Hogwarts Legacy
February 11, 2023
Saturday’s are pushing things back, but Saturday night...? I’m really waiting until the last moment to publish, aren’t I? As I drafted my final thoughts in this newsletter, I couldn’t help myself. I’d been watching YouTube videos of the new Hogwarts Legacy video game. Why not put out a post on it before this week’s newsletter? So, a rewrite was in order. And now I’m late late late!
Top News
I’ve been taking advantage of my time this week to read, and watch those Hogwarts Legacy videos. Yes, I had been blogging, but nothing worth completing much less publishing. Drafts don’t make my Blog page. There weren’t going to be any publications this week until I wrote just this evening. Check out How Hogwarts Legacy Scaled the Harry Potter Universe (blog, podcast).
Testing Canny
I signed up for a Canny account. It’s a customer feedback tool, and a way to gain ideas about what my audience wants. Let’s give it a shot for awhile and see what’s on the minds of my readers and listeners. Use the new button atop the written newsletter, or the podcast show notes to participate.
Supporting the Ambitions of Others
Cremo Company
My birthday haul last month was a haul, indeed. In addition to the safety razor, I received a brush, and Cremo brand shave cream and post-shave balm. For others who want to learn more about these products, I shared my reviews (see their respective product pages). Cremo makes some excellent products. Learn more at https://cremocompany.com. (No, they are not a sponsor.)
Personal Ambition and Business Strategy
There are many young people where I work. Some are in college. It always surprises me when, with very specific majors, these students choose to work in a job that has nothing to do with their professional pursuits. Putting money in the pocket is one thing. Gaining experience is another. They can both be achieved simultaneously. And, while (relatively) older managers will give some leeway to young people entering the working world, the path would be much easier given congruence. I had this conversation this week with a college student.
What I Learned This Week
Explaining Stuff
This quote1 is clever and helpful. It comes from an outlet and a person who bring such attention to themselves - beyond the topics they explain. The irony notwithstanding, those involved are really smart people who articulate well. Obviously, there's an ingredient in their recipe for communicating. The quote:
I am brilliant, because I know I'm not. I listen to those who are, and I learn from them.
Stephen A. Smith, ESPN
February 9, 2023
Calibrated Contributing
Jim Detert of University of Virginia's Darden School of Business recently contributed to MIT Sloan Management Review. His article, "Let's Call Quiet Quitting What It Often Is: Calibrated Contributing," brought to light frustrations in the workplace.
He described two employees as deserved of income and professional respect, but they ‘quiet quit’. A recent concept (that’s been around for decades) brought to light post-COVID, it means disgruntlement resulting in doing the absolute minimum on the job. Detert wrote, "[Employees] were, in short, giving more than they were getting, so they decided to scale back their efforts. Janet still does her job well, but she won’t stay late or take extra shifts. Alex still handles the same volume of support calls, but he has stopped speaking up or investing effort in coming up with potential improvements."2
The argument is multi-faceted, but boils down to Detert’s dislike of forcing the word quitting while acknowledging the adjustment every individual may or may not make given their work environment. ‘Really interesting.
The Hero, The Treasure, and The Dragon
Another great article I read in MIT Sloan Management Review this week was “Become a Better Problem Solver by Telling Better Stories,” by Arnaud Chevallier, Abrecht Enders and Jean-Louis Barsoux.
The authors argued that solving problems requires properly diagnosing the problem first. To do that, their research suggests storytelling is both appropriate and effective. “The strength of the story template is that it formulates the problem in a concise way that is easily understood by others—decision makers who lack detailed knowledge, colleagues in other departments, outside stakeholders such as partners or suppliers—without overwhelming them with details or context.”3
What do you think of their model? “Pulled together, these three elements define the quest, which takes the form, How may [the hero] get [the treasure], given [the dragon]? A quest works best with one hero, one treasure, and one dragon — otherwise, it’s more than one story.”
Upcoming Quotes and/or Graphics
Having written How Hogwarts Legacy Scaled the Harry Potter Universe as a use case to understand successful business scaling, I wrote the following:
What the game makers did was tell another story in that same universe. In doing so, they established a free-standing product with a life of its own based on the familiar.
Also, here’s a neat picture from the game developers:
Miscellaneous
My latest blog post was dedicated to my late aunt, Betsy. She was an absolute Harry Potter fanatic. And even though she was not a video game player, she would have so loved Hogwarts Legacy. I honored her in a fun, educational, and magical way. I miss you, Betsy.
JJ Redick EDUCATES Stephen A. after His RIDICULOUS LeBron Take: “Give Him Credit!” | First Take. YouTube, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpwaXMJlksQ. Accessed 9 Feb. 2023.
Detert, Jim. “Let’s Call Quiet Quitting What It Often Is: Calibrated Contributing.” MIT Sloan Management Review, https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/lets-call-quiet-quitting-what-it-often-is-calibrated-contributing/. Accessed 21 Jan. 2023.
Chevallier, Arnaud, et al. “Become a Better Problem Solver by Telling Better Stories.” MIT Sloan Management Review, Feb. 2023. sloanreview.mit.edu, https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/become-a-better-problem-solver-by-telling-better-stories/. Accessed 10 Feb. 2023.