Weekly Mix #203 - Enron's failure and why we should be working 6 hours a day

Consumption, Remote Work, Climate Change, Enron & 6-Hour Workdays

​

Happy Monday!

After a 2-week hiatus, we're back.

I was busy the past couple weeks, first at work prepping for a week off, and then taking a week off for Chester Race Week.

It's always a combination of fun and work, as we do the highlights videos for the regatta (you can see them here).

Despite working through the week, it's always a highlight of the summer, and a chance to catch up with friends I might not see otherwise.

One more note: this week marks the debut of a section I'm currently calling "Highlights," where I'll mention a product or service that I think warrants attention.

Some of these will be paid sponsors, but they'll always be ones that I vet and feel are valuable. Feel free to send me feedback.

Have a wonderful week.

Graham

​

Links

📚 The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron - Bethany McLean & Peter Elkind - I picked this one up after listening to the Farnam Street podcast with Bethany McLean, and it didn't disappoint. Pair it with Billion Dollar Loser for a compare/contrast of the gray line that separates fraud and hype.

📖 The Gospel of Consumption - Jeffrey Kaplan - An argument for shorter work weeks, and a look at some interesting examples (which were new to me), like Kellogg's in the 1930s, who implemented a 6-hour work day.

📖 For programmers, remote work is becoming the norm - The Economist - Remote work is here to stay. This chart says it all:

​

📖 Chess and cheap ways to check day to day variance in cognition - Less Wrong - I love this idea for determining how well you're functioning cognitively. There are obviously limitations—chess has known rules, and may not translate directly to different types of problems—but I would love to check this against my WHOOP recovery scores, for example.

📖 The IPCC’s latest climate report is dire. But it also included some prospects for hope - The Guardian - The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released their latest report (you can read it here). This piece outlines some of the key takeaways, with some of the reasons for hope as well.

Highlight

Launch and accelerate your career in the tech industry.

How many times have you told yourself that you’re finally going to learn SQL? Tableau? Or even product frameworks and KPIs? And it never ends up happening?

Enter Skillful: the world’s first cohort-based program dedicated to business careers in the tech industry. Think roles like Strategy & Operations, Product and Growth. At Skillful, you get access to programs that are built and led by operators from some of the best companies in the world. And you’ll join a tight-knit community of grads who have been hired by employers like Stripe, TikTok, Uber and more.

​Join the waitlist today. ​​

Photo of the Week

It doesn't get much better than this: beautiful weather (and boats) out racing in Mahone Bay this week.

​

Thank you for being part of the newsletter every week.

It means so much that you let me be part of your inbox, and I love building a community of like-minded people with you.

If I could ask one thing: could you forward this to one person you think would enjoy it? They can sign up directly for the newsletter here.​

If you haven’t yet, feel free to follow me on Instagram and Twitter, and say hi!