#46 / Going solo or leading a team?
Hello my friend! 👋
Just wrapped up this week’s hackathon, my fourth one, but this time it was a bit different.
My first hackathon was back in 2019, fresh from learning design, I jumped in as a designer for a two-day intense session. After that, I joined a few more within the company, usually working alongside designers and programmers.
But this hackathon, I pitched something different—a podcast featuring interviews with folks from inside the company. I’ve been doing this for a decade, so I have my own process down. But when I shared my plan, several colleagues got interested and wanted to join. None of them had podcast experience, which meant I had to step up as a team leader, organizing, coordinating, and training everyone to achieve our goal. This was new for me, being deeply familiar with the content but needing to lead a team. I’m usually an independent contributor, and not having control over every detail because I’m leading a team, especially while juggling other company projects, felt overwhelming.
Thinking back, that exhaustion was probably from not being used to letting go, not micromanaging, and focusing on the team’s overall output instead.
By Saturday at dawn, we submitted our hackathon project. If it had been just me, interviewing maybe two to three, max four guests would have been great. But with the team, we managed eight guests, and the show turned out really diverse and engaging. The outcome with the team far exceeded what I could have achieved on my own.
So, my takeaway is that a team can definitely produce more substantial, diverse, and competitive results than an individual. Leading a team is tough, it’s a different challenge from working as an independent contributor, but it’s also given me a real taste of the differences between leading and going it alone, helping me figure out which work style suits me best.
Here’re a few things I’d like to share with you today 🙂
Breakfast with Seneca
My sluggish self without coffee
Apple’s big potential as an AI leader?
Taking action is super important
Readwise Reader app: Prob The Best Read It Later App Ever!
Breakfast with Seneca
The first time I came across the name Seneca was on Tim Ferriss’s podcast, where he and many guests discussed Seneca’s influence on them. That’s how I slowly got to know about the Stoic and other Greek philosophers from this tradition. Reading “Breakfast with Seneca” by David Fideler was like approaching Seneca, this figure from over 2000 years ago, from a modern perspective. It’s astonishing to see how his way of thinking and the issues he cared about don’t feel distant from ours today at all.
Many of Seneca’s views, or Stoicism in general, share similarities with Buddhist philosophy. They also advocate for mindfulness, focusing on living in the present, and understanding that while some things are in our control, many others are not. Living in the moment and recognizing that the present is whole and perfect is essential. Not projecting our minds into the future (like worrying about things that haven’t happened yet) is the best way to avoid fear and anxiety. The Stoic saying, “It’s not the events that disturb us, but our view of them,” is the core idea behind the whole field of cognitive therapy. Another book I love, “Man’s Search for Meaning,” delves deep into this topic too.
I’m just beginning to explore Stoicism, but from the little I’ve learned, I find that I’ve been unconsciously aligning with its principles. “Breakfast with Seneca” introduces these concepts from a modern perspective, tackling everyday issues like winning friendships, overcoming anxiety, dealing with anger, facing adversities, confronting death, staying authentic, and connecting with the real world. It’s not an in-depth discussion but gives readers a basic understanding of Stoic principles or Seneca’s views, making it easier to explore further.
For me, this book is invaluable because it points out what areas I can explore next. At least for now, I plan to read “Meditations” and “The Obstacle Is the Way” seriously.
My sluggish self without coffee
Just like some people can’t face themselves without makeup or photos without filters, I can’t stand to face my sluggish self without coffee. 😩
Apple’s big potential as an AI leader?
Just a thought: if we’re talking about who’s got the best shot at making these personalized AI assistants, Apple’s gotta be up there.
Think about it: every time you’re tapping away on your iPhone, correcting words here and there, you’re basically feeding Apple a ton of data. Now, if Apple could crack the code on keeping all that data safe and private, and then use it to train an AI, we could end up with AI helpers that really get us, tailored to our every quirk.
But, man, the privacy hurdles on that? Huge. Apple, Google, or any big tech company would have to tread super carefully to not cross those privacy lines we all care about. No easy feat, that’s for sure.
Taking action is super important
Here’s a classic example that really drives home the point that doing is way faster than thinking: Last year, I stopped using my original Portfolio website. Many of my current projects are for business reasons and can’t be shared publicly (and, well, I was also too lazy to turn my recent design projects into case studies). As a designer, not having a portfolio felt like showing up naked to a party—totally not cool.
I thought about all sorts of solutions, but then I realized that my Bear Academy website could totally work for creating a Landing Page. And I’ve already shared case studies of my past projects on my blog. So, if I’m just looking at a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) for now, a simple Landing Page format would be enough to serve as my Portfolio.
And just like that, I got it done in less than an hour and a half, including getting the domain resolved. It’s up and running now.
Taking action is super important.
Readwise Reader app: Prob The Best Read It Later App Ever!
Some thoughts on the Readwise Reader app, a game-changer for digital-age readers.
Have a great one and see you soon!
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Hi there 👋, I’m Bear, a seasoned Product Designer with 15 years of overall design experience and six years in product design, transforming the user experiences for millions 📝
As an Apple Award-Winning Podcast Host at BearTalk and a Design Mentor at Springboard and CareerFoundry, I apply my self-taught design skills and science background to solve complicated problems and mentor budding designers 😃
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