminded of Tim Sweeney, back in March 2023, talking about his definition.

“We can set aside the crazy hype cycle around NFTs and VR goggles… …and the core of it is something that every gamer understands: it’s you, and your friends, getting together online and going around as a group – on voice chat, having a fun time in social entertainment experiences. Some of these experiences are serious games like battle royale, some of them are going to a concert and dancing or chatting with friends and just having a good time”

Scene.

PS. I meant to say earlier but forgot: ‘Players, gamers, and fans’ is an interesting segmentation reveal, no?

2.TRACEY CHAPMAN ❤️

No words. Just vibes.

Go watch.

Subscribe

3.THIS WEEK IN… GAMING

Back by popular demand (OK, I had ONE message – you know who you are) here we are talking about gaming.

Given the monster deep dive we’ve just done on the Disney thing, I’ll TRY and keep this brief.

What am I playing? Well, I haven’t down Lego Fortnite since it dropped if I’m honest – and I’ve probably left Baldur’s Gate 3 alone for so long now that I might need to restart it Bah.

That said, we’ve been making some fun things for Helldivers 2 (including this lovely bit of silliness) and so I’ve got that lined up to play at some point this weekend.

What about you?

What have you been playing?

4.’SHE’S THE FASTEST HUNK OF JUNK IN THE GALAXY…’

Gorgeous.

“After 8 months of collecting and building… My daughters “colorful” Lego UCS Millennium Falcon is done!”

Read more over on Reddit.

5.OVER THREE DECADES, TECH OBLITERATED MEDIA…

Kara Swisher on her front tow seat to a slow moving catastrophe is a great insight into someone who saw the sky falling, screamed the sky is falling, and is now sat watching peers and colleagues wondering where the sky has gone.

It’s someone saying ‘I told you so’ for a few hundred words but it’s still a good read.

BONUS SECTION

THIS IS THE BONUS SECTION. BONUS LINKS THAT BUMP US OVER FIVE THINGS BUT DUE TO TIMING AND SELF-IMPOSED WRITING RESTRICTIONS ARE LIMITED TO PITHY COMMENTARY ONLY.

ENJOY.

YOU ARE REACHING THE END OF THE NEWSLETTER. MIND THE GAP.

Thanks for reading this week’s edition of Five things on Friday. I hope you’re enjoying its new home on Buttondown.

All feedback on the new set up is VERY WELCOME.

—ADMIN STUFF—

A big thank you to those of you that generously donated to the running costs ($29 USD per month) of the always free Five things on Friday.

If you want to chuck a couple of quid directly to FToF on Buttondown then you can do that at these links

100% of all your dollar will go on Buttondown fees.

—END OF ADMIN STUFF—

I hope things are treating you well. I’m coming up to two years in my job at Diva and have been reflecting a lot on what it means to be a leader.

Good leaders are defined by the leaders they leave behind them.

Good leaders know the way, go the way, and show the way.

Good leaders are what you make them.

Good leaders are… you tell me.

…

It’s 12:02 on the first day of the Chinese New Year. I’ve just sent a quick note out on Substack re: closing that down for good (sorry for the double up – I’m sure you don’t mind), and I think I’d quite like a sausage sandwich.

Until next time,

Whatley out x

Five things on Friday #359

Things of note for the week ending Sunday February 4th, 2024.

INTRO

Sup fam. It’s been a while.

All being well, this shiny new first-of-2024 edition of Five things on Friday is winging its way to your inboxes by the lovely people at Buttondown.

After everything that happened with MONETISING THE NAZIS over on Substack, I figured it was about time to close down that account, import EVERY SINGLE PAST EDITION over to my original wordpress website (hi whatleydude.com) and then get a decent PAID FOR and NAZI-FREE email provider set up.

After a fair amount of research (it was a quiet Christmas in the Whatley household) Buttondown turned out to be the best paid solution for my needs. My subs are a little over 4k (4194 to be precise – and you’re all gorgeous) and Buttondown is $29 pcm for anything under 5k – so not abhorrent cost-wise – for an ENTIRELY FREE newsletter.

PLUS, and crucially for someone of my occasional newsletter needs, Buttondown has the option to switch off payments if you’re not using it. Given FToF goes 3-6mths sometimes without an edition going out, this is a VERY GOOD FEATURE.

I’m still figuring out a few things (look and feel, branding, etc) but so far the support has been ACE and the setup has been relatively breezy.

What else can you ask for?

If you’re an occasional newsletter writer like me, and you’re looking for a good, nazi-free service, then I can recommend Buttondown. Use THIS REFERRAL LINK to get $9 off your first month (and I get a kick back too) x

Right then, that’s the housekeeping out of the way. With New Year celebrations a distant memory, and dry (damp?) Jan equally so, I think it’s about damn time we got to the things.

Shall we?

TO THE THINGS!

1. LET’S KICK OFF WITH SOME RAT SELFIES

Say cheese!

‘Oh great James, an animal experiment – that’s what I need from you today!’

Well, yes – and no. Per CBC:

“When Augustin Lignier built a photo booth for rats, he was really trying to point the lens at humanity.

The French artist trained two pet store rodents to take selfies in exchange for sweet treats. But over time, he says, they started doing it purely for the pleasure. 

He says it’s not unlike the way people engage with social media — at first for the likes, but eventually just to trigger a flood of feel-good chemicals in our brains.”

Purely for the pleasure.
Purely for the dopamine hit.
Purely for the… sorry, why are you scrolling again?

Read more, here.

2. CONTENT MUKBANG

Related to the above… If you’re reading this and you don’t know what Mukbang is, I’d probably recommend you NOT googling it (although Gia’s hard-hitting piece on FAME a while back landed it hard for me). It’s not nice. Having been involved with a few plagiarism-shaped things over the past few years (one guy I just had to have it with him over a bizarre exchange via Linkedin message – ‘ARE YOU OK?’, ‘PLEASE STOP’, – etc), the idea of folk (especially Linkedin folk), mukbanging themselves out for content has been kicking around in my head for a while now.

And then this article appears from Vox.

Why why why why why

It. Is. Excellent.

You’ve got to actually spend your time doing this stuff on the off chance that the algorithm picks it up and people care about what you have to say.

You’ve got to spend your time doing this even though it’s corny and cringe and your friends from high school or college will probably laugh as you “try to become an influencer.”

You’ve got to do it even when you feel like you have absolutely nothing to say, because the algorithm demands you post anyway.

You’ve got to do it even if you’re from a culture where doing any self-promotion is looked upon as inherently negative, or if you’re a woman for whom bragging carries an even greater social stigma than it already does.

You’ve got to do it even though the coolest thing you can do is not have to.

You’ve got to offer your content to the hellish, overstuffed, harassment-laden, uber-competitive attention economy because otherwise no one will know who you are.

Pitch perfect.
Clarifying.
Embarrassing.

Truth.

Read ‘Everyone’s a sellout now‘ via Vox.

3. THIS WEEK IN… INCREDIBLY SMART WRITING

In a stunning turn of events, the longstanding ‘This week in…’ has moved away from gaming and is instead usurped, inspired, and happily cast aside for what is easily the best thing in this newsletter this week.

Jenny Chang is BACK y’all

Not the first time I’ve shared @Jayemsey’s work here and I doubt it’ll be the last.

This time, Chang gives us THE BIMBO RENAISSANCE: The Weaponized Performance of Hyperfeminity. Writing about the history of Bimboism, its journey from inception through MeToo and arriving at modern-day Barbie era, Chang is ON. FORM.

The part about the Heroine Journey was revelatory for this hetero-cis-white-male.

Honestly, I can only dream of this level of generosity and brilliance of thought.

Read it.

4. A NIGHT IN THE SOCIAL CLUB IN 2009

Growing up on (never in) Canvey Island, I know the scene of a social club well. Labour Club, Cons Club, Corner Club, Social / Boat Club – if there was a club (read: ‘members’ club where the drinks are cheap and the bands are great).

Thinking back to them now I remember: Christmas lights all year round, gold jewellery, red faces – smiling, friendly people, singing and dancing… if you’re lucky there’d be a band or karaoke. There was always snooker table out back (but the lights were dim and it was filled with smoke – you never went in there).

The point is: the memories even now are seared into my mind. Be that as it may, even if I walked out of one of those clubs five minutes ago, I doubt I could do as good a job at describing what it’s like in a social club than Mark Hadfield does when he talks about a night at Owlton Manor Social Club in 2009.

Read this and be transported to another time. Another place. Another world.

A proper planner – doing the work.

5. THE SIMPLE SABOTAGE FIELD MANUAL


Declassified in 2008, the Simple Sabotage Field Book was published in 1944 and distributed by the Office of Strategic Services (now known as the CIA).

Circulated by Allies during World War II, the pamphlet was meant to act as a guide to sympathetic citizens, giving the more rebellious ones instructions on how to weaken their country by reducing productivity in the workplace.

Bear in mind, these specific tasks were asked of workers in enemy countries to purposefully reduce productivity in the workplace.

The handbook contains such humdingers as:

  • Talk as frequently as possible and at great length
  • Bring up irrelevant issues as frequently as possible
  • Haggle over precise wordings of communications, minutes, resolutions
  • Refer back to matters decided upon
  • Be worried about the propriety of any decision

I say again, this is from a SABOTAGE HANDBOOK.

Any of it sound familiar? Unnecessary Process. Endless meetings of talking. Miscommunication. Debating long-discussed and decided decisions. All signs of a perfect quiet saboteur.

Do you have one in your business?

Read the whole thing here

(See Section (11): General Interference with Organisations and Production for the good stuff).

And thanks to Robbie for the initial inspo – you all follow Robbie, right?).

BONUS SECTION

THIS IS THE BONUS SECTION. BONUS LINKS THAT BUMP US OVER FIVE THINGS BUT DUE TO TIMING AND SELF-IMPOSED WRITING RESTRICTIONS ARE LIMITED TO PITHY COMMENTARY ONLY.

TAB EXPLOSION IMMINENT.

YOU ARE REACHING THE END OF THE NEWSLETTER. MIND THE GAP.

Because it’s been a few months since the last edition, I’ve been stocking up a bit on the CONTENT.

Coming soon in future editions:

  • Love, life, and loss – a few words on fallen friends.
  • The fallacy of branded experiences in Fortnite – yes, we’re going back.
  • And I’d say it’s a fairly good bet ‘This week in gaming’ will return.

I don’t know how well this new edition will land in your inboxes, if at all, but do please feel free to hit that reply button and let me know.

Until next time,

Whatley out x