Mar 3
What We’re Reading: To meet or not to meet?
A few stories you may have missed this week
In the past, we’ve devoted some space and links in “What We’re Reading” to perspectives on meetings — mostly stories of the “there are too many of them” variety. Some of this is because the management of meetings is an issue we’re often tangling with at Medium. As a primarily remote company, keeping an eye on the balance of meeting vs. “work time” is important, and usually we’re trying to make sure the meetings we do have are useful and productive.
In “Meetings *are* the work,” writer Elizabeth Ayer has changed my mind about a lot of this. She wonders: “But what if, hear me out, what if the *only* work that matters in a knowledge economy happens when we are together? What if the reason we can’t seem to fix meetings is that we’re mischaracterizing ‘the work’ in the first place?” It’s a probing question, and she lays out some reasons to rethink our relationships with meetings (and with work in general). Hope you find it useful.
Also: For Women’s History Month this March, we’re curating this list featuring overlooked innovators, good troublemakers, artists, storytellers, and remarkable women of the past, present, and future. Help us build it out; share your reading recommendations by responding to the list.
As always, thank you for reading,
Scott Lamb
VP, Content @ Medium
Here’s what we’re reading this week…
“Diary of a Brand: Hoka One One” by Michelle Wiles, brand marketer, in Better Marketing
How Hoka sneakers went from obscurity to $1 Billion in revenue.
“Please Don’t Ask Me What I Am” by Savala Nolan, author of “Don’t Let It Get You Down: Essays on Race, Gender and the Body”
Ultimately, strangers and acquaintances ask mixed people what are you because they’re uncomfortable and feel entitled to fix their discomfort through us.
“How ‘Should’ Makes Us Stupid — and How to Get Smart Again” by Jane Elliott PhD, coach, professor, and writer, in Curious
As soon as we tell ourselves we should be doing something, we turn off the part of our brains that can help us actually do it. Here’s why it happens, and what to do instead.
“The Art of Quitting — Lessons From My Ph.D. Journey” by Dr. Diana Leite, writer, museum communicator, and academic mentor
As a recovering academic, I can use my Ph.D. journey as a case study to contextualize my argument in favor of quitting — but this argument can be easily extrapolated to many aspects of life.
“When 100 Strangers Bought Me a Coffee” by Janna Barrett, writer, flight attendant, and former sailor, in Globetrotters
Proof that both adventure and kindness can be found on the street.
From Medium’s Archive: “To IC, and Not to Be… a Manager” by Koun Han, head of product at Persona
Can we stop conflating management with career progression?
“Eleanor and the Butterfly” by Bronwen Scott, zoologist, writer, and artist
Recommended for Women’s History Month by E. Ardincaple in response to our last roundup. Zoologist Bronwen Scott profiles the pioneering 17th-century entomologist who gave her name to a rare species of butterfly.
What have you been reading lately? Let us know in the responses.
